SRAM Rival Rear Shifter breakage

[Lief]

Had another bad shifter experience on my Rival rear shifter.
This is the 2nd time on a climbing route that I have broken the mechanism inside.

This time I recognized what was happening before-hand and took it to my LBS.
They contacted SRAM and the company is replacing them free of charge under warranty.

That's great (really like SRAM - the feel of these double-taps is pretty sweet while they work) but...

I've been thinking about going with a nice set of bar-ends (EcoVelo really likes Silver Shifters) and
switching to the bull horn style (ala Vendetta) on my Silvio.

I like the idea that:

• 
  I'll be pushing less air (without the drops)
• 
  I am already riding on the hoods sometimes anyway
• 
  maybe less overall weight (brifters, drops)? Dunno bout that but don't really care because it can't be more than a couple hundred grams difference (if they are heavier) and the aero advantage alone should make up for it.

Do you folks have any thoughts/recommendations for or against that idea?

Possible negatives:

• 
  Climbing? I have straight bar drops right now but when I'm climbing steep (over 6% grade) I am up on the hoods anyway in order to lean forward and "engage" my upper body.
• 
  Knee strike? Not sure if the angle of the Telescoping Top Tube on the Silvio will put the bars above a comfortable range where my knees don't strike the bars?

Really want to move away from indexed if I can - like the simplicity of friction (tho I've never run them**).
Simplicior melior - Simpler is better.

Lief
----


** Of course I'd never run a MBB, FWD, recumbent either and I knew I'd like that - annnnnnd I DO.

 

[Lief]

correction

I meant - I'll be pushing less air (without) the drops.
hehe - figured out how to edit the above - but can't delete this reply.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Regular bullhorns?

blief, hi,

You could try regular bullhorns on the Silvio. The Vendetta bars are just too much reach and not enough angle for your hands. Plus they are 31.8 while you have 25.0 on the Silvio bar clamp area ...

Its been hard to get small quantities of components at short notice in Taiwan, its like the supply chains are still shrunk down to nothin' since the global financial crisis. So I don't have spare bar end shifters to sell.

John

 

[Lief]

Regular it is.

I just snagged a set of silver shifters so I'm diving in headfirst.
I'll keep ya posted on progress.

Thanks John.

 

[Lief]

Never did reply to all this

I got my bullhorn bars, scored a good deal on some TT bar end shifters, bought some cross brakes and engaged my LBS to do the install.

In a phrase: it was a disaster.

I couldn't get them right no matter how many ways I tried to adjust.
The brakes and the bar-ends didn't match well so the brakes stuck out at a funny angle.
The shifters were either too far away to reach or the bars were too vertical to be comfortable (can you say ape-hangers?)

So I went back to my standard setup and I only lost two weeks of summer riding time and about $200 in parts (still trying to sell online).

Anyone want some nice SRAM bar-ends for their Vendetta?

My advice: Don't second guess Tolhurst designs and stick to the drops (in my case standard drops) for the Silvio unless you can bend your own bars.

 

[Firecracker]

Bar Ends/Bull Horn

Don't you just wonder why Maria switched to drops on her last stellar attempt?