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What thumb shifter for Bridgestone conversion

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What thumb shifter for Bridgestone conversion

Old 07-10-14, 04:42 PM
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What thumb shifter for Bridgestone conversion

I'm converting my Bridgestone 400 with Shimano 600 groupset to a riser bar for my dad to ride. What would be a decent thumb shifter to get without breaking the bank? 7 x 2
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Old 07-10-14, 04:55 PM
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I'm not sure what qualifies as breaking the bank but I'd be tempted to go friction and get these from IRD:

IRD Power Ratchet Thumb Shifters > Components > Shifters > Mountain Bike Shifters | Jenson USA
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Old 07-10-14, 05:08 PM
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LOL, that qualifies as BTB. Nice looking shifters though.
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Old 07-10-14, 05:26 PM
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Are you looking for on top the bar thumb shifters or just any OK thumb or rapid fire type shifter?

The good shimano Deore are getting pricy, if you can find used mounts at your local bike shop you may be able to find a deal on shifters minus the mount. There might be some shimano SIS 7spd thumb shifters out there for a OK price.

If your open to STI/rapidfire type shifters just troll through the 'bay and find a BIN that fits your wallet.
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Old 07-10-14, 05:34 PM
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Thanks Bianchigirll
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Old 07-10-14, 05:48 PM
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It seems like a lot of people dislike Rapid Fire shifters and I've always wondered why. In my limited experience with them they worked great.
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Old 07-10-14, 06:03 PM
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Inexpensive and functional.

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Shimano Shifters SL-TX30 Tourney 3x7 Pair
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Old 07-10-14, 06:24 PM
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Rapid Fire Plus shifters are great. I have them on my former everyday riding bike and with 6 years and about 12,000 miles of riding they have worked like champs. Only maintenance was the initial heavy WD-40 bath to get the pawls working and then a less drastic WD-40 treatment about 2 years ago.

If you go with friction thumb shifters I would try to find an old set of Suntour ratcheting models.
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Old 07-10-14, 06:43 PM
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One thing... if you're planning to use 2" + riser bars, watch out; depending on the length of the grip area, RF+ shifters don't play very nicely right next to the bend in the handlebar. You might not be able to position the RF+ shifter pods for the best hand position. If possible, I'd still opt for thumb shifters.
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Old 07-10-14, 07:46 PM
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Thimbies, friction? An effective $12 solution.

Falcon Friction Thumb Shifters - Shifters - Shifting - Components
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Old 07-10-14, 07:53 PM
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I have the RapidFire below the bar shifters which I cleaned up & work great, but they came with the bike. Definitely heed the point about the bend in the handlebar. If you want new & simple I'd opt for the Tourney or Falcon basic thumb shifters.

it might also depend on whether you live near a bike co-op, how handy you are with bikes & how much energy you want to spend.
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Old 07-10-14, 08:06 PM
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IMO- the best indexed 7s thumbshifters- the Shimano M732 Deore XT.






Otherwise, the best friction thumbshifters are the Suntour MTB ones!


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Old 07-10-14, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
IMO- the best indexed 7s thumbshifters- the Shimano M732 Deore XT.

Otherwise, the best friction thumbshifters are the Suntour MTB ones!
I am in full agreement here.
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Old 07-10-14, 09:29 PM
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Suntour XC Pro shifters are very nice if you can find them. I bought a set yesterday for $8.

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Old 07-10-14, 09:59 PM
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One question, will my Shimano 600 RD work with the indexed type shifters? If not i will have to go with pure friction. Thanks for all the help!
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Old 07-10-14, 11:38 PM
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Originally Posted by rjhammett
Suntour XC Pro shifters are very nice if you can find them. I bought a set yesterday for $8.

There can be compatibility issues with Shimano if you are indexing... they are great thumbies though.

As to 600 rear derailleurs indexing, that would depend on what generation of 600 we are talking about... later versions were indexed (tri colour) while the earlier versions were friction.

Another great friction thumbie is the early Deore Stags Head which had a short run as it was introduced right before Shimano brought indexed shifting to the masses... they have a half ratchet and are very smooth shifters with outstanding construction.
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Old 07-11-14, 12:24 AM
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Thanks 65er. I have pre Tri color so I guess indexing is out unless I can get another RD. I was thinking of changing out the freewheel and RD to use the Megarange Shimano FW for hills. Any thoughts on that?
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Old 07-11-14, 06:03 AM
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I have never had any compatibility issues mixing Suntour and Shimano shifters and rear derailleurs running 6/7 speed indexed. That being said, I have not run XC Pro shifters with a Shimano rd.

Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver
There can be compatibility issues with Shimano if you are indexing... they are great thumbies though.

As to 600 rear derailleurs indexing, that would depend on what generation of 600 we are talking about... later versions were indexed (tri colour) while the earlier versions were friction.

Another great friction thumbie is the early Deore Stags Head which had a short run as it was introduced right before Shimano brought indexed shifting to the masses... they have a half ratchet and are very smooth shifters with outstanding construction.
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Old 07-11-14, 06:32 AM
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Originally Posted by rjhammett
I have never had any compatibility issues mixing Suntour and Shimano shifters and rear derailleurs running 6/7 speed indexed. That being said, I have not run XC Pro shifters with a Shimano rd.
There shouldn't be a problem with Accushift shifters + Accushift derailleur + Shimano FW in 6 Speed.

I think you do get into a "situation" when you mix Accushift/SIS between shifter and derailleur.

7 Speed is a whole 'nother animal because Suntour had variable spacing between cogs and Shimano didn't.
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Old 07-11-14, 06:33 AM
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Originally Posted by eMats
Thanks 65er. I have pre Tri color so I guess indexing is out unless I can get another RD. I was thinking of changing out the freewheel and RD to use the Megarange Shimano FW for hills. Any thoughts on that?
Thyere was an SIS 600 version before Tri-Color- that should work.
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Old 07-11-14, 08:43 AM
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Does your rd have a cable tension adjuster on it? If so you can run it indexed. On the other hand I have run friction rd in index mode by adding an inline cable tension adjuster with index shifters.


Originally Posted by eMats
Thanks 65er. I have pre Tri color so I guess indexing is out unless I can get another RD. I was thinking of changing out the freewheel and RD to use the Megarange Shimano FW for hills. Any thoughts on that?
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Old 07-11-14, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by rjhammett
Does your rd have a cable tension adjuster on it? If so you can run it indexed. On the other hand I have run friction rd in index mode by adding an inline cable tension adjuster with index shifters.

Ahh, smart solution. I have the bike in parts so I will have to check. Thanks for the info!
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Old 07-11-14, 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by rjhammett
Does your rd have a cable tension adjuster on it? If so you can run it indexed. On the other hand I have run friction rd in index mode by adding an inline cable tension adjuster with index shifters.
You may still have issues with cable pull even with a cable tension unit.
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