Originally Posted by canklecat

Might be the limit screw, might be the tension on the friction shifter. Or both.

Unfortunately the indexed shifters I've tried that offer a friction option don't have the same smooth and positive light shifting feel as dedicated friction shifters. It's usually a compromise setting with my Dura Ace and Suntour GPX Accushift downtube shifters set to friction mode. Same with the Shimano SIS bar-end shifters, although they work pretty well in friction mode due to the micro-click detents.

If you get a serious hankering for friction shifting, check out the Shimano Light Action shifters like the L-422, which appear to be a retrofriction design comparable to the classic Huret and Simplex. They're really nice. I used the L-422 on my Ironman for a month or so last summer, or maybe the summer before? Anyway, worked great.

I also discovered that the Suntour Alpha freewheels worked well in friction mode, although I didn't care so much for those freewheels in index mode -- as we've discussed before, I prefer the SunRace freewheels for index shifting setups, Suntour and Shimano. But the beveled and angled teeth that make the SunRace shift and run so smoothly with index shifting almost makes them finicky in friction mode -- it's crucial to trim the shifter jussst so in order to eliminate chatter and ghost shifts, otherwise the freewheel wants to "help" too much. The squared teeth of the Suntour work fine for friction shifts. The difference is fairly subtle but I've noticed it in several experiments.