Haven't yet met anyone who uses them to ask. Does anyone have the new XT or XTR combined shift 7 brake levers. If so, how are they. Does it feel natural, and do you ever brake or shift unintentionally?
Ive used them once they feel ok requires a fair bit of lever movement to change gear i think theyve got a hard spring in there because even though operation is smooth lever movement is pretty firm. When braking even though thay can move up and down they follow your hand movement so they dont. Have not used them long enough but dsighns cool a fairly nice lever id say
i tryed them on a demo bike and was shocked how bad they where. You lose all of your bar and pressure comtrole when breaking cos the lever wobbles up and down and I couldn't even shift when breaking. My recomendation is get sram so while youe fingers are doing the breaking you thumb can do all the shifting.
Sounds like you have a duff set as a result of the demo bike being well used James. I used the XTR flippy shift on my, erm, "extended test ride" of the S-Works and I have to say I was rather impressed - even when I really didn't want to be! The action works very well, squeeze to stop and flip your fingers up or down to change gear. As Jonathan says, the gear changing is a bit stiff, but you quickly get used to that.
The only down side to them is that you're forced to use Shimano brakes; if you could fit other brake systems to the flippy shift system I'd go for 'em like *that*.
