Anyone using the Cinq5 shifters?

[snoogly]

There was a lot of chatter when they first came out, but I haven't read any real reviews online, or heard detailed reports on their use.

http://www.en.cinq5.de/schaltsysteme/shiftr-fuer-flatbars/

Has anyone here taken the plunge?

What I'm most curious about are their reliability and longevity; need for adjustment; visually, can you see which gear you are in?

[Danneaux]

Me!...very soon, anyway. A pair arrived in the mail Friday from Tout Terrain for my extended testing and review in all conditions.

I intend to mount them in parallel with the OEM Rohloff twist - grip shifter so I can do a direct A-B comparison in wet and freezing/snowy conditions over winter as well as in the talc-fine alkali dust I encounter so often in my Great Basin desert touring.

All the best,

Dan.

[triaesthete]

  Looking at the pics it seems like there are some very small ratchet teeth and light springs in the special ex box, thus negating the Rohloff virtue of full enclosure in an oil bath of all the sophisticated parts  And very little cable sealing at the shifter by the look of it.

 I think 1x11 derailleur systems would be a better answer if  shifting requirements become sophisticated as opposed to functional/agricultural.

Analagous to a paddle shift sports gearbox on a Landrover??

I eagerly await your trip up the creek with two paddles Dan.

[Slammin Sammy]

I'm not sure what benefit you get using a paddle system:

1) You're limited to shifting one change at a time. (I can grab four or five with a healthy twist on the Rohloff.)
2) You have to use two hands to go up and down, instead of one.
3) There's no indicator which gear you'r in.
4) Adds complexity for no appreciable (by me) benefit.

Am I missing something? 

[mickeg]

I have the Rohloff shifter that was available in early 2013, it is the round one.

One hot day while riding without gloves I had trouble shifting with my sweaty slippery hands on it, had trouble getting a good grip.  I put a bead of Shoe Goo on it to give me an extra bump for grip.  Shoe Goo is a rubber like compound that is a clear viscous liquid, hardens to a hard rubber like material, similar to shoe sole rubber.

I originally planned to put on three beads for a triangular shape, but after putting on the first bead I decided that I liked having one that was at the highest point when in gear 11, that gave me a better feel for what gear I am in without looking at the shifter.  Now I can feel approximately what gear I am in based on the location of that bead.

I have no desire to look for a different shifter now.

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Although it gets rainy-wet in Oregon, I'd never had a problem shifting the round Rohloff twist-grip shifter...until I encountered continued high humidity along the length of the Danube.

There were some times -- particularly at dewfall or when the humidity was condensing -- when the shifter got so slippery I just didn't have enough friction on my gloves to turn it. Even worse for a bare hand. I can now see the need for a more aggressive shape in some conditions, though I never could have imagined it in my usual locales.

On closer examination the Cinq5 shifter has a number of very innovative and unique features I hadn't realized. It is at once very simple (think Rohloff twist-grip) and complex (in terms of going together completely differently than one would expect...and in a way I like very much and wish Rohloff had adopted from the beginning).

The Cinq5 shifter is not just a shifter...it is a system, including an entirely new EX shift-box that works in a completely different way and solves some problems with the Rohloff design. I'll be running *both* systems on my Nomad Mk2, and will switch between them by attaching one EX shift-box or the other, so I can make quick and direct comparisons.

Too often, reviews of such new products are done in haste and without a full understanding of the intricacies. I want to make sure I fully understand it and have a chance to try it in a variety of environments and conditions before I report or my review would be based largely on speculation and no one wants that. Yes, I'm eager to share impressions, but I want to make sure the information is accurate out of fairness to manufacturer and buyer alike. It might even be that some apparent flaws either aren't...or could be corrected easily as a result. That happens more often than you'd think after a review.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

I'll be interested to hear how quick it is to shift about three gears at once, when I approach a hill or go over the crest of a hill, I am often shifting three gears at once.  It is very easy to give the shifter a rotary a spin to accomplish that.

And it will be interesting to hear if they can be installed like Kelly Takeoffs for drop bars.

[Danneaux]

<nods> Yep; I'll be working to answer those very questions in practice. Any others that come to mind?

Best,

Dan.

[Slammin Sammy]

I have the Rohloff shifter that was available in early 2013, it is the round one.

One hot day while riding without gloves I had trouble shifting with my sweaty slippery hands on it, had trouble getting a good grip.  I put a bead of Shoe Goo on it to give me an extra bump for grip.  Shoe Goo is a rubber like compound that is a clear viscous liquid, hardens to a hard rubber like material, similar to shoe sole rubber.

I originally planned to put on three beads for a triangular shape, but after putting on the first bead I decided that I liked having one that was at the highest point when in gear 11, that gave me a better feel for what gear I am in without looking at the shifter.  Now I can feel approximately what gear I am in based on the location of that bead.

I have no desire to look for a different shifter now.

That's an interesting setup you've got there. Can't say that I've seen the twist grip turned sideways like that! 

[mickeg]

That's an interesting setup you've got there. Can't say that I've seen the twist grip turned sideways like that! 

I did not want the hubbub adapter, did not want my drop bars to stick further out behind on one side.  I also did not want to buy one of the ones that slide over the drop bar up towards the top because I use the cyclo cross style interrupter brake levers and the levers would likely get in the way of shifting.  That meant finding another option.  I describe another option at the link below that I considered, but decided to try this one first.  It works well enough that I will stick with it.

Described more at bottom of page 10 and 11.
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4049.135

[Slammin Sammy]

That is an entertaining thread, Mick. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. It's remarkable how resourceful people can get when it comes to setting up the "cockpit".

[snoogly]

I like the shoe goo idea, think I'll give it a go. I know it shouldn't bother me which gear I'm in, but it would be nice to approximate by feel.

[mickeg]

I like the shoe goo idea, think I'll give it a go. I know it shouldn't bother me which gear I'm in, but it would be nice to approximate by feel.

To try to make it look a bit nicer, I put down masking tape on each side of where I wanted the bead before I put on the Shoe Goo.  Then pulled the tape off after it had set for several minutes.  That gave the edge a cleaner straighter line.  Because much of the volume evaporates, it ended up with a wrinkly surface, I put a second bead on top of the first.

[macspud]

I like the shoe goo idea, think I'll give it a go. I know it shouldn't bother me which gear I'm in, but it would be nice to approximate by feel.

Sugru would work also.
http://sugru.com/about

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

Danneaux, make sure to leave the cables a bit slack or its possible to destroy the mechanism very quickly, trying to press both levers at the same time will also ruin it.