A radical new take on road bike shifters or an "ergonomic disaster"? Ingrid road 'brifters' cause a stir as groupset nears production

Ingrid Components, an innovative Italian company that manufactures high performance bicycle parts, has showcased something its been working on for a little while at the recent Bespoked show. That is, their new road 'brifters' which allow users to shift both up and down the cassette with one 'shifter' in a unique way as well as braking. 

Alongside this, the company has also teased a new groupset in conjunction with Formula brakes. Here's what we know so far... 

"The cybertruck of bike shifters"

Okay, so if you have a look at some of the social media commentary on this topic, it's noooot exactly been 100% favourable towards Ingrid so far. We know us roadies aren't really the quickest adopters of new products, because we usually like to leave it to the mountain bikers to test things out and establish them before we take them on; but brifters - quite literally meaning brake and shift levers all in one - are already in use in the road bikes.

What is so different about these from Ingrid Components is the way that the user interacts with the shifters. Typically, you'll push the lever or button in one direction, regardless of whether you're shifting up or down the cassette. With these, you pull the shifter from left to right to change one direction, and push to shift into the other direction. On top of that is the brake lever, which adds further 'complexity' to the design. 

A radical design?

But what appears to be causing such a stir online is the way the levers look. Sure, they're er...industrial, but they also don't look entirely ergonomic. Sharp edges and tired hands do not a comfortable user experience make. 

Add in the fact it looks like you need to use your full palm to shift, how practical will this be for those who ride in the drops? And, what's the plan with the full groupset?

We asked Ingrid Components for a comment and all they could tell us was that the full groupset is planned for release around October next year (although that is TBD) and the price is suggested to be around €1,000.

We do know that Formula will be supplying the brakes, which evidently means disc brakes are on the cards. There are also suspicions it will be either a 12 or 13-speed drivetrain, but we can't confirm that just yet.

When asked about the design, the brand compared the design to SRAM's double tap gear shifting system, and said about the negative commenters, "there are still people that hate double tap, but they've never used it." 

We look forward to seeing more on this next year, and perhaps having a go if Ingrid will let us. After all, even if the design looks a bit bizarre compared to what's already out there, at least it's different and pushing some boundaries. 

ingrid.bike