[CR]Friction shifting and ramped cassettes

(Example: Framebuilders:Cecil Behringer)

Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 08:31:08 -0800 (PST)
From: "Tom Dalton" <tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com>
To: heine94@earthlink.net, Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]Friction shifting and ramped cassettes

Jan Heine wrote: Campagnolo's derailleurs don't have that feature. They shift immediately - for clean shifts, you have to let up slightly on the pedals. As a result of the immediate shift, you get immediate feedback when you move the friction shift lever.

Are you comparing similar vintage Campy and Shimano stuff? Newer Campy is apparently just Shimano clone, with the Hyperglide (sorry, Exa-Drive) style ramps and the floating guide pulley. Given the apparent similarity in design, it's hard to imagine that the two systems funcction in fundamentally different ways.... or have I missed something? Perhaps you are comparing SIS/Hyperglide to old drop parallelogram Campy?

On a related note, I picked up a barely used 9-speed Dura Ace rear at a recent swap meet, for $20. The seller said that he had switched to Campy Record 10 (in an oddly proud way, as though he had graduated to the big time). I asked which he preferred, and wouldn't you know, it was the Campy. Not that it might not be better, it's just that I almost never hear anyone say that the thing they just spent hundreds of dollars on isn't better than the old, useless thing they got rid of. Usually, the benefit is significant and IMMEDIATELY obvious, even when you're talking about equipment like frames, shoes/pedals, and gear systems that takes hundreds of miles to set up, break in, learn to use, or become accustomed to. Pressing the Campy convert a little, I asked him what he liked better about Ergo over STI. He said something like, "It's hard to describe, but it's a little like the difference between a car with an automatic transmisson, and a manual... like you can really 'feel' the bike into gear on the Campy." So, maybe this is consistent to your observations, but my question would then be what's better about that? Obviouly race cars generally use manual gearboxes because they perform better (more durable, less power loss), but between Ergo and STI these diffs don't exist. It's almost like being harder to use is the benefit. I'm sure both systems are fine once you adapt, but it's hard to see "feeling" the bike into gear as a plus. In the racecar analogy, it's telling that while the clutch has remained in favor over the torque converter, clutch actuation, and even gear selection, have been delegated to electropneumatic systems in many of the more technologically progressive series.

We all like to feel good about our hard-won skills, and that's part of the appeal of vintage, whether you're riding a road bike with a friction system or a brakeless fixed gear. From a racing performance standpoint, however, less workload is less workload.

Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA, USA

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