Mountain Biking - any twist shifter fans?

considering switching from x-9 trigger shifters to Sram x0 twist grip shifters. Seems to me they would be better for controlling the rear derailleur when you want to drop three gears quickly, and less distracting overal than trigger shifters. What are the Pros and cons? I would assume the triggers also weigh more.

I find grip shift more distracting personally. Rapid fire is very natural to me. I find grip shift is excellent for the front deraileur however as you can micro adjust the deraileur to remove any potential rubbing.

I bet the weight is negligable.

they're great, you won't regret it. if you do, sell it on ebay and recover most your cost and at least you had the chance to try it

who cares about pros and cons. someone like me is just going to highlight all the pros and someone who doesn't like them will do the opposite. how do you know we are giving you accurate info? one person said grip shifts are clunky. i think the triggers are clunky. how could this be......

Like other components shifters are personal preference. Some like it some don't. If you like the idea of shifting by twisting your wrist, you will probably like it. You just need to try, and use it long enough to find out.

It took longer for me to get used to the twist shifters than other types of shifters. Especially I found it very hard to shift down and brake at the same time. But now, I have absolutely no complaints. It just works flawlessly.

The advantages for me are, shifting any number of gears at once (rear), micro adjust for stubborn shifts (front), and most importantly thumbs always have contact for better grip. I can't think of any disadvantages.

Weight savings over X.9 triggers is about 80 grams.

Have twistys on my commuter, dont like them, but not so much that i'd pay to change them at this point

I like the twisties on my Trek, just seems more natural to me than a trigger, but personal preference.

my SRAM attacks will let me dump up to 4 gears without twisting my wrist. its just the thumb with a light touch. I had grip shifts for years and if not for the SRAM triggers that came on my Guzzler would still be with them. Rapidfires suck IMO. not intuitive at all.

I like both but trigger wins by a hair (preference) so I've got them on my bike now.

Tried triggers, hate them. Have grip shifts, love it. When and if I get a new bike, I'd like to make the shifters grip shifters.

I like thumb shifters because i never have to worry about accidentally twisting anything while riding.

Well, today I tested some of the riders low-end gripshift (SX 5) well i used the halfpipe and MX is right, it is huge, so im taking the shorty next time, by the way, I dunno why but the RD doenst shift properly, I think its cause of the barrel adjuster, anyway I love it, its ok and I cant wait to test out a high end GripShift

I like thumb shifters because i never have to worry about accidentally twisting anything while riding.That's why I know I wouldn't like any halfpipes; I'd be inadvertently grabbing gears all the time. I love my Shorties, but I still run full-length grips for the same reason. Good thing DH bars are wide; between a lever perch, shifter and grip that's a lot of bar taken up.

Make sure you try one out first. I have only used grip shift for the last 12 years. My first was x-rays if anyone remember them. But it took me a few weeks to get use to them.

Twist shifts drive my crazy, in a bad way. I ride weird and move my hands a lot and when i had a twist thingy i messed with my gears so much!! Thumbs are here for a reason

Make sure you try one out first. I have only used grip shift for the last 12 years. My first was x-rays if anyone remember them. But it took me a few weeks to get use to them.
yup....i still have a pair of x-rays on my homegrown

Atleast the newer grip shifters are easier to change cables. I hated changing cable on my x-rays.

i never liked grip shifts i would always shift when i didnt want to on downhills. i find triggers alot easier, but grip shifts are good for going up or down gears fast.

i know people that run gripshifts no problem, and are lethally fast.

[QUOTE]Twist shifts drive my crazy, in a bad way. I ride weird and move my hands a lot and when i had a twist thingy i messed with my gears so much!!

So if you don't "ride weird", get grip shift.


Thumbs are here for a reason

Yes, to hold the handlebars!:D

I've had both, liked both, but prefer levers.

The problem I had was if I jumped, I would sometimes shift in the air.

If I had my druthers, I would run the GS on the front derailleur and triggers on the rear.

Having the GS lets you micro-shift the front to keep the chain from rubbing, regardless of what gear combo.

I've had twist shifts on my main bike since I was about 14 and they're still there. It comes totally natural to me and as a result whenever I ride a bike with trigger shifters it feels weird and I do something dumb like upshift in the middle of a hill by accident. I've noticed that some bikes have much looser grip shifters than mine has (trek 820 with stock shifters) and when I've ridden these I sometimes shift by accident, but never on my bike. I like the fact that there's two less gizmos on my handlebars (more room for the pretty gals to sit).

hmm, since gripshift purpose is to shift muliple gears at a time, wont it like erm cause the derailleur shifting do become a bit bad? cause it shifts multiple gears at a time which could result in chain skid and etc etc.

hmm, since gripshift purpose is to shift muliple gears at a time, wont it like erm cause the derailleur shifting do become a bit bad? cause it shifts multiple gears at a time which could result in chain skid and etc etc.


Gripshifts main purpose is not to shift multiple gears at one. It has many other differnt features which has been discussed in this thread.

No it wont shift bad, if you do it really quickly and you are pedaling say uphill then it could get caught and skip untill it fits into the next gear. Besides that, its not the shifters fault, its YOUR fault if you shift too many gears. As I said, the shifter only does what you tell it to do. Learn how to use it.

Gripshifts main purpose is not to shift multiple gears at one. It has many other differnt features which has been discussed in this thread.

No it wont shift bad, if you do it really quickly and you are pedaling say uphill then it could get caught and skip untill it fits into the next gear. Besides that, its not the shifters fault, its YOUR fault if you shift too many gears. As I said, the shifter only does what you tell it to do. Learn how to use it.

Kinda flirting with words here. I would argue that yes the Gripshift was designed to shift as many gears as possible ACCURATELY.

I would agree that there is a potential for dislodging the chain over the cogs. I do this occasionally. I think it happens mainly when I take a big downhift shift (5-6) without simultaneously pedalling. The chains seems to jump up partially up the cassete and has so much angle that it will not effectively derail. I have not had this problem with upshifting. As long as you've set your limit right, you can drop the whole cassete in one motion. Needless to say this is not "smooth" shifting.

BTW, I love Gripshift for it's simplicity and it's bombproof design. It's intuitive. I went trigger for a while and went back to Gripshift.