What's the point of gear indicators.

[xerxes]

Does anyone ever look at which notch their thumbshifters are set to or where the little orange line is on their STI shifters?

I never look at them, it seems to me that they're almost entirely pointless, you feel when the gear is correct and if they are that important, surely they shoul be iluminated for night riding.

 

[lewis1641]

Agreed. They really bug me.

 

[hamster]

More silly marketing from Shimano with another supposed innovation.:roll:

Optical gear indicator...What tosh! Using a big fancy scientific word for visible.

 

[cyfa2809]

ive neve really used mine, apart from looking for wheelie gear it serves no purpose

 

[kaytronika]

I never know what gear I'm regardless. So not much use to me.

 

[ajm]

I thought these were a pointless idea when they first came out, and they only got worse over time - on the newer units I've used the indicator is so vague it only really tells you roughly which end of the cassette the chain is near!

Adds stupid extra complexity for approximately zero gain.... then again, I've always stuck with thumbshifters for my own bike so it doesn't bother me much

 

[tintin40]

Agreed. They really bug me.

+2 that. :x

 

[kaytronika]

Having taken apart (broken) an old Alivio shifter, the mechanism involved is really simple... Just a pin leading up from the shifter to the orange indicator which is on a pivot. There's a spring in there too.

 

[ajm]

Having taken apart (broken) an old Alivio shifter, the mechanism involved is really simple... Just a pin leading up from the shifter to the orange indicator which is on a pivot. There's a spring in there too.

Yeah... but no matter how simple the mechanism, it's still pointless and unnecessary (as well as unsightly IMHO).

 

[kaytronika]

Having taken apart (broken) an old Alivio shifter, the mechanism involved is really simple... Just a pin leading up from the shifter to the orange indicator which is on a pivot. There's a spring in there too.

Yeah... but no matter how simple the mechanism, it's still pointless and unnecessary (as well as unsightly IMHO).

I must admit... The SRAM indicators I tried on a Hardrock Disc and Comp were awful... But I did take an instant dislike to the whole shifter in that case.