Bicycle Mechanics - Thumb shifters as Bar-con shifters.

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA
n4zou
07-14-06, 01:55 PM
If you want to try out Bar-con shifting without spending a fortune trying them out you can pick up a cheap set of thumb shifters and install them on your bars to decide if you really want that type of setup while spending little or no money. Simply clamp them to the very end of the bar with the levers vertical. You can use some cheap tape to hold the cables to the bars while you try out this setup. I prefer using thumb shifters to Bar-con shifters! Here is a photo of a thumb turned redneck Bar-con shifter. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

HillRider
07-14-06, 02:13 PM
Rivendell sells adapters that let you mount downtube shifters as barcons. At $25 they're also a cheap way to try them out. Look here: http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/shifters_derailleurs/17068.html
waterrockets
07-14-06, 08:34 PM
If you want to try out Bar-con shifting without spending a fortune trying them out you can pick up a cheap set of thumb shifters and install them on your bars to decide if you really want that type of setup while spending little or no money. Simply clamp them to the very end of the bar with the levers vertical. You can use some cheap tape to hold the cables to the bars while you try out this setup. I prefer using thumb shifters to Bar-con shifters! Here is a photo of a thumb turned redneck Bar-con shifter. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Yep. I did that to my old MTB when I turned it into a commuter. I put drop bars on it and relocated its thumbshifters to the bar ends. You can't wrap tape all the way down there, and the stick off to the side (looks a little odd). Works just fine though. I commuted that way for years.

I'm not sure how cheap of a source you have for them, but I already had a set when I started, so I was motivated by that fact.

Grand Bois
07-14-06, 08:48 PM
Rivendell sells adapters that let you mount downtube shifters as barcons. At $25 they're also a cheap way to try them out. Look here: http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/shifters_derailleurs/17068.html

Do you happen to know if Simplex Retrofrictions will fit those? I asked Rivendell and they don't know. I could find out for sure by buying the parts an trying it, but the shifters have become expensive.