Bicycle Mechanics - Adjusting barcon shifters .. .

Just picked up a new bike with barcon (bar end) shifters. Anything special about adusting them vs STI?

Adam

no ...except sti is indexed in the front and the front bar end isn't. Adjustment is just like for downtube with the rear indexed. Front is friction.

no ...except sti is indexed in the front and the front bar end isn't. Adjustment is just like for downtube with the rear indexed. Front is friction.

And thank goodness for that!!

A trimable front deraileur, such a sweet thing!

Barcons are great; minimum fiddling when shifting, lots of trim on front der., choice of index/non-indexing on the rear and less $$!
Got rid of 9-speed Dura Ace STI and replaced them with Dura Ace barcons on our tandem. Much happier!

I have just finished building a custom cassete for my touring bike and I have reduced the cassette from 9 to 8 cogs. I use DuraAce barcons and noticed on the little sticker (on the shifter) that they can be used for 8 speed also. I have them set in the friction mode right now but was wondering if the indexing can be changed from 9 to 8? I am running an XT Front and Rear Der. setup with a 105 triple crank. I can't find my instructions that came with the shifters so I am appealing to the vast information that you all have stored in your minds!

Rick

I have just finished building a custom cassete for my touring bike and I have reduced the cassette from 9 to 8 cogs. I use DuraAce barcons and noticed on the little sticker (on the shifter) that they can be used for 8 speed also. I have them set in the friction mode right now but was wondering if the indexing can be changed from 9 to 8? I am running an XT Front and Rear Der. setup with a 105 triple crank. I can't find my instructions that came with the shifters so I am appealing to the vast information that you all have stored in your minds!

Rick

I put the Dura Ace 9-speed barcons on my girlfriend's tourer that uses a 7-speed cassette. It's works flawlessly. As long as the limiting screws on your RD and cable tension is set right, there shouldn't be a problem. Go for it.

I have just finished building a custom cassete for my touring bike and I have reduced the cassette from 9 to 8 cogs. I use DuraAce barcons and noticed on the little sticker (on the shifter) that they can be used for 8 speed also. I have them set in the friction mode right now but was wondering if the indexing can be changed from 9 to 8? I am running an XT Front and Rear Der. setup with a 105 triple crank. I can't find my instructions that came with the shifters so I am appealing to the vast information that you all have stored in your minds!

Rick

8 and 9 speed Shimano indexing uses the same cable pull per shifter click. There's nothing you need to do to change the shifter from one to the other. You'll just have one click position that you can't use because the limit screws prevent the derailleur from moving any further.

8 and 9 speed Shimano indexing uses the same cable pull per shifter click. There's nothing you need to do to change the shifter from one to the other. You'll just have one click position that you can't use because the limit screws prevent the derailleur from moving any further.

Bull. 8-speed is around 2.8mm per shift and 9-speed is around 2.5mm per shift. And I'm not familiar with those Dura-Ace barcons, but that supposed 8/9-speed compatibility is not common to all 8-speed or 9-speed shifters.

Bull. 8-speed is around 2.8mm per shift and 9-speed is around 2.5mm per shift. And I'm not familiar with those Dura-Ace barcons, but that supposed 8/9-speed compatibility is not common to all 8-speed or 9-speed shifters.

... unless one builds a narrow 8-speed on a 9-speed body, per Sheldon's website.

Just leave it in friction mode and enjoy the ride. :)

With campy you can change the indexing ratchet 8 and 9 / or 9 and 10 but not with Shimano (as far as I know). You could reduce the size of the spacers between the cogs in the cassette to match the 9spd or buy a set of 9spd spacers. Then the shifters would work as designed. I recently changed one of my older road bikes from drops to straight bars and setup some campy barend shifters on a makeshift aero arrangement to get the ability to lean forward. For kicks I swapped out the right and left shifters so the indexing would be on the FD and the friction would be on the RD. Just wanted to see how it would work and to my surprise it worked quite well, I must say that I did change the shifters back after a couple of weeks.
One can do a lot with changing around stuff on bikes if you are prepared to fiddle with it until it works. Staying within the design constraints however, makes life easier.
Good luck.

John and Dean, I glad you all put that comment in! I did build a custom cassette simply because I wanted some different gears and I could not seem to get my adjustments set just right! DUH, why didn't I put the smaller spacers in???? Major Brain Lock! No prob though, just a few extra minutes to change it! Gotta go rumage through my gear box stash. Thanks!

Rick