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Electronic gear shifting isn't as new a invetion as current component manufacturers would have us believe. Chris Boardman rode on a Mavic system during the late 90s although it was prone to problems with mis shifting when it got wet during the rain. For a short TT though where the weather could be reasonably predicted it was worth the risk for the advertising for Mavic.

Before Mavic and Shimano though was Browning. In the late 1980s amid the hype around disc wheels, tri bars and mountainbikes Browning were working on their own revolutionary addition to the cycling world - Browning Automatic Transmission.

Picked up by the third component manufacturer of the time, Suntour, they combined it with their Accushift indexed gearing system and come up with BEAST - Browning Electronic AccuShift Transmission.

From the marketing materials at the time...

The Suntour Beast is an entirely new gear shifting concept for bicycles. The Beast allows for precise gear changes while riding at high speed over varying terrain and grades. Perfect shifts are accomplished even with full power to the pedals and since no special skill is neccessary for smooth shifting, the Beast is ideal for hte difficult conditions of off road riding.

The gear changing system of the Beast is like the switching system of a railroad track: the outer and middle sector of the Beast's chainrings function in the same way as the switch which allows a train to move from one track to another. At the hinged portion of the chainring, the pawl moves the swinging sector, which then drops or picks up the chain to the next chainring.

Suntour has spent a full year testing and refining the original Browning technology before offering the Beast as an alternative to the original front derailleur. The Beast is compatible with all Suntour drivetrain components. For 1990 it is offered as original equipment to bicycle manufacturers and custom builders only.

It came with a nice little attachment that went on the centre of your handlebars that contained two little rubber buttons - one for up and the other for down. That was it, it worked well in the showroom. Out in the rain and much was a different story and it never really took off.