Shifter Forks

Hey!

I had just a couple of questions about shifter forks, if anyone knew much about them?

What material would a shifter fork typically be made of, and what kind of loads would it see in use?

Thanks!

Many are made of stamped steel or cast aluminum. Some older ones I've seen are cast iron, but that's old-school.

Shifters can operate on a mechanical advantage of 4:1 or more, so take what forces you can apply with your hands and multiply by the leverage available from the shift lever.