Downtube Shifters in Modern Group Ride! Still Possible with a Vintage Road Bike?

[@clovergrass9439]

For non competitive riding, there's a subtle graceful nuance to using downtube shifters.

[@newoldsteel]

For real! Such a more "direct" connection with the bike it seems and creates a symbiotic flow that can't be matched!

[@savagepro9060]

"Downtube Shifters in Modern Group Ride!" I do that all the time. I get lots of kudos!

[@newoldsteel]

Awesome! Glad to hear that! Keep them alive! Thanks for watching

[@abdul-kabiralegbe5660]

Always a Dane....

[@savagepro9060]

@@abdul-kabiralegbe5660 If You Know, You Know

[@thegoodwheel]

Man! This was awesome. I appreciate you coming down and riding with us. Yes, your bike definitely made an impression on many. Hope we get to do it again.👍🏾

[@juliuscaesar4802]

The man and the myth himself ❤ love your content man

[@newoldsteel]

Thanks for watching! I cannot wait for next time! So cool to show everyone this bike and inspire a few folks!

[@savagepro9060]

Hey, you're everywhere? 😂🤣😅

[@thegoodwheel]

@savagepro9060 I go where you go🙃

[@thegoodwheel]

@juliuscaesar4802 thank you!

[@MyFloridaSRTcom]

Nice meeting you on the ride 👍🏼

[@newoldsteel]

Same here! Can't wait to ride again, hopefully real soon!

[@ericsande5345]

On a Vegas group ride a few years ago, one rider was checking out my old De Rosa SLX so I naturally thought he was admiring it. Eventually he said "How do you switch the gears?"

[@HunterAtheist]

Haha It's a form of theft protection. Leave it in biggie smalls, and they can't ride away. lol

[@newoldsteel]

Oh no lol! So crazy that there are folks that have no clue what downtube shifters are. I'm not from the era but still love and respect them! Thanks for watching

[@angela-onesroman8873]

lol 😆, either your showing your age or you have an eye for fine classics.

[@ericsande5345]

@@HunterAtheist I have actually done that, though I usually lock up the front brake with the barrel adjuster to make it unrideable.

[@hikojeep5254]

Man, I was just watching Luis s' video on Cinelli gravel bike build thinking if you guys were close by. Nice that you're in the same area.

[@newoldsteel]

What a steller bike he's got! Hopefully another collab in the near future. Thanks for watching!

[@markymarknj]

BOTH of my vintage road bikes have downtube shifters! My 1986 Marukin M-420 has clamp-on Suntour shifters with a Cyclone front derailleur and a Cyclone 7000 rear derailleur; it originally came with ARx on both the front and rear, but I wanted the Cyclone groupset instead. Also, because I live in a hilly area, I had to swap out the original Sakae 52/42 crankset; I tried finding a chainring that would fit, but no luck. Hence, I now have a Sun Race 50/34 crank, which makes the bike usable. Oh, and the Marukin has an Ishiwata 025 CroMo frame. My Cannondale ST500, also from 1986, has downtube shifters too. However, unlike the Marukin, its downtube shifters are brazed on; i.e. they're hard mounted to the downtube. 1986 was the year Cannondale used the Shimano 600 groupset on the bike. It came with a 50/44/28 crank with Biopace rings. I had the middle ring swapped out; luckily, my LBS had a 34 tooth Biopace ring laying around, so it was a quick and easy change. Now has a 50/34/28 crank. My Cannondale has an Al frame. I had the middle ring swapped out for two reasons. One, because its size was so close to that of the big ring, overshooting shifts (i.e. shifting to the big ring when I really wanted to use the middle) was all too common; I'd overshoot, then have to drop back down to the middle ring, losing precious momentum. Two, I wanted the bike to be usable in my hilly area. Otherwise, my Cannondale is all original.

[@kermittthefruad3817]

Yooo always love a new upload!

[@newoldsteel]

Thank you so much for the support!

[@jeremyemilio9378]

It's ok until the group suddenly surges and/or you need to ride out of the saddle due to the surge/on a climb

[@newoldsteel]

Oh yea, and with downtube shifters you gotta be prepared to put in the watts to keep up, but makes it more fun "underbiking" compared to everyone else. Thanks for watching!

[@imrevadasz1086]

I've done several group rides, both road and gravel, with downtube shifters. But average was at most ca. 19mph, and maybe up to 20-21 on faster parts while riding in a bunch. The only issues I've had was when I tried to shift to quickly (and haven't adjusted the FD perfectly) and pushed off the chain to the outside, but I can just shift the chain back on to the oiter chainring 😅. But for steep hills, the downtube shifters sometimes felt like an advantage, because it's so much faster to shift down and up again by several gears.

[@BM-xm1zz]

Hey mate, toss in a 10 speed cassette in friction mode 11-23. Works a treat with Suntour gpx

[@ronwhite8503]

Threadless stem conversions look ugly on steel frames. Quill stems are far more elegant.

[@johnnydoe66]

I once had a rider ask me about my '91 Trek 2100 Pro which had full Shimano 105 and downtube shifters. He asked, "What are those for?" while pointing at my shifters levers. I said, "Are you serious?" and yes he was, he hadn't seen them before. Curious, do you use just one hand to shift both levers? I always used my right hand for shifting and for grabbing a water bottle. I no longer have that Trek, I sold it to one of the owners of an LBS where the bike had originally been purchased.

[@newoldsteel]

oh my that's so crazy people not knowing what dt shifters are! It was before my time but still love them more than brifters! I would say 90% of the time I do just use my right hand for both shifters, but sometimes use my left for the front chaining. With Suntour shifters, the left one on the smaller chainring will sit flush with the tube angle so a little harder to reach, but I developed the habit only using my right hand when I learned with Shimano downtube shifters as the left one is always "elevated" and easier to wrap my right pointer finger around it to shift to the big chainring.

[@kaiserpuppydog7174]

Did the Diamondback Master find a new rider?

[@newoldsteel]

It did sadly, but ultimately it was one size too big so wasn't too bummed to let it go, but it was such an incredible frame that if one pops up in my size I may snag it. Thanks for watching!

[@OutThere42]

At 6:50, how gravel is that gravel road to the left? With 32 mm tires if it’s hero gravel, have you ever tried to ride it?

[@OutThere42]

I know it’s blasphemy, but would you ever move the shifter for the rear derailer to the bar end? I’ve taken my old steel bike and made it a flat bar and thinking of putting a trigger or thumb shifter on the flat bar for the rear derailer.

[@pastelink6767]

Possible? Yes Safe? No Downtube shifters are a significant safety risk in fast group rides and races. I personally wouldn't want someone close enough to overlap my rear wheel mess with downtube shifters instead of having both hands on the bars.

[@newoldsteel]

I do believe you can stay safe only IF you have years of practice as if you are not in the right gear, you have to just bite the bullet and just pedal harder. But also, folks do take their hands off the bars to grab water bottles so I think the one handed riding is always an overlooked skill riders don't realize has to be practiced before riding in groups too. My philosophy is always be covering a brake when shifting. Thanks for watching!

[@donttouchthisatall]

Respectfully disagree with the "unsafe" concept. If you are in a group ride (esp. a fast one), you should be able to handle your bike well, this be safe if you remove one hand from the handlebar. I mostly ride DT-shifter bikes and there is no safety concern, even If I go 40 kmph

[@ronwhite8503]

That says more about your cycling ability than the safety of down tube shifters.

[@alexjohnson6462]

Not going to lie, but video titles like ths ragebait me a bit (obviously effective title nonetheless). As much as I enjoy talking about the nostalgia of old tech, it does anger me a bit when people talk about down tube shifters as if they are the equivalent of knowing how to drive a vehichle with a manual transmission (stickshift). Not even remotely close. Down tube shifters are every bit as easy as STI shifters, if not even easier when in indexed mode as the "clicks" are so much more positive than spongey STI levers. As for the whole placement of the levers angle... I just dont get it. For the life of me, I just dont get why people think there is any big difference between the two. Well, actually there is a difference I have noticed over the years, and that is STI levers have made people incredibly lazy, and they hunt for gears incessantly (even on flat ground) which is an incredibly bad habit aside from being incredibly annoying. Riding right next to certain people who gear hunt every ten seconds is second only to squeeling disc brakes on the annoyance scale. You never saw this bad habit back when riders could easily climb hills in 42 tooth chainring with 21 or 23 max cassettes. It made for stronger riders because you only shifted when you really needed to instead of relying on huge cassettes and nonstop shifting every ten seconds. Retrogrouch rant over for now. Anyway, I still daily ride my 1988 Alan carbon fiber and 1991'ish Merlin Extralight titanium, both with the original Dura Ace and down tube shifters. Group rides, solo rides, time trial training, and hill training; I still prefer these bikes to my new aero bike with Campag Record and 60mm deep wheels as the old bikes are every bit as fast as my new bike (except when going downhill. 30+mph is when those deep section wheels really start kicking in). When I do the Horrible Hundred ride in Clermont, I always get way more attention with my old Merlin titanium than my new aero bike. This frustrated me a bit the first year I brought my new bike. I guess that in a sea of carbon bikes, yet another carbon bike rarely stands out. People almost always notice down tube shifter bikes.

[@TFB2000]

You are obviously a strong rider! Thanks for representin lovely steel bikes! Can't say I'm a fan of downtube shifters... but I'm glad they work for you ;). Nice to see two KZbinrs I watch come together :).

[@newoldsteel]

I have noticed that "gear hunting" when people have STI shifters! With downtube shifters you probably know yourself, you have to really be smart with your gear picks and STICK WITH IT as you have no choice if you are out of the saddle, but definitely creates a better flow and stronger rider! Those early carbon fiber bikes are always so incredible too. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it!