On 2018-02-18 11:17, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 8:05:14 AM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-02-17 18:28, John B. wrote:
[...]
Twist your hand and shift the rear derailer from the
smallest cog to the largest and with the same movement the front
from the largest to the smallest.
Think how many time you shift from the highest gear to the lowest
in one fell swoop on your usual Sunday ride :-?
Not on my Sunday rides but it does on my weekday ride. I regularly
stall the MTB because I can't slam it from high to very low fast
enough, unless I know the terrain, am willing to pre-shift before
the creek bed and travel accordingly slower. So I try to "beat it"
by shifting at the last seconds when I think I'll have just enough
time to get through all the gears, with the double-ratcheting that
Deore M591 RapidFire allows. It ain't as "rapid fire" as friction.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Never had that problem
with friction when in the days when I used my road bike of dirt
paths (had to).
That's when I wish I had a Rohloff. OTOH 1500 bucks dampens that
desire and on a full suspension MTB it would get complicated
anyhow. Plus it won't get me the same gear range.
The good part is that you can probably find some friction shifters
for your MTB in a junk bin at that olde-tyme bike shop in Folsom.
Indexed shift levers would also work. However, not very well on an MTB
with a hydroformed aluminum frame. Grip shifters on the handlebar are
almost as fast but would interfere with the hydraulic brake levers.
You can become known on the trail as the friction shifter guy. With
the cotton t-shirt and shorts thing, along with the five pound
battery, panniers, heart-lung machine, rope, three gallons of water,
nail and rock for chain repair, you'll be like the new Road Warrior,
challenging the whimps with index shifting.
Don't forget the crash-proof 16oz stainless steel thermos with homebrew
IPA in there. The rock doesn't have to ride along, it is provided locally.
BTW, you might snicker about a rope or leash but that has prevented
little Odin from running farther towards a busy thoroughfare where he
could have found a gruesome end of his life. He was later picked up by
his owner at our house.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/