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Main
Date: 10 Oct 2007 21:06:15
From:
Subject: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting? Mounting?
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I was tossing the idea around of mounting a friction thumbshifter on a
mountainbike with a 9 speed cassette. Has anyone done this and can
they comment on the results? How easy is it to shift into the proper
gear while riding without going too many/too few gears or skipping?
Have you used it racing? Have you tried mounting it upside down on
the bar (perhaps switching the right and the left to retain the same
relative angle/range) to allow for a more natural thumb shift?
Another option would be to mount a bar end shifter on the end of a
flat bar. Has anyone tried this and can comment? I can see some
positives and negatives to this setup. I could use indexing if I
wanted but it might be harder to shift while still keeping a hand on
the brakes/bars. Also trying to navigate through very tight spots
between trees or banging off something/crashing would almost
definitely create shifting problems which would have to be
straightened out before riding again, something that probably wouldn't
have to be worried about with a traditionally mounted thumbshifter.
I know about Paul Component Thumbies but would prefer not to spend
that much money for the shifter/mount combo. Barend shifters mounted
regularly on the flat bar would be half that price and friction
shifters would only be $10 or $15 max.
Thanks.
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Date: 10 Oct 2007 23:02:19
From: Bellsouth Ijit 2.0 - Global Warming Edition ®
Subject: Re: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting? Mounting?
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<fleshpie.l@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1192050375.199271.73370@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>I was tossing the idea around of mounting a friction thumbshifter on a
> mountainbike with a 9 speed cassette. Has anyone done this and can
> they comment on the results? How easy is it to shift into the proper
> gear while riding without going too many/too few gears or skipping?
> Have you used it racing? Have you tried mounting it upside down on
> the bar (perhaps switching the right and the left to retain the same
> relative angle/range) to allow for a more natural thumb shift?
>
> Another option would be to mount a bar end shifter on the end of a
> flat bar. Has anyone tried this and can comment? I can see some
> positives and negatives to this setup. I could use indexing if I
> wanted but it might be harder to shift while still keeping a hand on
> the brakes/bars. Also trying to navigate through very tight spots
> between trees or banging off something/crashing would almost
> definitely create shifting problems which would have to be
> straightened out before riding again, something that probably wouldn't
> have to be worried about with a traditionally mounted thumbshifter.
>
> I know about Paul Component Thumbies but would prefer not to spend
> that much money for the shifter/mount combo. Barend shifters mounted
> regularly on the flat bar would be half that price and friction
> shifters would only be $10 or $15 max.
>
> Thanks.
>
I use cheap Falcon friction thumshifters on one of my MTB commuter bikes
with dropbars (mounted at the bar ends) and slicks, but with 7spd freewheel
and later 8 spd cassette. XT RD. Works well. However the Flacon cheaphies
use a plastic housing and can crack easily if the bike falls or side swipes
a car. Better to get Shimano Tourneys or something sturdier. Never tried
it off road.
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Date: 10 Oct 2007 22:58:53
From:
Subject: Re: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting?
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I have a 9speed 12-23 cassette and downtube Suntour Power friction
shifters on a road bike, it works well once you get the hang of the
small amount of movement that is required.
Given the precision required I can't imagine shifting while bouncing
around in rapidly changing off-road conditions, but it is conceivably
possible for somebody with more talent than myself (not hard to imagine).
In the heat of competition I'm pretty sure the elevator would be
regularly missing floors.
Marcus
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Date: 11 Oct 2007 01:18:21
From: Steve Gravrock
Subject: Re: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting? Mounting?
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On 2007-10-10, fleshpie.l@gmail.com <fleshpie.l@gmail.com > wrote:
> I was tossing the idea around of mounting a friction thumbshifter on a
> mountainbike with a 9 speed cassette. Has anyone done this and can
> they comment on the results? How easy is it to shift into the proper
> gear while riding without going too many/too few gears or skipping?
> Have you used it racing? Have you tried mounting it upside down on
> the bar (perhaps switching the right and the left to retain the same
> relative angle/range) to allow for a more natural thumb shift?
Personally I'm not wild about hte idea of friction shifting off road
but your mileage may vary. The terrain, your riding style, and your
shifting skill will determine how well it works.
> Another option would be to mount a bar end shifter on the end of a
> flat bar. Has anyone tried this and can comment? I can see some
> positives and negatives to this setup. I could use indexing if I
> wanted but it might be harder to shift while still keeping a hand on
> the brakes/bars. Also trying to navigate through very tight spots
> between trees or banging off something/crashing would almost
> definitely create shifting problems which would have to be
> straightened out before riding again, something that probably wouldn't
> have to be worried about with a traditionally mounted thumbshifter.
I would expect bar end shifters mounted that way to have a short life.
If you go that route, mount them so that you pull the lever back toward
you to shift rather than pushing down. Otherwise you're likely to break
the shifter and crash if you brush up against a tree or something. If
you really want to try friction shifting on your mountain bike I'd go
with thumbshifters. They're cheaper, and likely to be safer and more
survivable than the bar end setup you described.
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Date: 10 Oct 2007 16:45:23
From: The Wolff Den
Subject: Re: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting? Mounting?
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Flipped over and reversed thumbies work well for me. It took a few
minutes to get used to shifting with the "wrong" or opposite hand.
I'd even suggest that the closer the cogs are together, the less
chance there is of misaligning the RD. Another plus (or minus I
maybe) would be that your buddies are much less likely to want to
borrow your bike with the unconventional set up.
Try it.
MW
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Date: 10 Oct 2007 15:38:01
From: Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com
Subject: Re: Friction shifting on a 9 speed cassette? Ease of shifting? Mounting?
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On Oct 10, 3:06 pm, fleshpi...@gmail.com wrote:
> I was tossing the idea around of mounting a friction thumbshifter on a
> mountainbike with a 9 speed cassette. Has anyone done this and can
> they comment on the results? How easy is it to shift into the proper
> gear while riding without going too many/too few gears or skipping?
> Have you used it racing? Have you tried mounting it upside down on
> the bar (perhaps switching the right and the left to retain the same
> relative angle/range) to allow for a more natural thumb shift?
Cogs close together, bouncing around, really tough to get the RD
cetered on the cog ya want. The BIG reason for click shifting, MTBs,
and beginners and racers...
>
> Another option would be to mount a bar end shifter on the end of a
> flat bar. Has anyone tried this and can comment? I can see some
> positives and negatives to this setup. I could use indexing if I
> wanted but it might be harder to shift while still keeping a hand on
> the brakes/bars. Also trying to navigate through very tight spots
> between trees or banging off something/crashing would almost
> definitely create shifting problems which would have to be
> straightened out before riding again, something that probably wouldn't
> have to be worried about with a traditionally mounted thumbshifter.
>
> I know about Paul Component Thumbies but would prefer not to spend
> that much money for the shifter/mount combo. Barend shifters mounted
> regularly on the flat bar would be half that price and friction
> shifters would only be $10 or $15 max.
>
> Thanks.
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