Bicycle Mechanics - Fine-Tuning Friction Shifters?

My bar-end shifters are sluggish. One cog in the middle of an 11-22 is hard to land on; harder to hold the chain. The chainring shifter requires some real leverage to use. Do I simply need to tune them properly? What else could cause the iffy performance?
They are friction, N.O.S. Suntour barcons. The housing is articulated metal (at least leading from the bars to the downtube.) The cassette is pretty new.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

My guess is that new cables and housings will solve the front shifting issue.

If you only are having trouble with one rear cog, I'm thinking that's probably your most frequently used cog and it's worn out. If that's the case, new rear cogs and a new chain should be on your shopping list.

housing is a good place to start: the bare stainless housing looks cool and sounds like a good idea on paper, but it feels horrible shifting. even though it's not technically needed for friction shifting, i like to use SIS housing with barcons, as it provides snappier shifting over the length and bend(s).

Will the local bike shop carry SIS housing? How much should it cost?

Will the local bike shop carry SIS housing? How much should it cost?

Every LBS should have it. If they don't, get a new LBS. Get the end ferrules with it, you'll want two for each run of housing. Make sure the ferrules fit your housing stops, derailleur(s), and shift levers. Old stuff sometimes used a smaller stop.

Used to be a buck a foot, might be a bit more now. Get new cables too, your Barcons have a rough braided inner wire. Lube it when you put it together with light grease.

Good luck

Mel

I've never been happy with the feel of my friction barcons either, and all of the parts are new. I'm going back to Simplex Retrofriction downtube shifters.