What Bike Do I Buy?

[cyberknight]

Do not forget theirare more than 1 company making shifters, campag , sram and microshift all do their own shifters and they all have their good and bad points .
TBH unless your planning to spend a lot of time on the drops sora/2300 thumb shifters are not a problem as they work perfectly ok , its just that some people go on about not being able to reach them from the drops so regard them as not very good .The default position for riding is on the hoods where you can reach them .
I have a bike with sram double tap shifters and they have felt the most natural to me , my advice would be to try a few types and feel what works best for you .

 

[Rob3rt]

Do not forget theirare more than 1 company making shifters, campag , sram and microshift all do their own shifters and they all have their good and bad points .
TBH unless your planning to spend a lot of time on the drops sora/2300 thumb shifters are not a problem as they work perfectly ok , its just that some people go on about not being able to reach them from the drops so regard them as not very good .The default position for riding is on the hoods where you can reach them .
I have a bike with sram double tap shifters and they have felt the most natural to me , my advice would be to try a few types and feel what works best for you .

This is true and is a fair point. I think it is just the case that the majority of entry level bikes, even higher end off the peg bikes, tend to have Shimano by default so the OP will most likely encounter mostly Shimano so people will generally default to discussing this.

It's not that they are bad, they shift fine, they are just not as versatile because you cant shift as easily from a number of different positions on the bars.

 

[Arjimlad]

Giant Defy 2 is my choice. Has rack bolt mounts and the like. Carbon forks.

 

[cyberknight]

This is true and is a fair point. I think it is just the case that the majority of entry level bikes, even higher end off the peg bikes, tend to have Shimano by default so the OP will most likely encounter mostly Shimano so people will generally default to discussing this.

It's not that they are bad, they shift fine, they are just not as versatile because you cant shift as easily from a number of different positions on the bars.

So you agree then ? misquoting with selective bold type aside

 

[Thomk]

Giant Defy 2 is my choice. Has rack bolt mounts and the like. Carbon forks.

Although the gearing is more forgiving than it was in 2011 it may not be perfect for long rides in Europe, especially if a bit hilly and with heavy gear on the bike).

 

[Arjimlad]

Good point, perhaps a triple would be better..

 

[Rob3rt]

So you agree then ? misquoting with selective bold type aside

I did not misquote you, I quoted the entirety of your post, I simply bolded the sections of the post which I wanted to make a comment on, the meaning of the post was not altered in any way.

Anyway, back on topic, in short yes I agree with you, mostly anyway. If you dont use the drops, you won't be too fussed by having the thumb shifter vs the paddle. But versatility is welcome and there are certainly some situations that most people would appreciate the benefits of having the paddle shifter that is accessible from the drops (as Sora users will have with the latest version).

As for the other brands, again yes, I agree, as I said in my previous post, it was a good point. My comment in response to your post was just a thought on why people tend to chat Shimano as a default when someone asks "What bike?".

 

[cyberknight]

I did not misquote you, I quoted the entirety of your post, I simply bolded the sections of the post which I wanted to make a comment on, the meaning of the post was not altered in any way.

Anyway, back on topic, in short yes I agree with you, mostly anyway. If you dont use the drops, you won't be too fussed by having the thumb shifter vs the paddle. But versatility is welcome and there are certainly some situations that most people would appreciate the benefits of having the paddle shifter that is accessible from the drops (as Sora users will have with the latest version).

As for the other brands, again yes, I agree, as I said in my previous post, it was a good point. My comment in response to your post was just a thought on why people tend to chat Shimano as a default when someone asks "What bike?".

Hence the smiley , calm down dear