Originally Posted by TrekRider
I am interested in Rivendells, but am a little concerned about the bar-end shifters. How easy are they to operate? What kind of shifters did you have before and did you find the change difficult?
I recently converted my Mtb into a tourer and among the changes made were switching to drop bars and barend shifters. I use Campy Ergos on my road bike and I find barenders almost as easy to operate. I find barenders so much easier and safer to operated compared to traditional downtube shifters. Friction only on chainrings is very nice......almost forgot what they felt like after years of indexing. Rear shifting can be set at either friction or index mode in an instant. New old stock Ultegra or DuraAce barend shifters are still currently available for 7 & 8 speeders. I picked up my new Ultegra shifters on Ebay for $35 a few weeks back.
George