Ray Green wrote:
> I bought an old stock Gios, probably dated from the early
> eighties, that
> had unusual braze ons. It had cable guides on top of the
> bracket but a
> braze on front changer bracket. I think that most makers
> had changed to
> under bracket tunnels some time before they introduced
> braze on front
> changers.
There's no accounting for fashion. Interestingly, some frame makers have re-considered these two features.
I understand Merckx makes some without the braze-on front derailleur brackets because they don't work so well with compact cranksets (?).
And while under-the-BB tunnels may look neat and don't obscure one's view of a nicely styled shell, they're at least as liable to get your cables all cruddy, require longer cables (bad for friction shifting systems) and mean that the rear derailleur cable gets routed on the underside of the chainstay, making for an extra-sharp turn at the dropout.
Ancient wise man said: Form follows function. Some KOF frames have over-the-BB guides for the better friction shifting they allow.
Emanuel Lowi Montreal, Quebec
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