General Cycling Discussion - What type of shifters do you use?

I was wondering what type of shifters you guys use on your bikes?

I currently have DT Shifters with Indexing on my older road bike, ergolevers on my new road bike, and rapidfire on my mountain bike.

Hey,WorldIRC --- you didn't make it multiple choice! What you think we have the same type of shifters on ALL of our bikes???

I voted for Ergo levers. That's what I have on my main ride. However, I also have bar-end shifters on my 'cross bike (friction) and my tandem (indexed). When I rebuild the old Italian road bike (Romani) I'm putting the 1980's vintage Campy Nuovo Record downtube shifters back on.

Ciao, Steve

Rapid Fire on MTB,
STI on Cross bike.

Non-indexed DT on the road bikes (2 Campag., one SunTour), SunTour Accushift thumb levers (in friction mode) on the mountain bike, and SunTour ratchet barcons on my still-under-construction cyclecross bike.

What I dislike:
1) RapidFire (sorry, R.F. fans, but I tried them on a friend's Raleigh and did not care for them, particularly on the front);
2) any sort of indexing of the front derailleur -- an unsound concept!
3) anything unreliable, fragile, short-lived, overly touchy, or subject to planned obsolescence;
4) stem-mounted shifters.

Have Shimano 105 STI shifters on my road/cyclocross bike.

My mountain bike has some older type shifters, circa early 1990's. The components are mostly Shimano Acera LX. They are under the bar, have indexing that that shows which gear I'm in. I push forward and each click goes down a gear. I pull on the lever and each click brings it up a gear. Sorry... don't know the actual name of these type of shifters.

PBW

I am a campy record ErgoLevel carbon 10 speed man... I know it's sick to say, I love them. I am fasinated that these levers do what they do so well. There are two very important things I can do with Ergopower, I can't do with any other integrated shifting system: Shift down the cogset in one stroke all the way in one stroke; and, if necessary, repair it.

The brake and shift levers are as distinctive in appearance as they are superior in performance: the brake levers are woven carbon fiber, the shift levers are longitudinal carbon

I was even more amazed :) when I discovered how the little buttons on the inside of my levers completely control the ErgoBrain computer display information... no more taking my hands off the bars at speed to hit a button on the computer for info... horay.

I am still excited:D Now, my wife thinks :confused: I am a bit toooooo excited :eek:

I voted Downtube without friction, as it is what I use on my old bike (21 gears), which is the one I use for commuting.

The newer touring bike has barend shifters in friction mode. Well appreciated, although I sometimes wonder if I'll shift the shifters to the downtube.

P.S. I tried indexed mode and it's not for me. Adjusting those barrel adjuster once a week is not for me.

Regards.

STI for one road bike, DT for the other

Grip Shift for my MTB

Barcons for the Touring bike

I've never had a Campy equipped bike but I do like ergolevers.

I chose Grip shift for the mtb since I found them easier to shift when wearing winter gloves.

Barcons can be switched to friction just in case you need to do so.

FWIW

I have stem-mounted shifters from an old Schwinn Super Sport that I cannibalized.

Just never had a problem with them, especially the price: $15, including the Super Sport they came on.

;)

I picked STI-Road since I've been riding my roadbike more than my mountain bike these days but I have RFs on my mountain bike.

I don't know if it's just my hands (small hands) or because I haven't ridden enough Campy but I still find it hard to work the thumb-lever on the Ergos. At least it's not impossible like with the Soras. Anyone with smaller hands also care to share their experience with Ergos?

OOOPS! sorry I put other but should be DT non and indexed

I have two road bikes. The newer of these came with STI (Sora) fitted. My other bike used to have 5 speeds and non-indexed downtube levers. In a recent upgrade I changed this to 8 speed (Sora again) and finished the job with Sora indexed DT levers. I like these just as much as the STI system, the shifting is really crisp!

Ed

I have SRAM Gripshift on my MTB and recumbent. It seems many people don't like Gripshift, but for winter riding, it is much easier to change gears with gloves on.

On primary ride Campy Ergo.
on the other ride, Campy Nuevo Record Friction on
the downtube. If it was good enough for Eddy its good
enough for me!

Has anyone noticed that the old style Ergo Levers
(pre 98?) are more comfortable than the new levers?
Sure glad I can upgrade em from 8 speed to 10!

Marty

Everything but stem mounted,but I have some really nice suntour power ratchet ones,that weight about .5 pound, and am just waiting for the right frame.:D

STI (Shimano Ultegra) on the Litespeed.
STI (Shimano 105) on the "old" road bike (commuter).

Sram (Gripshift) Rocket front, ESP 7 Rear - work well, particularly like the fine tunability you get with the front derailleur.

Richard

XT rapid fires on mtb's, Ultegra on Roadbikes.

STI DA on the roadbike, XT RF on the mountain.

I have to agree with the Campy Record STI Shifters they are just a thing of beauty and function! I love them to! And you just appreciate them more and more the longer you have them.

Should have been a multiple-choice; I use friction downtubes, indexed downtubes, and indexed barcons--also the wild and crazy Campagnolo Cambio Corsa on one bike! No integrated controls; I fix too many of those with problems that are DESIGNED IN, especially the rain-intolerant, unrepairable Shimano STI.

I prefer Gripshift, especially with the front derailler. I hate my chain clattering against the front derailler in certain gears. 9 speed is especially bad for that. I think I can also shift faster and smoother with Gripshift, but sometimes it requires a bit more effort to do so.

I've noticed a number of mountain bike riders using a Gripshift for front shifting with a Rapidfire for rear--this is a good combo, acknowledging that indexing a front derailleur is an idea as bad as hiring Michael Jackson to teach kindergarten. I recently refitted a customer's Ultegra equipped road bike with a Campy Chorus front ergopower lever for the same reason--he liked everything about his Ultegra Triple group except the front shifting.

XT thumbshifters on one bike, Deore thumbshifters on another, STIs (gag) on the third, all 7-speed.