It's true, Shimano shifters are smoother. And some people pledge their lives to Campagnolo...though I could never adapt to the thumb shifter. But my first ride with SRAM's upstart Double Tap system won me over. It took precisely two shifts for the new system to become intuitive, and my favorite by far. Exactly one upshift, and one downshift. BAM! Sold. Shimano had a good idea, but using the brake lever to shift? Wonky, but good enough until SRAM came along with the ultimate non-electric mechanism. The SRAM brakes eat Shimano for breakfast. The front shifting, even on a compact setup, is nearly as good as shifting at the back. Like nothing I've ever experienced before.
Granted, I've never ridden with top-of-the-line Dura-Ace (except for the old-style downtube shifters), nor spent a lot of time on Campagnolo. But the Double Tap system alone is enough to woo me away from both of the ancient brands.
I sometimes wonder if maybe I should feel at least a little guilty. Shimano has always treated me well. They function properly, hardly ever fail at critical moments, tens of thousands of miles have rolled by under my wheels, controlled by Shimano components. But I don't. Feel bad at all. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, Shimano, and you've got to keep up. Your engineers should have been busy trying out whole new shifting paradigms, rather than sitting on their laurels and complacently shaving a few grams off year by year.
Electronic shifting, you ask? Yeah...that will be interesting. It's an intriguing idea. Half of me scoffs and wonders "How lazy can you be?". The other half...the half that works on precision electromechanical gadgets all day...raises an eyebrow and says "Yeah, push-button shifting might be cool." Needless to say, with two halves of me at odds, I can sometimes look funny. One side scowling, the other with curiously-raised brow.
For time-trials and triathlons (which are really just time-trials with some silly running and swimming thrown in for no apparent reason) it's a no-brainer. Go strap some monstrously expensive electronic shifters on those ridiculously expensive aero bars. You've already dropped over $10k on the bike, another few thousand for the components won't break the bank. Now you can shift without disturbing your carefully calibrated airflow, and also shift while on the bullhorns. And your fingers might be cold from that bizarre business with the water, so pressing a button will be easier then moving a lever, right?
One thing I would like to see is a teeny-tiny - say 5 watts - generator charging up a capacitor to run the derailers. No batteries. If the weight can be kept down, and the recharge time short enough... That would retain the freedom and self-contained wonder of bicycling...with the marvel of push-button shifting. Ideally I think a capacitor with...er, capacity...to perform four or five shifts on a charge, and maybe 10 seconds to fully recharge...that would do the trick. If you need more shifting than that, you should reevaluate your riding technique. Check it out Shimano. And get on with it, SRAM. Like I said, it's a dog-eat-dog world, you have to keep up.
Sadly, only one of my road bikes currently has SRAM components. All the others slouch dejectedly against the wall, jealously eyeing the 22-year-old frame and its fancy new components:
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