With the Meh-roica bike now running smoothly…
…it was now time for me to turn my attention to the A. Honus Hildegaard:
All of the above is true, especially the mac and cheese part, and it’s for this reason that since taking delivery of it in March of 2020 it has become perhaps my most important bicycle. Yes, that’s right, I said “important.” That’s because the Hooper has evolved into the bike I depend on most and the one I ride consistently all year round:
Though for that reason it was badly in need of maintenance–and when even I, the world’s worst and laziest mechanic, acknowledge that a bike needs attention then you know it’s in bad shape:
Though I will point out it was still shifting into all the gears just fine, thanks to the twin miracles of friction and Dumonde lubricants.
To this end, I’d acquired and set aside what I needed in order to properly tune it up, though admittedly I was procrastinating until these arrived and I got all excited to try them out:
I mentioned them recently but here’s the description from Rivendell once again:
These two new RBW-branded shifters have both a friction and index mode, and are made for us by Microshift specifically for the OM-1 rear derailer. Some customers have found that the OM-1 indexes fine with existing Shimano and Microshift shifters, but Microshift’s standards are higher still, and they monkeyed with the internal click-stops until the indexing was perfect by their higher standards. Solidly built, reasonably light, nicely finished, and comfortably similar to other thumbies and BES (bar-end shifters).
And here’s how they compare to the Silver and Shimano bar-end shifters:
The friction mode lacks the light magical superfaint tick-tick of the power ratchet in the Silver shifters, but works perfectly, and is smoother than Shimano’s muffled crunchy friction mode. Even though it indexes perfectly, we still encourage you to try the friction, and flip the lever to index if the clicks make life better for you. These are great shifters. We’re thrilled to have them.
The left side shifter is friction only, but it ratchets. The right side is “pure friction”, meaning no ratchet, but in return you get the index option. If you want both sides to ratchet, get our Silver shifters instead.
By the way, according to Rivendell, Shimano is discontinuing the venerable 9-speed bar-end shifter:
In their defense, it was simple and it was reliable and it was versatile, so obviously it was a misguided product that was doomed from the start.
Anyway, Rivendell promotes friction shifting, which not only frees you from the tyranny of proprietary indexed systems, but is also smooth and satisfying to operate. To that end they created the low-normal (or “LoNo,” as I will refer to it going forward just to annoy you) OM-1 rear derailleur, specifically because LoNo works so well with friction:
So basically, while everyone else is making battery-powered drivetrains, Rivendell have created the ultimate in friction refinement.
So isn’t offering an indexed 9-speed shifter designed specifically for this derailleur just a little bit ironic?
Well, maybe, but consider the following:
- It has a friction mode so you’re not locked in
- You still get what I think is one of the major benefits of the LoNo/bar-end combo, that being the levers are both pointed downwards when you’re in your lowest gears and therefore out of the way of your knees when you’re climbing out of the saddle
- Indexed is the new friction, everyone knows that!
Also, you don’t need to buy it. If you want LoNo and you want friction just get the Silvers, or use whatever friction shifters you already have.
Now, as I’ve also mentioned previously, I’ve been using Shimano 10-speed bar-end shifters in indexed mode with an OM-1 derailleur and it’s working more or less perfectly:
But I was curious if these were better, and if so how. And with the F. Hilton Hobson due for a service I figured it was the ideal test-cycle. So I prepared the operating theater:
And removed the diseased organs from the patient:
Who was back up and walking much sooner than I anticipated:
Usually when I operate on a bicycle there’s some unforeseen complication, or I simply screw up. But this procedure went quite smoothly, and the only surprise was when I broke a valve stem while topping up the tires and had to replace a tube. The shifter transplant was particularly easy:
I didn’t even have to change the housing, and was able to simply remove the old pods and slip the new ones right in:
Plus, usually there’s a little trial-and-error when you install the pods, since they rotate while you tighten them so you have to hold them in place and then pop the lever on there to make sure you lined them up correctly. But none of that was necessary here since the housing was secure under all that Newbaum’s and basically held them in place:
I also took the opportunity to change the front derailleur and the crank, mostly to reduce the homeliness factor:
I know outboard bearing cranks are not very Rivendellian, but I remain an unrepentant Hollowtech II apologist.
And yes, of course I change the derailleur for an OM-1, since the whole point here was to see if the dedicated shifter works better with it than a Shimano one does:
And does it? Well, when I first set up the bar-end/OM-1 drivetrain on the Farbman it did take me a couple rides to really get it working perfectly, and I had to stop quite a few times to fiddle with the cable tension. Meanwhile, I haven’t touched the drivetrain on the Hilton since installing it, and it’s been perfect from the very first test ride. However, there are a couple of mitigating factors, and they are:
- The Farbman is 10-speed, the Hilson is 9-speed. Would it have been easier to fine-tune the Farbman if I were using 9-speed Shimano shifters? In theory it shouldn’t make a difference. But who knows?
- I did not replace the chain and cassette on the Farbman, whereas the Hillbilly is using all new stuff. That could account for the easier setup. Would I have had to fuss with the Farb as much with a fresh cassette and chain? Perhaps not.
The above notwithstanding, the shifters and the derailleur worked together perfectly right from the start, despite being installed by a moron. So if you dream of LoNo bar-end indexed shifting and you already have the Shimano shifters, what the hell, you might as well try them. But if you don’t and would need to buy shifters anyway then just get these:
Now I’m kind of curious how well these work (or don’t) with a regular HiNo Shimano derailleur…but I definitely don’t feel like pulling this all apart to find out just yet.