Warning about Vision Metron shifters

[ppg677]

My wife did a pretty bad end-over-end today on a ride, where she inadvertently engaged the front brake instead of the left shifter. (She’s ok with some bumps/bruises and possible wrist injury).

Incredibly stupid rider error, right? Not so fast.

Last summer I put Vision Metron shifters on her Tri bike. These are nice shifters, but they have one fatal flaw that has become apparent: the motion of the shift is identical to the motion of braking and therefore encourages a “design-induced operator error”. When I tested/tuned the shifter adjustments on the trainer in just a few minutes or riding, I actually caught myself using the brake instead of the shifter. I thought to myself no big deal since the mind would quickly learn and what is the worst thing that could happen? My wife raced/trained all last summer with this shifters. Well today she made her mental mistake and did an end-over-end.

There have been plenty of recent studies about the same phenomena occurring with unintended acceleration in cars. The majority of the time, the driver had a brain fart and inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake (same motion). As another anecdote, this author claims the Tesla Model S sedan led to a design-induced operator error as well:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1091002_life-with-tesla-model-s-is-pedal-placement-a-safety-hazard

Anyhow the bar-end shifters are going back on the bike.

[btmoney]

I don’t get it…brakes are on the outside. Shifting is in the middle. Hard to confuse (and yes, I owned Metrons at one point)

[Mister944]

yea coffee is served hot…knives are sharp…???

.

[Power13]

rider error, right?

Right.

Hope she recovers quickly and wasn’t injured too seriously.

[cryptotwin]

Unconscious patterns can take time to change. Good to hear she’s going to be ok and I wish her a speedy recovery.

[Robert]

I once pulled the left brake lever to slow at a crossing while eating a Hammer bar. The result was a broken nose. You have to keep your wits about you. I have so few (wits, that is) I have taken to stopping to eat. :), I actually tried swapping the brake cables to see if that helped, but no, it only confused my brain. (I was born lefty and forced to become righty so I still do some things lefty.)

This mistake has been made by cyclists thousands of times (pulling the front wheel brake lever). I don’t think it’s the fault of Metron Shifters (I have a set.) If you ride enough, you will manage to make almost all the mistakes possible and may live to tell about it.

Your wife is ok, I hope. Good on ya’ for caring enough to inquire.

-Robert

[JayPeeWhy]

How hard would do you have to pull to use the shifter? I have to pull my brakes a bunch harder than my gears. I can’t imagine pulling, what I thought was, my shifter with enough immediate force to send me over the bars if I had grabbed my brake by mistake.

If she is that careless when yanking on things may I recommend extra caution in the bedroom.

[LuisDF]

yea coffee is served hot…knives are sharp…???

.

this…

I hope she recover fast tho.

[Power13]

yea coffee is served hot…knives are sharp…???

.

this…

I hope she recover fast tho.

Sorry for the threadjack…but I think it is important for people to realize this was not a frivolous lawsuit. The “hot coffee” example always gets pulled up in cases like this, but if you read about the details of the infamous McDonald’s coffee case, it is very clear that the actions taken by McDonald’s in that case were indeed negligent. It was not a case just spilling coffee and suffering a mild burn.

The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused.

During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented McDonalds’ knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard.

McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste. He admitted that he had not evaluated the safety ramifications at this temperature. Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees.
Further, McDonalds’ quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing the “holding temperature” of its coffee.

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

[mfrassica]

My wife did a pretty bad end-over-end today on a ride, where she inadvertently engaged the front brake instead of the left shifter. (She’s ok with some bumps/bruises and possible wrist injury).

Incredibly stupid rider error, right? Not so fast.

Last summer I put Vision Metron shifters on her Tri bike. These are nice shifters, but they have one fatal flaw that has become apparent: the motion of the shift is identical to the motion of braking and therefore encourages a “design-induced operator error”. When I tested/tuned the shifter adjustments on the trainer in just a few minutes or riding, I actually caught myself using the brake instead of the shifter. I thought to myself no big deal since the mind would quickly learn and what is the worst thing that could happen? My wife raced/trained all last summer with this shifters. Well today she made her mental mistake and did an end-over-end.

There have been plenty of recent studies about the same phenomena occurring with unintended acceleration in cars. The majority of the time, the driver had a brain fart and inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake (same motion). As another anecdote, this author claims the Tesla Model S sedan led to a design-induced operator error as well:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1091002_life-with-tesla-model-s-is-pedal-placement-a-safety-hazard

Anyhow the bar-end shifters are going back on the bike.

You are right! What you bring up is product safety. It is well documented in litigation that if a manufacturer can foresee an issue and does nothing about it, they can be held liable. (For others, I am not taking a side here, only stating what US court system has set)

An excellent example here is the McDonalds Coffee case. Mc’D’s did not get held liable for millions of dollars for the burn. They had to pay so much because there were multiple PREVIOUS documented cases of customers scalding themselves and Mc’D did not put any measures in place to mitigate.

This is also the reason why ‘we’ can no longer fix any standard appliance without ripping it apart (essentially destroying it). The reason…the courts have held manufacturers liable if a customer buys there product, breaks it, takes it apart and rewires it wrong, and then cause harm. The manufacture knows (through other court rulings, which they are expected by the courts to know about) that customers have a propensity to take apart their product and fix it improperly.

FYI, not a lawyer. Learned this stuff as an engineer in manufacturing for the public. It all starts at the OEM knowing their product (i.e. Metron Shifters) and making it safe!

[DarkSpeedWorks]

I like the metron design as it seems to be an improvement over traditional endshifters, but I have never used them. But I do think that you have a very good point, that making shifters that look and feel much like brake levers is not a good idea.

And others may doubt this, but you are absolutely on to something here. Heck, that is why 300 million dollar aircraft (flown by 2+ very highly trained pilots who are constantly cross-checking each other and using checklists on nearly every step) still have landing gear levers that look like a miniature wheel and tire, and still have flap levers that looks like miniature flaps. It is not for no reason, it is because, under pressure, even highly-trained and highly experienced aces can profoundly mess things up. And cockpit design takes that into account. Ideally, as should bike cockpit design.

[ppg677]

Exactly.

[Granth9]

I should also be noted that she asked McD to pay her medical bills and they said no. She also didn’t receive the amount the jury awarded. It was cut down significantly. That’s the problem when you have a case that is complex and someone writes am article less than 200 words about it.

I’m very sorry to hear this happened. I wish her the best recovery possible.

[mfrassica]

I should also be noted that she asked McD to pay her medical bills and they said no. She also didn’t receive the amount the jury awarded. It was cut down significantly. That’s the problem when you have a case that is complex and someone writes am article less than 200 words about it.

I’m very sorry to hear this happened. I wish her the best recovery possible.

Yes, very few know that the lady did not want to got to court, just pay for her medical bills. Mc’D’s response was “see you in court”. Knowing all the facts of this particular case, I would have awarded her millions too. Did not know she did not get the full amount though, thanks.

[TheRhino]

Makes me think of this beauty:

http://www.cnet.com/news/airline-pilot-pushes-wrong-button-nearly-flipping-plane/

There is an article out there somewhere with the photo of the cockpit panel that has the two buttons. They do look similar.

[Granth9]

Oh, and the same thing happens in jet ski accidents. People pull the throttle because they think of it like a brake on a bicycle. (Mainly adolescents)

[DarkSpeedWorks]

Makes me think of this beauty:
http://www.cnet.com/...arly-flipping-plane/
There is an article out there somewhere with the photo of the cockpit panel that has the two buttons. They do look similar.

The buttons don’t look or function similarly, but they are in the exact same area on many large boeing aircraft (far back on the aft center pedestal). And one nearly always uses the rudder trim while looking forward at the slip indicator on the main panel, so typically you’re not looking at the rudder trim lever while using it. So that would be a totally understandable mistake, of pressing it while trying to open the cockpit door lock. On a bike, it’s kind of like engaging a brake lever inadvertently when you were actually trying to shift gears with your metron shifter …

[DFW_Tri]

Juries aren’t allowed to hear about settlement discussions so you never would have known that fact to avoid precisely the reaction that you had to it…

[MrsTiki]

I had the Vision shifters. I got rid of them because they didn’t work with my bike, not because of the similarity to the brake lever.

I myself confused the two on one ride. But I attempted to “shift” the brake vs what your wife did. Coming off a road bike, the hand position to brake on the bull ends would be more similar than the long and flat reach for the shifters. And you have to squeeze very hard to lock up the front wheel, no? Must be some touchy brakes she’s got there!

Hope she gets well soon.

[MrsTiki]

Anyhow the bar-end shifters are going back on the bike.

I think this is a hasty decision. You say she trained and raced on them all last year just fine. Hopefully SHE is the one that wants to pull them off the bike. They are MUCH nicer, faster, easier to ride/shift with. She probably learned her lesson and won’t be making that mistake again. ???