Grant McLean wrote:
> Tom,
>
> This is another interesting shimano quirk.
>
> The 1980 AX group indeed had aero brake levers, and yet when 7400 dura ace
> was introduced, 4 years later, it has conventional cable routing option
> only!
>
> Further evolutions of 7400/1 groups are actually pictured in the catalog
> with
> AX levers in an inset photograph beside the group!! (5 year old levers!)
> until the time when the first widespread aero dura-ace brake lever appeared
> as the 7401 in 1986.
>
> Even further "oddness" is that 7400 was also only available originally
> as 6 speed, even though 7 speed freewheels were widely in use at this time.
>
> So for 7400, generally a group that is remembered as being so innovative
> for SIS, actually had rather "old school" features, beyond the fact that
> the right hand dt lever tended to go "click" when it moved.
>
> I've said this before, I believe this was the case because dura ace AX was
> a total and utter failure at retail. Shimano had to "regroup", (bad pun)
> and their
> next major design push needed to be in a less radical direction to assure
> the world that they had not completely lost their minds.
They went to great lengths to impress those of us in the business that wherever possible, the "New Dura Ace" was fully compatible with Campagnolo. And, by 1984, "Aero" had gotten a bad reputation, what with the ovalized frame tubing being too flexible, and the wheels being so heavy. Most people realized (briefly) that all that extra weight was no fun hauling up a hill, and that heavy aero bikes only made sense for pursuit events on the track or the hour record.
-- Peter Jon White Peter White Cycles 24 Hall Rd. Hillsborough, NH 03244 603 478 0900 Phone 603 478 0902 Phax http://www.PeterWhiteCycles.com
Published reports that Peter Jon White is being investigated by the CIA for smuggling Teletubby videos into Guantanamo Bay may not be exaggerated.