Shifter Forks

[Vilita]

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!

[curtis73]

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.