There is also the issue that downtube shifters can be a long way down for a really tall rider. My wife loves her stem shifters.
Joe
At 03:14 PM 11/30/00 -0500, stephen fredette wrote:
>there does seem to be a certain
>reflexive disdain for stem shifters
>from people who went through the seventies.
>it seems to be one of those shibboleths
>that are the touchpoints of seperating
>yourself out from the crowd of dilletantes,
>such as knowing campagnolo, 531,
>tubulars, etc.
>however i've always considered this view
>of stem shifters unfair. perhaps because
>i came to biking later on, i never viewed them
>with the perceived knowledge, around the old
>bike shop mentality.
>i still use them to this day, and i never
>ride the bar tops. also i don't have to
>change position to shift. there is a very
>natural circular motion from the drops to the
>shifter and back that is the essence of
>conserved motion.
>i've never come anywhere near hitting them
>with my knees while out of the saddle,
>and i'm unconvinced this is possible,
>since i don't think they are spaced further apart
>than downtube shifters.
>as far as injury, it never occured to me.
>i've been in several bad crashes, and my head
>hands and bones were far more of a concern.
>one thing i will say is that most stem shifters
>are an aesthetic nightmare, but the chromed schwinn
>set i find to be small masterpieces.
>one last point, when i got my first bike
>with downtube bosses this year, i was excited
>about finally using downtube shifters.
>unfortunately because of some perceptual problems
>from a stroke i had a couple of years ago,
>it became apparent that my left hand couldn't find
>the shifter (once the hand is out of my sight,
>it loses spacial orientation), so after a few months
>i switched back to stem shifters.
> Stephen Fredette
> Hull, Massachusetts