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Shimano is an amazing bike parts maker!
The company's first rear derailliur(that I remember) in 1970 was a stamped-steel campy Critterium-ish copy called the "Eagle". It shifted nicely and was Bomb-Proof! It also weighed in at around 2 Pounds!
Your basic dual flat (straight in)parrallelogram(the body moved down and back) as the cage climbed the rear freewheel sprockets.
Then came Suntour with the V-GT and smaller cage Honor all stamped steel rear changers,theirs was the first to use the "Slant-pantograph" design. Somewhere in here Shimano changed the design about two points and nearly duplicated Suntour's design and went on to become King of the multi-speed Drivetrain.
Over the decades wev'e seen the "Titleist" all alloy model,The Sante' designer series(very "pretty stuff!)
leading to the 105,Ultegra and the venerable Dura Ace.
Even Shimano's entry-level stuff (Sora/Tiagra)although heavy,works nice if kept clean and maintained. Too bad Suntour got lost in Shimano's wake,becuase they made some nice stuff as well.(Suntour SRX).
Shimano has been in the cycling forefront with such inventions as STI integrated Shifter/brake levers(wich Campagnolo then copied..poorly with it's "Ergopower" Unit).
I guess Shimano just makes bicycles Better,especially in the price range of the average rider!
The company's first rear derailliur(that I remember) in 1970 was a stamped-steel campy Critterium-ish copy called the "Eagle". It shifted nicely and was Bomb-Proof! It also weighed in at around 2 Pounds!
Your basic dual flat (straight in)parrallelogram(the body moved down and back) as the cage climbed the rear freewheel sprockets.
Then came Suntour with the V-GT and smaller cage Honor all stamped steel rear changers,theirs was the first to use the "Slant-pantograph" design. Somewhere in here Shimano changed the design about two points and nearly duplicated Suntour's design and went on to become King of the multi-speed Drivetrain.
Over the decades wev'e seen the "Titleist" all alloy model,The Sante' designer series(very "pretty stuff!)
leading to the 105,Ultegra and the venerable Dura Ace.
Even Shimano's entry-level stuff (Sora/Tiagra)although heavy,works nice if kept clean and maintained. Too bad Suntour got lost in Shimano's wake,becuase they made some nice stuff as well.(Suntour SRX).
Shimano has been in the cycling forefront with such inventions as STI integrated Shifter/brake levers(wich Campagnolo then copied..poorly with it's "Ergopower" Unit).
I guess Shimano just makes bicycles Better,especially in the price range of the average rider!
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Idaho
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Re: Shimano!
Sun, June 4, 2006 - 11:50 AMwait until you see what SRAM will have on the market in a few months:
www.flickr.com/photos/steed/106146622/ -
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Re: Shimano!
Sun, June 4, 2006 - 8:39 PMSRAM stuff shifts smoothly,but those road levers look a bit "Flimsy" Like their "Composite" (Plastic) derailleurs.
I had a Sram 5.0 rear derailleur on my last Mountain Bike and wiped it out hitting a rock. Shimano's all Alloy models are a bit heavier but a lot more durable.
The single shift aspect of their new lever sounds promising though. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 1:00 AMi ran SRX's on my tour bike and dearly miss them. on my trike i run shimono deiors and hate them. SRX's shifted smoothly and quietly all you could hear or feel was a click as the chain stepped...... nice!! shimonos shift like trucks, loudly slamming into gear noisy crappy hard shifts that throw your feet off the clips. speaking with Shimono they say this is positive shifting, bull pucky! If i see SRAM with a nice derailer set that is silky smooth and quiet im gonna be in line for it. the sooner i get away from shimono the better. -
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Unsu...
Smooth shift?
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 7:15 AMDura Ace with teflon lined cables - any shifter.
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Unsu...
Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 7:13 AMI blew up a shimano rear deraileur on my mountain bike riding up a paved hill...
jus' saying - everybody has a bad day no and then. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 8:53 AMTrue, true! I don't have a problem with Shimano. They bring decent equipment at affordable prices, but I agree that they are largely stiff and clunky, especially on my road bike. They don't even come close to comparing with the smoothness and quality of Campy. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 1:06 PMmost people complain that shimano duar ace STI levers are smooth and silent in their operation and you can't 'feel' the shift', while Campag has always been more robust in their 'feel' where you need to use mroe effort and the ratchets are more notchey and positive.
Shimano redesigned the new dura ace with that in mind and make the ratcheting more positive and louder. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 1:41 PMI don't get it; the Feel comes from the gear you are in as long as the shifter lever clicks in place (so you know you are not hanging between gears). it aint like you look at your feet to shift; you feel it either get harder or easier to peddle. the de-railer is the ticket; if it moves the chain smoothly under torque its good. if it shifts so hard you bounce your feet... bad! I actually like my shimono shifters its the de-railer i don't like. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 1:43 PMYes. For me, though, the Shimanos have always been clunky. I also had a lot of problems with a firm shift. The Campy gear I've used has never missed a shift. I can't say the same for my Shimano, either Ultegra or Dura Ace. I spent a lot of time looking down to watch the shift, because I wasn't confident to hammer until I was sure the shift had taken hold.
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Unsu...
Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 6:56 PMThe most recent bike I built up is a roadie with a 9 cog cassette (which I think is silly) the slight difference in the cog sizes as opposed to the larger difference one may have been used to back in the 5 cog days is so subtle and the shifting so smooth that I find myself looking on occasion to see if I really did shift. -
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Re: Shimano!
Fri, January 12, 2007 - 7:11 PMLOL ya i love to put my cob on. but the shimono is even clunky on my cob, its only a 9 tooth spead. i should not even feel a chain jump
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Re: Shimano!
Mon, April 7, 2008 - 7:41 AMInterestingly enough Shimano just bought Pearl Izumi so who knows what will come out of that? Zippers that will only work with Shimano zippers I suppose. Shimano shoes that will only work with Pearl Izumi socks ?
Although SunTour is sadly gone a lot of the new Sram equipment is quite nice and fills a lot of areas that SunTour occupied. Sram's customer service is second to none. Ever call Shimano or Campy for tech support ? Hah! They've gotten better but Sram beats them by a wide margin.
