As monkey-type wandered down the valley of evolution, ever standing taller supporting an ever bigger and bigger brain, there came the high point of his path, the invention born of his mind – the most intelligent design -
THE BICYCLE. With this came a rush of advancements so fast it made monkey-type’s head spin. Soon enough a point was reached where legs also could spin no faster and another crucial advancement was laid plain. Gears, and the most elegant Down Tube Shifters to make it all function. Oh to be able to shift! Such bliss.
Now, with the added speed, the pedals were again reaching blurry-fast speeds, making it hard to hold onto those pedals and so clip-less shoes came to be (a great advancement!). But monkey-type now found it very hard to shift with his feet clad in carbon soled shoes. Monkey-type was forced to shift with his hands. This led to another and perhaps crowning achievement, the most slick of components, the most desirable symbol of monkey-type’s ‘arrival’… Yes!… Integrated Brake/Shift Levers. Shimano Total Integration, Campagnolo Ergopower, Modolo Morphos, Suntour Command and Sram DoubleTap. Oh yes, monkey-type went wild for any type of Brifter it could get it’s four fingers and opposing thumb around. Monkey-type rode on with a huge grin on its face.
The Goats, who had been up and down this valley many times before monkey-type had arrived, looked down on all of this and just bleeted their goat-like laugh, for monkey-type had missed a crucial step in the journey. The Goats could see with certainty that monkey-type would soon be reaching the end of the pavement and the evolutionary next step in the journey… Cyclo-cross. The Goats knew all too well that the aforementioned Integrated Brake/Shift Levers would serve monkey-type well, but they would never completely lead to blissful harmony and a continuation in evolution to the supreme goat-like form.
Monkey-type had missed the crucial evolutionary step. Monkey-type had not discovered Retroshift Mud Proof Integrated Brake/Shift Levers. Monkey-type was in for some headaches with their less then perfectly suitable shifting systems…
The Goats being supreme jokers at heart and thus closely related to the monkey-types (more closely than the monkey-types would like to admit on many a cold and lonely night of the ice age), having also evolved from the same slime, decided they would set things right. Even if the Goats had given up their four fingers and opposing thumbs – that had only resulted in self stimulation and the final blockade to enlightenment – they were going to head into the barn, get dirty, and work tirelessly to provide these monkey-types, or humans as they were now so formed, with Retroshift Cyclo-cross Shifting Systems.
Well it has been quite a while since the goats started their quest, with constant interruptions from the farmers for milking, shearing (and some other unmentionable R rated interruptions) but now the quest is almost complete… This site is the first glimpse of Retroshift, the latest evolution…
Integrated Brake/Shift Levers evolved for Cyclo-cross.
It has been an ‘Ice Age’ but Retroshift(TM) Patent Pending Mud Proof Shifters are finally here!