Quote:
Originally Posted by CurtEgerer
Today's useless cycling trivia:
1. Pinarello is the #1 winning TdF bike. 15 wins (including both the steel and carbon eras).
2. All of Lance Armstrong's Trek TdF bikes had a downtube shifter for the front derailleur and a standard brifter for the rear derailleur. This is generally said to be for a 2-3 ounce weight savings. Maybe. I think it may have been more to eliminate the possibility of an accidental shift when braking.
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No, they did that to save weight. Those 8 spd shifters were boat anchors (that why they were so durable). Many of us did that too only because we wanted to be cool like the pros, just like cutting the outer part of the platform off the Campy road pedals for better corner clearance and 2 grams of weight saving but the cool factor, priceless. It didn't make much difference in terms of cornering. Oh, lets not forget the removal of plastic dust caps off Super Record cranks or any cranks for that matter.
I rode with one down tube lever for about 3 months and thought, this is dumb. I can shift much faster going up hill while off the saddle then having to sit and shift with my left hand. Those beautiful DA down tube levers were given away. I was never going to need them again.