I live in a hilly, rolling hills area. do you recommend bar end shifters for this type of terrain?? or should i focus on race terrain which could vary from race to race.
Hey yakfshr1,
I hope I understand your question-
Most will tell you to train most of your time on a road bike and as you near an event on a Tri/TT set-up. If you are like me and can’t afford both then go with a Tri set-up with bar-end shifters. We have both types of terrain here in San Diego and I really don’t find it difficult to use the bar-end shifters on the hills, though I would imagine it’s much easier in the road set-up. I myself prefer training in a varied terrain because as you said it varies from race to race. It also gives you a nice balance while keeping training interesting. Good Luck.
I switched from STI shifters on a road bar to a large drop bullhorn and bar-end shifters when I started doing big hills. I found that to be the best combination overall for me, and have been riding that way for over 10 years now. I usually use the ball of my hand right at the end of the bar, so with one finger-flick I can change gears. I only own one bike, and it’s set up for doing TT/Triathlon…I train and race on the same setup.
I agree with both posts. I can only maintain 1 bike and that is for tri’s.Have cowhorn with syntace c2 and barend shifters. Some people prefer sti when climbing but I don’t find barend that much of a problem especially after you get used to them and it makes you thing about your gearing ahead of time instead of spur of the moment.
Rolling hills is about all we got in my area (SF bay area). I mostly climb in the aero bars though. I have 2 bikes, 1 with bar ends and 1 with STI. I prefer bar end shifters actually. I like the fact that you can shift multiple gears either direction with the bar ends as opposed to 3 up and 1 down with STI and you can “trim” the shifting slightly if derailleur isn’t set quite right.