What year did STI shifters appear on road bikes?

[Grannygrinder]

I have some 7 speed sti shifters that i'm thinking about putting on a bike from around 97-98, is it too early?

 

[NickD]

No, they were on a fair few years earlier than that. Early to mid 90's IIRC

 

[JustKev]

Tomac was running a Dura-ace road STi lever at the 1990 Worlds.

 

[Grannygrinder]

.

Cool, thats them fitted then. Ta.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

from memory, they were in prototype stage on works teams bikes from 1989. general release about a year later(or so).

 

[Grannygrinder]

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I'm glad I asked as i'd never have put them that early. I was unsure if they were pre 95 or not, thanks all.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Granny, things tended to come out on Road bikes before MTB BiTD. Then get transferred to MTB.
Dura-Ace only initially and it's called a 'Dual Control Lever' part of the STI setup.


If you turn it on its side, beef it up a bit and stick it on some flat bars, you get a reinvention of the wheel for a different purpose some many years later.

 

[Elev12k]

I think launch would have been somewhere in 1990. Earliest Koga Miyata catalogues I see it show up ar from 1991. This Panasonic is from '91 as well (catalogue in Gallery 2)>>

 

[fiks]

I remember pros had them a year before they on sale to the public.

It's amazing sti/ergo have been around for so long and I've never even used them! I tried indexed downtube levers once but didn't like them because of the loud click every time you changed gear.

 

[legrandefromage]

not sure about sti on road bikes first as I'm sure mtb sti appeared in '88

memory is fickle fing...