Index shifting history?

[Jmaxwel8]

I was just curious this morning when index shifting was replaced as the industry standard. You know one of those random thoughts you have when you are bored in an airport.

[ElvisMerckx]

I remember seeing Dura Ace indexed downtube shifters in 1985 or '86 -- about the same time Look introduced clipless pedals and Giro introduced the first lightweight styrofoam racing helmet. It was an innovative time to race bikes.

[csm]

Summer of 85. It was on a Trek 2000 bonded aluminum bike. It was that ecru color that Trek used for years.
I remember thinking who wants positron on a nice bike?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tickdoc]

1985.

My suntour superbe pro was not indexed and I was jealous because by 1986 everything was indexed.

I liked the non-indexed superbe pro though.

[Ed-B]

Indexing came to life in 1984 with the Dura Ace 7400 Shimano Indexing System (SIS). It was 6 speed, top of the line, racing equipment.

And then, Shimano dominated the enthusiast's market in 1986 with the affordable 105 (1050) 6 speed SIS. People wanted the "105 bike". Shops were stripping older drivetrains off leftover bikes to make them sell. Mountain bikes too, Deore was hot!

[jemoryl]

Strangely enough, I think the first index system may have been made for low end bikes: Shimano Positron? This system started showing up on department store bikes sometime around the early '80s, with two cables pushing/pulling the rear derailleur, which had ball bearing detents. Here is a 1982 catalog page from Shimano: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano1982/pages/36.html

We thought it deeply uncool, made for people who couldn't figure out how to shift properly.

[Ed-B]

Originally Posted by jemoryl

Strangely enough, I think the first index system may have been made for low end bikes: Shimano Positron? This system started showing up on department store bikes sometime around the early '80s, with two cables pushing/pulling the rear derailleur, which had ball bearing detents. Here is a 1982 catalog page from Shimano: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano1982/pages/36.html

We thought it deeply uncool, made for people who couldn't figure out how to shift properly.

Yeah, that was a false start. The front freewheeling system was too weird.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by jemoryl

Strangely enough, I think the first index system may have been made for low end bikes: Shimano Positron? This system started showing up on department store bikes sometime around the early '80s, with two cables pushing/pulling the rear derailleur, which had ball bearing detents. Here is a 1982 catalog page from Shimano: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano1982/pages/36.html

We thought it deeply uncool, made for people who couldn't figure out how to shift properly.

Thought it deeply uncool or 'think it's deeply uncool'..(tee hee)

[paredown]

Originally Posted by jemoryl

Strangely enough, I think the first index system may have been made for low end bikes: Shimano Positron? This system started showing up on department store bikes sometime around the early '80s, with two cables pushing/pulling the rear derailleur, which had ball bearing detents. Here is a 1982 catalog page from Shimano: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano1982/pages/36.html

We thought it deeply uncool, made for people who couldn't figure out how to shift properly.

Absolutely--Positron was the first Shimano system-but the first iteration was much earlier--the Shimano web page says 1974, which fits with my hazy memory of being slightly perplexed seeing it for the first time while I was still involved with department store bikes...
https://www.shimano.com/en/company/history.html

It went through a variety of iterations, but I think first gen was the double cable version--push/pull ?

[marciero]

Pretty sure there is an antecedent from like the 30's or 40's.

[Mark McM]

Like anything else, the history of indexed shifting is long and complicated. But the question posed was when indexed shifting became the "industry standard". Internal geared hubs have used an "indexed" lever for many decades, so that might be considered an industry standard. But the question is probably about indexed derailleur shifting.

Indexed derailleur shifting had been attempted by the industry several times over years. In 1969, Suntour introduced a shifter with detents called "Five-Speed Click", but that never caught on. A few years later, Shimano's Positron was introduced. This system had the detents buit into the derailleur. This system only lasted until 1982.

As other have said, the 1985 Dura-Ace S.I.S. system (Shimano Indexed System) introduced the design which was to become the first common design concept used by the rest of the industry; it included a dual spring pivot slant parallogram derailleur, and shift lever with detents (indexing was built into the lever). With fits and starts, the other manufacturers introduced their own indexing system. But I would argue that this system was not destined to become the "industry standard."

Instead, I would argue that the first system that used a design that has become the "industry standard" was Shimano's STI (Shimano Total Integration) system with dual control levers ("brifters"). The system of using ratcheted indexing levers/buttons located at the hand position (either built into the brake levers for drop handlebars bikes or under the bar next to the brakes for straight bars) is what has really become the industry standard index system, and has been for nearly the last 3 decades. The original SIS was just an intermediary point along the way.

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

1985.



My suntour superbe pro was not indexed and I was jealous because by 1986 everything was indexed.



I liked the non-indexed superbe pro though.

That is perhaps the most underrated group. Beautiful fit and finish.

[marciero]

Originally Posted by marciero

Pretty sure there is an antecedent from like the 30's or 40's.

Earlier, actually. The first production derailleur, Panel's Le Chemineaux in 1911, had indexing. There is an article on history of shifting in Summer 2018 BQ.

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by Hellgate

That is perhaps the most underrated group. Beautiful fit and finish.

And wasn't it Suntour's double parallelogram rear derr that made crisp indexed shifting possible and meaningful?

[jemoryl]

Originally Posted by Ed-B

Yeah, that was a false start. The front freewheeling system was too weird.

I seem to recall the FF/Positron system being available during '70s bike boom, but the Sheldon Brown page was one of the first that came up. There was someone I knew that had a horribly made Murray '10 speed' sporting the FF/Positron system: IIRC the RD was labled 'Eagle', which was also a popular non-indexed Shimano RD at the time. The Shimano bits were the best part of that bike.

Also from that '82 catalog: I'm not sure I've ever seen the Adamas AX group in the flesh.