Bicycle Mechanics - 26mm bar-mount shifter?

Hello all.

I'm in the process of converting an old road bike to 1x7 and would like to shed my stem-mount shifter for a snazzy bar-mount one. The bulge on my bars is plenty wide enough to accommodate a shifter but I'm having trouble finding one that even comes close to having a 26mm clamp. Anyone here know of one or even a way to fabricate a clamp that will fit my bars? I'm aware of the Paul 'Thumbies' but they're so expensive......especially considering I'd only need one.

By the way, I'm using Shimano 7-speed indexed.

Thanks in advance!

Are the bars to big or to small for the shifter you are planning to use. If to small cut some metal shims to make up the difference. If to big you could try longer clamp bolts. A picture of what you are trying to do would really help. Roger

You probably won't find anything with a 26mm clamp. Shifters are designed to clamp away from the stem on the narrower section of the bars. Maybe you could modify the mount of a brake lever that's intended to mount near the stem to mount a shifter.

Essentially, I'm looking to put something like this

http://1speeder.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=5475&g2_serialNumber=2

or even this

http://www.petracycles.co.uk/images/sltx50r7.jpg

on my bars between my cross lever and stem.

The bulge on my bars...where I would ultimately love to place my shifter...is similar to this:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/BR7312.jpg
I figure I'm not the only person in existence who'd want to do this and something's gotta exist out there, right (besides the uber-expensive Paul Thuumbies)???

I'm aware of the Paul 'Thumbies' but they're so expensive......especially considering I'd only need one.





The total cost still might be more than you'd like to spend, but you can buy just a single left or right thumbie mount direct from the Paul website.

Hello all.

I'm in the process of converting an old road bike to 1x7 and would like to shed my stem-mount shifter for a snazzy bar-mount one. The bulge on my bars is plenty wide enough to accommodate a shifter but I'm having trouble finding one that even comes close to having a 26mm clamp. Anyone here know of one or even a way to fabricate a clamp that will fit my bars? I'm aware of the Paul 'Thumbies' but they're so expensive......especially considering I'd only need one.

By the way, I'm using Shimano 7-speed indexed.

Thanks in advance!

Try to find an old Shimano Deore right-hand shifter. Not a Deore XT- that has an aluminum clamp. The Deore has a stamped steel clamp that will expand to fit a 26mm bar. It'll take careful tweaking and a longer clamp screw, but it can be made to fit.

FWIW: I know where you're going. I just kitbashed my Schwinn: http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/letour/index.htm into a 7-speed with the wheels off my Bianchi: http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/alloro/index.htm and a Deore XT thumbshifter.

I recently put one of the old steel-clamp MTB shifters on a set of road bars with a 25.4mm clamp diameter. I assume the clamp for the shifter was originally designed for 22.2mm bars (or whatever the MTB standard is), but with a bit of re-bending and dig in the bolts bin for the correct length bolt, it worked just fine. It was an 8-speed shifter (Shimano, from the early '90s I believe), but I had a 9 speed drivetrain, so I just flipped it to friction mode and it worked fine.

^ This is good to know. I'll have to go down and rummage through the parts bins at the co-op. I'd much rather use indexed (what can I say...I like to feel that 'click') but if I have to go friction, friction it is!