Review on Shimano Claris 2 Speed Bicycle ST R2000 L by Mike Weaver

Value for money switch. You really can't beat Claris. Especially if you are just starting out with road cycling. I bought this for a bike that sits on a trainer. I have an Ultegra on my main road bike and I will tell you that the Claris offers about 95% the performance of the Ultegra. It's amazing the performance you can now get out of Shimano's "entry level" gear. The Ultegra is obviously MUCH lighter (much less important for beginners) and shifts faster, but only by a quarter of a second or so. You get really good performance from this group set. It's often derided for being the lower end of Shimano, but it's such a great price. A full Ultegra groupset costs $1,500. A full Claris groupset is $200 (or less). Bravo Shimano, this makes road cycling much more accessible to the average person. One gripe is that the derailleur sucks on the Claris. You'll feel it when you use this shifter, and it's not the fault of the switch, it's the fault of the switch itself. If you're having trouble shifting after installing this briefer, just google "Claris Index Derailleurs" or so. Your problem is almost certainly that you need to index the derailleur. The Claris FD is very finicky and needs indexing just right. Honestly, if you just take it to your local bike shop, most of them will index your FD locally for free. This is probably what I would recommend. This brifter is a newer Claris style that includes an extra half gear in top gear. This is a HUGE benefit. This allows you to shift into an extra "half gear" when you start crossing the chain in your high gear. Since the Claris is only an 8 speed groupset, you will end up making some light cross chains. So this feature gives Claris even more advantages than high-end groupsets, because with so few gears it's very easy to get into the inevitable cross-chain situation (you only have about 4 gears before you start working on the FD to rub, so half a coat gives you an 2 extra gears to use if indexed correctly). You still have to watch out for the cross chain in the last two gears and downshift to a lower forward gear if you start using the top two gears in the back while you're in the big gear up front. It's not good for the chain, sprocket, cranks or derailleurs when you ride these gears. This is perhaps the most important thing aspiring road cyclists should learn. As you gain experience and upgrade your bike you will use higher quality groupsets with more gears and your experience of avoiding cross chains will be put to good use. the page contains it.