EGS Syncro Shift sequential 3x shifters

[mechagouki]

Thought I'd post these up for their entertainment value. These are EGS SyncroShift shifters from the late 1990s. Back-story: EGA was a short lived company who to the best of my knowledge only ever produced two components - these shifters (several variants exist including a very nice all-metal one) and a fairly revolutionary rear derailleur. They weren't too successful and when it was obvious the business wasn't going anywhere they sold the company including all patents to Shimano. A few years after that the "Shadow" rear mountain derailleurs appeared showing obvious influence from the EGS derailleur:

SyncroShift had to wait a few years more for a resurrection, and when it came, it was in name alone - as the sequential shifting option on 2x and 3x Shimano XTR Di2 drivetrains.

What were these original SyncroShift shifters? Basically two shifters in one, pulling two cables to move front and rear derailleurs through a logical sequence on unique ratios - eliminating cross gearing and simplifying gear choice.

Do they work? No idea, these two are NOS, passed on to me by a friend who worked in R&D at Shimano. Never got around to hooking them up. They are enormous (see X-Ray in picture for scale), heavy, and frankly, just playing with them, they don't give the impression that they would accurately shift a 3x8 or 3x9 drivetrain in any kind of enjoyable way.

History lesson over.

 

[legrandefromage]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=318314&start=10

The original shifter was barking:

 

[mechagouki]

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=318314&start=10

The original shifter was barking:

Nice! The full CNC kit. Looked amazing, probably mediocre performance, though that's entirely an assumption on my part.

 

[legrandefromage]

Why would it be mediocre? Its designed to shift both mechs at the same time. you can set it to what you want.

The rear mech can be used with a normal shifter too.

*so I believe anyway!

 

[mechagouki]

Why would it be mediocre? Its designed to shift both mechs at the same time. you can set it to what you want.

The rear mech can be used with a normal shifter too.

*so I believe anyway!

Well, if you think about how regular gripshifts work, this system has to figure out a way of pulling the correct 2:1 ratio for a Shimano rear derailleur whilst also winding up the tension in the front shift cable so that at exactly the right point it moves the chain on to the next front chain ring. Assuming you got that set up correctly, and your cables are perfectly pre-stretched, you then have other factors such as pedal load to deal with, simultaneous front and rear shifts under load are not well tolerated by bicycle drivetrains, derailleur cage/wheel interactions may occur.

As I said, all supposition on my part, though based on decades of wrenching on all kinds of drivetrains. Rear derailleur performance might be fine, it certainly looks solid and well thought out, though if Paul components couldn't make a 2:1 derailleur work, EGS probably had their work cut out for them.