Bicycle Mechanics - 7 speed Shimano Bar Ends?

Hey folks,
I just picked up a 93 MB1 and am looking to set it up for touring. Right now it has Shimano 7 speed Deore Xt Rear set up. I want to use bar ends but cant seem to find any Shimano 7 speed indexed. Am I going to have to change out the rear set up in order to make this work with indexed?

You can go with a 8 speed . the range of the rear dérailleur will keep you out of the 8 click.

^
Adjust limit screws as well.

^
Adjust limit screws as well.

This could read "make sure limit screws are properly adjusted." If your limit screws are already properly adjusted then they will not have to be changed to use an 8 speed shifter.

THe spacing between 8 speed cogs is slightly different than between 7 speed cogs, but many have reported that it works well.. I have had the opposite experience using 7 speed bar-top thumb shifters with the extra 'phantom click' - the shifts were never quite perfect.

You might also be able to get some 7 speed bar end shifters off EPay or something... I have a set I am planning to sell sometime soon.

You can also get friction shifters and they will work perfectly.

good luck with the auction .. I'm still in the Friction/ratchet lever crowd.

This could read "make sure limit screws are properly adjusted." If your limit screws are already properly adjusted then they will not have to be changed to use an 8 speed shifter.

THe spacing between 8 speed cogs is slightly different than between 7 speed cogs, but many have reported that it works well.. I have had the opposite experience using 7 speed bar-top thumb shifters with the extra 'phantom click' - the shifts were never quite perfect.

You might also be able to get some 7 speed bar end shifters off EPay or something... I have a set I am planning to sell sometime soon.

You can also get friction shifters and they will work perfectly.

Same with me- I couldn't get my 7-speed bar-end shifters to work on an 8-speed cassette. Whether 8-speed shifters would work on 7-speed... I dunno. I might have a working 7-speed set in my pile o' parts- I'll check after work tomorrow.

Friction works with everything.

Hey folks,
I just picked up a 93 MB1 and am looking to set it up for touring. Right now it has Shimano 7 speed Deore Xt Rear set up. I want to use bar ends but cant seem to find any Shimano 7 speed indexed. Am I going to have to change out the rear set up in order to make this work with indexed?

I just re-read that. The derailleur doesn't care how many cogs are on the cassette. It's the shift lever that controls the indexing.

I run Suntour retrofriction bar ends with my 7-speed touring setup, and it's surprisingly easy to shift into the right gear and stay there. OP may want to consider friction rather than indexed...

But, using the alternate cable routing on the rear Der with 8-speed levers sometimes works better than using the 8-speed directly, but I've used the 8-speed shifters on 7 speeds clusters successfully in the past. The Der is a little harder to keep adjusted, tho.

Looks like I have a few options:

1. go friction - not my preference but not awful.
2. use an eight speed shifter which may/may not work, again not ideal
3. use and eight speed shifter but switch to an eight speed hub, I would be able to leave the der though? - not sure
4. keep looking for a seven speed shifter - im guessing this would be the ideal so I'll keep looking for now

thanks for the tips

My touring bike has 8 speed ultegra bar ends on it. It shifts the rear 7 speed cassette & Deore XT RD perfectly, I just have a "dead" click at one end of the shifter.

I've done both. I currently have a road bike with an 8-speed cassette using 7-speed downtube shifters. After backing out the low-limit set screw a lot, I found the shifters continue in friction mode past the last indexing point. I also have a 7-speed megarange freewheel on my mountain bike with 8-speed shifters. I have it setup with the "dead click" using index points 1-7. Both bikes index perfectly. It just takes a little patience when setting the cable tension.

Hey folks,
I just picked up a 93 MB1 and am looking to set it up for touring. Right now it has Shimano 7 speed Deore Xt Rear set up. I want to use bar ends but cant seem to find any Shimano 7 speed indexed. Am I going to have to change out the rear set up in order to make this work with indexed?

I've got a pair of Shimano 7-speed bar end shifters. What do you have for tradeing stock?

I dont have much for trades. im kind of new to the project thing. I should have a 10 speed 105 cluster thats a few years old, hasn't been used much. I'll see if I can find it. Thats probably the best item. What are you looking for?