where are the gear changers on today's road bikes?

[Zippy]

They used to be on the frame under the crossbar, but have they been indexed since those days?

 

[TheDoctor]

Well, you can still get down-tube levers, but mostly they're built into the brake levers these days.

 

[numbnuts]

or barend levers used on drop handle bars

 

[amnesia]

Went for a ride with a friend at the weekend who had an old bike with a handlebar mounted lever for the rear mech, and a downtube mounted lever for the front mech.

 

[Muddyfox]

They used to be on the frame under the crossbar, but have they been indexed since those days?

Zippy .. i believe there is a shipment of these new fangled bicycles planned for 2025 for Cornwall

Simon

 

[pepecat]

It seems to me that gear changers are the wrong way round...... Is this the same for all road bikes? On mine (trek), the shifter to take you into an easier gear is the brake lever, which means being down on the drops to flick it over, and I don't climb down on the drops (neither do most people, from what i can see). Then (obviously) the shifter to take you into a 'harder' gear is up on the top.......not where i tend to ride when i'm chuntering down a hill (i use the drops, as do most people).
Surely it would make sense to have the shifter for the 'harder' gear down in the brake lever, and the other one on the top?? Or is it the way it is for a reason?

 

[TrevorM]

Went for a ride with a friend at the weekend who had an old bike with a handlebar mounted lever for the rear mech, and a downtube mounted lever for the front mech.

I recently converted my (new) Galaxy from bar end shifters to a similar arrangement as part of replacing the drop bars with butterfly bars. I put a Deore 9 speed shifter pod on the handlebars and put the lever from the original bar end on the down tube. Works perfectly for me.

 

[killiekosmos]

It seems to me that gear changers are the wrong way round...... Is this the same for all road bikes? On mine (trek), the shifter to take you into an easier gear is the brake lever, which means being down on the drops to flick it over, and I don't climb down on the drops (neither do most people, from what i can see). Then (obviously) the shifter to take you into a 'harder' gear is up on the top.......not where i tend to ride when i'm chuntering down a hill (i use the drops, as do most people).
Surely it would make sense to have the shifter for the 'harder' gear down in the brake lever, and the other one on the top?? Or is it the way it is for a reason?

I think partly it depends on what model and brand of shifters you have. On my Giant SCR2 I have Tiagra shifters. The brake levers on both sides, if pushed inwards moves the chain to a bigger ring, while the inner (recessed) lever, if pushed in lets the chain drop to a smaller ring. So, on my right hand (working rear derailleur) the big lever gets me a bigger gear at the back and makes pedalling a bit easier, while on my left hand the big lever gets me a bigger chain ring to go faster (or pedal harder!).

I can change up/down on both sides from hoods or drops as levers are long enough to be accessed from most places on the handlebars.

But if you have Sora or Shimano 2200 shifters things are different as they have a thumb lever which I gather is hard to reach from the drops.

 

[StuartG]

Yes - these new fangled indexed jobbies take all the skill out of throwing a chain ... proper gearshifts woz wat downtubes were made for ..

 

[dodgy]

Worst troll ever.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Saw a drop handlebar bike outside Decathlon with gripshift. Mounted inboard, near the stem.

Which I found odd in itself and only now have I got to pondering how one threads a gripshift unit around the drops.