Shimano combination brake - shifer

"mb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Has any one had any experience with the Shimano
bombination brake/shift lever on the any of the dual 26"?
I have a stock Strada and am considering these shifters.

Thanks,

MB

I'll assume that you're talking about the mountain-bike
style (Deore, XT, XTR) as opposed to the road-bike style
(105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace). The road-bike type was used on
some of the Vision R64/R65 models, but required special
handlebars.

I put a set of older XTR brake/shift levers on my Tour
Easy. I *really* prefer them over the Grip Shifts- I was
always having to tweak my wrists to make big shifts with
the Grip Shifts.

A couple compatibility issues will make this an interesting
conversion:

1. All of the better Shimano brake/shift levers are set up
for V-brakes. This isn't a problem for the rear brake on
the Strada, but may be an issue with the front caliper.
V-brake levers pull more cable with less leverage than
older "standard" levers. You may experience reduced brake
effectiveness. I think some of the levers have adjustable
leverage, allowing them to work better with the front
brake caliper.

Another way around this is to use older brake/shift levers
set up for "standard" brake pull. The first editions of
Deore XT and XTR levers were like this- but they may be hard
to find. You'll also be restricted to 8 speed cassettes.

2. The front (left) shifter pulls less cable than a "road"
front derailleur requires. Fortunately, Shimano sells a
front derailleur than works with "mountain bike" shifters
and is set up for larger "road" chainrings: the FD-R443
(link to Shimano webpage: tinyurl.com3grvgOpen ↗ ) or
sheldonbrown.comderailers front.htmlOpen ↗

In short, it can be done, but it's not *just* swapping out
your stock brake and shift levers. I think you'll like the
change, though.

Jeff