The origins of bar-end shifters and other mysteries

[Jan Heine]

Many of us love bar-end shifters, but little is known about the history of these handy little things.

On the blog today, we're looking at one of those fascinating mysteries of cycling history: Why did 22 racers switch to bar-end shifters DURING the 1949 Tour de France? And why did they use only one bar-end shifter, to control the front derailleur, but kept their downtube lever to operate the rear derailleur?

Aldo Ross dove into his collection of sepia-tone magazines, we scoured the Bicycle Quarterly archives, and we solved this mystery as much as it can be solved almost 70 years after the fact. Head to the blog to read about this and other mysteries from cycling's rich history.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/09/12/international-mysteries-of-cycling-history/

Enjoy!

Jan Heine

Editor-in-Chief

Bicycle Quarterly

Seattle, WA, USA

www.bikequarterly.com

[EasyRider]

I'm no racer, but I've wanted to replace the downtube shifter controlling my front derailleur with a bar-end because I lack the coordination to shift crisply with my left hand. I like the downtube shifter for my RD just fine.

I think I've seen some Riv staff bikes set up opposite, with the FD/left-hand bar-end replaced with downtube shifter, so that when the bike is shouldered it the shifter doesn't poke anyone.