Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
I once heard in passing about a device that allowed a person to shift between the middle and outer ring as if shifting a double but when the granny was needed you did something... I don't really know what... but then you would be able to drop into the granny. As far as I know it worked with the existing shifters, you didn't have to buy new shift levers. Is this ringing any bells with anyone? Is there a DIY hack for something like this if no commercial solution is available?? TIA.
The device you are describing (Airburst has the link) was made to allow Shimano STI brifters for double chainring cranks to shift a triple crank and was sold before Shimano made any triple compatible brifters. It was a two position lever attached to the brifter where the shift cable exited. In one position you could shift between the large and middle chainrings only. In the other position you could shift between the middle and granny chainrings only. It is not useful or needed with downtube or other friction front shifters.
As noted, shifting a triple with friction shifters is a skill but not that difficult to learn.