Shifting in the drops

Fogmeister

Just bought my first road bike last week (Trek 1.1 2010 model).

I absolutely love it and being brought up on mountain bikes I thought it'd be an easy transition... I was wrong.

Anyway, I've been practising getting down into the drops (mainly on flats at the moment with some gentle down hills). The first time I was there I suddenly realised I can't shift ... erm... down? up? whatever? when in the drops.

The bike has Shimano 2300 STI shifters...



and the down shifter is placed where your thumb is when on the hoods.

I'm guessing the only way round this is replacing the shifters which is probably a bit extreme this early in riding but does anyone have any recommendations or links for shifters that will allow me to shift from the drops.

A friend of mine has some that use levers just behind the brake levers. Single click press for up and double click for down. (Or something like that). Does anyone know what they are?

Thanks for any help!

Oliver

Peddle Up!

Don't want to seem to be rude, but RTFM?

Fogmeister

Show me the manual and I will read it.

nakita222

The cheapest shifters that have the same system as your friend are shiman tiagra ones, with you current shifters it is not possible to shift from the drops, unless your thumbs are longer than your legs

ddraver

Yep, you can only shift down from the hoods (unless you have a bunch of banannas for fingers) This was the main reason I changed shifters.

Anything by SRAM is OK, Campagnolo all shift as yours do now (but I think the downshift lever a bit better placed) and everything Shimano 105 and above are OK

If I can embrace my inner roadie, you ll get there soon enough!

Fogmeister

nakita222 wrote:

The cheapest shifters that have the same system as your friend are shiman tiagra ones, with you current shifters it is not possible to shift from the drops, unless your thumbs are longer than your legs

Cool!

Thanks!

Will have a search around for them. Before setting off I did wonder if it was just positioning of my hands etc... but I think I need an extra 2 or 3 thumb joints in each thumb to be able to reach them.

Peddle Up!

Peddle Up! wrote:

Don't want to seem to be rude, but RTFM?

Sorry, wrong shifters. I was an ass.

redvee

Fogmeister wrote:

Show me the manual and I will read it.

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 683910.pdf

Fogmeister

redvee wrote:

Fogmeister wrote:

Show me the manual and I will read it.

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 683910.pdf

::reads manual::

Yup, section 10a says you have to implant 3 extra joints in your thumbs to use the down shifters from the drops.

Cleat Eastwood

There are 3 types of shifter that have the gear change paddle behind the brake lever. These are.
SRAM


SHIMANO


CAMPAG


With shimano ones you shift up a gear using th paddle and down a gear by pushing in the brake.

Sram only uses the paddle to change, one long tap for an easy gear two short taps (hence its name the double tap system) for a harder gear.

camapg is similar to shamano but since you have shaman to change to these would mean major changes to your groupset.

shame theres not a manual for good manners. Ah well.

Fogmeister

Thanks for all the help!

Lots of info to go on.

Having had a quick look... wow! That's a lot more money than I was expecting, lol!

I now see what was meant when I read the owning a road bike is addictive and bad for you wallet!

TyeBag

Shimano tiagra shifters can be had for 90-100 on eBay

I see some 9speed tiagra Shifters for sale on here for £100

night_porter

Shimano Tiagra are the "cheapest" upgrade you could go for from your current setup.

But no-one seems to have pointed out that you cannot just buy a pair of shifters, bolt them on and they will work.

You currently have 8 gears on your right hand shifter and 2 or 3 on the left. The left would be no problem as long as you buy the appropriate 2 or 3 gear Tiagra lever.

The main problem is that Tiagra is 9 speed so you would have too many "clicks" for your current gears.

As a 9 speed cassette and an 8 speed cassette are the same size that means that the amount of cable pull must be different so indexing with the wrong pull would be a nightmare.

Therefore you would need to change the cassette as well as the shifters. This then means your chain is slightly too wide to fit onto the cassette so that would also need changing.

Replacing Shimano with Campag or Sram will incur even more costs as more will need to be changed so they are really not an option.

It is much cheaper and simpler to move your right hand up to the top of the bars briefly to change gear and upgrade to different shifters when you move on to your 2nd bike.

Don't get me wrong it can be done but it might be a lot more expensive than you first imagine for very little gains.

Plenty of people ride bikes with 2300 or Sora shifters and don't have problems with them, it is just a matter of getting used to it.

yeachan153

I find even when on drops, you can sort of rotate your hand so it reaches the lever and just press it; back onto drops

martincashman

I bought a cheap winter bike with same shifters and you just get used to reaching up and changing. So much it becomes second nature and when I switched back to my summer bike with 105 shifters, it took a bit of time to readjust and I missed the little thumb shifters for a little while.

Cost is too high to make the change for the little benefit you get.

nickel

I find even when on drops, you can sort of rotate your hand so it reaches the lever and just press it; back onto drops

Dmak

Body position on the drops with elbows bent accordingly is the same as being on the drops.

I've thought the same as you at one point but I actually quite like clicking up the gears with my thumb and the extra £'s in my pocket. I can't justify the cost yet!

Some expensive campag stuff uses a similar system.

I'd suggest sticking with them for a bit, you might learn to like them.

Duffer65

I have Sora shifters on my bike and have to change with the thumb lever. I haven't found it a problem, maybe give it a few more weeks before making any (expensive) changes.

sheffsimon

Fogmeister wrote:

Just bought my first road bike last week (Trek 1.1 2010 model).

I absolutely love it and being brought up on mountain bikes I thought it'd be an easy transition... I was wrong.

Anyway, I've been practising getting down into the drops (mainly on flats at the moment with some gentle down hills). The first time I was there I suddenly realised I can't shift ... erm... down? up? whatever? when in the drops.

The bike has Shimano 2300 STI shifters...



and the down shifter is placed where your thumb is when on the hoods.

I'm guessing the only way round this is replacing the shifters which is probably a bit extreme this early in riding but does anyone have any recommendations or links for shifters that will allow me to shift from the drops.

A friend of mine has some that use levers just behind the brake levers. Single click press for up and double click for down. (Or something like that). Does anyone know what they are?

Thanks for any help!

Oliver

Is is a problem to move your hand to change gear then put it back on the drops??

Fogmeister

SheffSimon wrote:

Is is a problem to move your hand to change gear then put it back on the drops??

I'll have to give it a while before I can do that at speed.

Still lacking a bit of confidence on the drops.

I've just been waiting to get into a suitable gear before moving there in the first place so I don't have to down shift once I'm there.

-steves-

Fogmeister wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

Is is a problem to move your hand to change gear then put it back on the drops??

I'll have to give it a while before I can do that at speed.

Still lacking a bit of confidence on the drops.

I've just been waiting to get into a suitable gear before moving there in the first place so I don't have to down shift once I'm there.

You soon get very used to it and gain confidence with it, before you know it you won't even realise your moving your hand to change, it just becomes a reaction

Alibran

Fogmeister wrote:

I'll have to give it a while before I can do that at speed.

Still lacking a bit of confidence on the drops.

I've just been waiting to get into a suitable gear before moving there in the first place so I don't have to down shift once I'm there.

Like steves says, you'll get used to it.

I was the most terrified road cyclist ever when I first started - honest - but it wasn't long before I was on the drops, trying to make myself as aerodynamic as possible, and only just managing not to scream with excitement like a kid riding down every steep hill.

I'd already seen the advice about shifters on this forum before I bought my bike (the same bike as yours, only an earlier women's model), and I got my lbs to upgrade the shifters and the rear cassette before I even picked it up. However, my OH has the same bike with the same shifters as you, and gets on fine with them. I think it's just a case of getting used to moving your hand from the drops to the shifters while keeping the rest of your upper body still.

jgsi

Duffer65 wrote:

I have Sora shifters on my bike and have to change with the thumb lever. I haven't found it a problem, maybe give it a few more weeks before making any (expensive) changes.

I used my Allez with Sora last night in a race where roads were a bit on the rough side and also damp -- gear changes - not an issue .. actually had my best finish so far this season.
Dont bother upgrading a cheap bike - aint worth it - save up for a more blingy one if that floats yer boat.

Hierotochan

I completely agree with the OP about the ergonomics of the shifters, I suggest this may help to reach the triggers while riding the drops: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/e7d1/

I am still waiting for my C2Work voucher to arrive, but luckily I did quite a few test rides & noticed that issue before I decided on a bike.
All in all I've now decided to pay an extra £600 to get the bike I want (£1500 total), as Bianchi don't do a celeste frame with a Shimano groupset.
So after a lot of ringing around the guy I found in my (not so local) LBS has offered to buy in 2 bikes & switch the components from one frame to the other for me, so cheers Paul!
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the name of the shop but http://www.lepelotoncycles.com/ have been unbelievably helpful in sorting me out.

TomParker1

Back to the future mate, get downtubes

Hierotochan

Hehe! Yeah, then I just have to worry about loosing my fingers to the wheel!

I have been donated a pretty rough condition Puch (best guess is 70's) which I'm going to work on as a project & hopefully have ready as a winter bike.
Still, I suppose the Simplex gears are still operable with one finger...