Whatever happened to Rapid Rise?

[The Duckmeister]

When did it disappear and why?

It started phasing out from around '08, from the introduction of SLX, then with each subsequent groupset upgrade since then. Why? Dunno, but I guess it only ever had a relatively small following, and possibly the Shadow derailleur design didn't suit the reverse springing, so the trend towards that naturally killed RR. The shifters are no different between RR & normal, except which end of the gear indicator scale the numbers are printed on (where applicable), but no one looks at them anyway....

 

[Warp]

it would be like having Majura or Avid brakes - perish the thought

Bad luck?

3 sets of Maguras here since 2003... One bleed every two years. Former two sets were sold and still running strong. My MTS are into its 3rd year (or 4th?) and I bled them once.

Once done properly, they rarely need any fiddling.

Maybe good luck on my side?

 

[StanzaRallyMan]

I might be the only one, but I like it. An XTR rear der and normal 9 speed XT shifters works great. With this setup, both the front and rear shifters work in the same way, that is, big lever to make it harder, smaller one to make it easier. There is also less lever throw to put it into an easier gear. When (if) I change from 9 speed this will have to go, but it works really well and always has.

 

[dcrofty]

I do remember it being called Rapid Demise at the time.

 

[rangersac]

I've got a set on my old '06 hardtail and I confess I like the lever action as it's much lighter than standard paddle shifters.

 

[ozzybmx]

Push to go harder, click to go easier... seemed like a great idea to me in 2010 so I went rapid rise, took me about 4 months to get used to it, it got stopped the next year or so and it took me the same 4 months to go back again, shit idea from Shimano, even worse idea by me.

 

[rearviewmirror]

I loved the dual control 03 XTR, definitely one of my favourite groupsets.

 

[iUDEX_nCr]

I actually thought rapid rise / top normal was a great idea... actually I used to run rapid rise on all my bikes.
It just made sense to ease the chain off when you need to climb and really wrangle the chain into gear when you need to give it some oomph or need more gears

I think it went partly due to it being only available in the upper tiers, so low normal was easier for people to stomach.

Also, a while ago (10-12 years?) at a Shimano launch I heard something about how they felt the top normal (what we have now) had more potential in the long run as far as R&D were concerned.

 

[The Duckmeister]

I actually thought rapid rise / top normal was a great idea...

You have that arse-about. Rapid rise is low normal i.e. the derailleur springs into low gear position when the cable is released, conventional derailleurs are high normal.

 

[Bodin]

I used to use the XT dual control paddly shifters (the ones with XT hydro brakes) with an XTR rapid rise rear mech. Worked well for me in terms of shifting, except when you were hauling hard on the brakes and also needed to shift at the same time. Road levers have the same problem, I guess, but I don't think road riding involves as many panic shifts as MTB, so I've never really had an issue with it on the road.

But the thing that killed it for me was that they took up a bucketload of room on the bars and I used to use pretty narrow (580mm) flat bars in those days. The dual control units were only a couple of centimetres apart and it just looked ugly. But I have to confess that everything worked well - braking and shifting were both spot on and low maintenance, compared to the 9-speed SRAM stuff that I used next.

Gotta say that 785/6 generation 10-speed XT has been a dream for the last few years. So cheap, great quality and close to indestructible (except for the rear mech clutches). When "modern" groupsets are that good, it's hard to get sentimental about the stuff we used to ride "back in the day"...