i’m in the process of tweaking my road position and wanted to know if there’s any convential wisdom (or otherwise) for placement of an STI shifter on a road bar?
i’ve noticed a trend of the shifters becoming more vertical as evidenced by some pro setups and the redesigned, rounded shape of the dura-ace ST-7800 versus the more pointy, older version ST-7700, which i have.
any advice or articles on this? thanks much.
Depends on a few things … what kind of shifter (Campy or Shimano), what kind of bars (anatomic vs non, deep vs shallow drop), how you angle the bars, etc.
In general, I’d say mount the levers fairly high on the bend, so that a comfortable riding position is created at the junction of the bar and lever body.
This position is usually a little higher on Campy then Shimano because of the shape of the lever body.
A little history … years and years ago (ok, like '92), I worked in a shop and the old school mechanic taught me mount brake levers so that the bottom of the tip of the brake lever just barely touches a ruler aligned with the flat part of the drop of the handlebar. Bars are mounted a little higher than that now.
I would recommend against simply copying the pro’s. By and large, they are incredible athletes and have very little in common with us mortals. What works for them hardly ever works for us common folk. Horses for courses my dear man.
Put them where they belong for YOU. I have no idea where that might be, unfortunately.
Most of the time you’d be riding on the hoods I guess - so you need that to be comfy for you.
Then go onto the drops and see if the brakes are easily workable and comfortable to use.
If so - that’s the position you want them in.
I normally put the levers on and go for a spin round the block to check out their position before putting the tape on.