Ante

I'm in the process of building up a nice Bridgestone RB-2 I got on craigslist with a pieced together Ultegra 6500 set (the stock suntour edge stuff left a lot to be desired) for doing some touring this fall and when it comes to shifters I really want to stay true to the RB-2 style by using bar end shifters.

The strange thing is that, from the best I've been able to research, Shimano never made a 9 speed Ultegra bar end shifter, they only made 8 speed ones. This would be understandable if they never made 9 speed Ultegra cassettes, but they did... why no bar end shifters to match them? It seems very strange-- am I missing something and they do exist somewhere I just can't find them?

I suppose I could either go with Dura-Ace shifters or use the down tube to bar end adapter thingies but it would be nice to have a complete matching set.

Edit: Hehe looks like they didn't even make down tube ultegra shifters in the 6500 line, so it's dura ace or naught.

dbs

Are the barend you are talking about not just friction shifters? If so, how can they be 'speed' sensitive? 5-speed or 9-speed, wouldn't it be just like the rear DR..... they really don't have speeds.

I'm wondering as well in that I'm hardly an expert.

roadfix

I sure couldn't find the Ultegras in 9 speed either.....but then I wasn't really looking for them in particular so I got the DA's.
I have both the Ultegra 8 speed and the DA 9 speed bar end shifters. The only difference between the two is in the finish.....but not that noticable once mounted.

Ante

Erm.. and the fact that one does 8 speeds and one does 9 speeds right? I'm planning on using this with an Ultegra 9 speed cassette and to me an 8 speed shifter sounds like it won't exactly work. I'm not super familiar with Shimano index shifters but common sense dictates that a 9 speed shifter would be needed to use all 9 speeds of a 9 speed cassette.

roadfix

You are correct, except in the friction mode the 8 speed shifter will shift across all 9 cogs. You need the 9 speed shifter to index across 9 cogs. The 9 speed shifter will not index an 8 speed cassette.
Additionally, if you pick up a new DA set, ignore the sticker which indicates usage of DA derailleur only.....I think that was a mistake on Shimano's part.

Ante

Yeah I should have specified I'm definitely looking for index shifting not friction. Good to know about the DA derailleur-- I figured as much, but it never hurts to confirm it.

Gonzo Bob

For many of the "non-traditional" type parts in the Shimano line, they only make one model - bar-end shifters, down-tube shifters, and aero brake levers are examples. Since not many bike are OEM'd with these any more, it doesn't make sense to make Dura-ace, Ultegra, 105, and Tiagra versions of them all since each works with all groups.

The Ultegra 8-speed was a special case. Back in 8-speed era, Dura-ace shifters were not compatible with other Shimano. So Shimano had to have Dura-ace 8-speed and "rest-of-Shimano" 8-speed DT and BE shifters which they called Ultegra.

Ante

Ahh that makes sense. It seems that with as many people that use aero bars and those of us that like to pretend we ride rivendells there would be enough call for BE shifters to include them with the regular line but I guess not.

Dura-ace for me then!

yes

I think that the surly cross check ships with 9 speed tiagra bar end shifters.

well biked

The Surly website lists the bike with Shimano SL-BS77 9-speed barends. That's the Shimano part number for the Dura-Ace barcons. You had me curious, so I checked-

TallRider

Exactly what I was going to say. Shimano calls their 9- and 10-speed shifters "Dura-Ace" and the manual even says that these shifters should be used only with a Dura-Ace rear derailler, but both of those are holdovers from when Dura-Ace shifters/deraillers had a different cable-pull ratio, for 8-speed and prior indexing.

To be clear: the current Shimano 9- and 10-speed bar-end shifters are boxed as Dura-Ace, but the shifters themselves say only "Shimano" and Shimano only makes on model (well, one model for each speed).

surreal

shucks, hen, i might be ina pickle. i ordered some 8spd shimano barcons from QBP, which listed them as being "altegra/105", or somesuch nonsense. when they arrived,they were labeled "dura-ace", and there was a buttload of admonitions regarding their compatibility with anything other'n the prehistoric dura-ace 8spd group. incidentally, i don't have said group. at all.

as luck would have it, there is a friction option on the rear shifter, and i feel absolutely certain that the friction mode will work at whatever derailleur i throw at it, but it'd be nice to know that i could switch to index if need be. does anyone know if i'm hosed or not?

tia,
-rob

HillRider

Friction will work with any make and any speed cassette and derailleur. However, 8-speed Dura Ace had unique indexing geometry and wouldn't shift properly with any other 8-speed Shimano indexing shifters. I believe there is a work-around done by rerouting the rear derailleur cable attachment point. See if Sheldon Brown's web site has the details.