I shift gears on my bike like I'm shifting gears in my car. Shifting to a lower gear when approaching a red light, then shifting up quickly to gain speed on the green.

My shifters are very "clicky" and I find them a bit annoying. They're the stock shifters on a 2013 Giant Escape 2 (Shimano M310). I'm probably just looking for an excuse to tinker with my bike but, are their quieter shifter options out there? It would be nice to have a smooth, quiet shift.

I'm thinking that if everything were perfectly adjusted they wouldn't do that.

If it was my bike, the first thing that I would do would be to check the rear derailleur hanger alignment with a gauge. There probably isn't anything wrong with that, but it's nice to have that possibility out-of-the-way. Then I'd start fiddling with the derailleur adjustments. The Park Tool website has good step-by-step instructions for doing that. Be sure to follow the steps in order because sometimes one adjustment can affect subsequent ones.

On the other hand, your bike is ride able now. Once you start messing with it, you could make it worse.

More expensive stuff will generally be smoother as well as lighter and more reliable.

My quick search shows that bike has an 8-speed rear, so you could probably find all sorts of interesting stuff on eBay, assuming you are going to do the work yourself...

The old school Shimano MTB thumb shifters are a little quieter than the newer rapid-fire types, I think. Many friction shifters are silent, if you want to go back to friction!

I think the OP is referring to the clicks the shifters themselves make which there is nothing that can be done (besides gumming them up with sticky old grease.)

Yeah, I think going friction is the only way for the OP to get rid of the clicks. Old school mtb thumb shifters could do that. Don't think most current levers can.

Yup, the click of the shifters themselves I'd upgrade them if there was something better out there that was *silent*. Maybe it's just a dream and I'm just nit picking.

if you want to tinker, take them apart and add some light grease. if it turns out that they are too sluggish, take them back apart and rinse in kerosene and add heavy oil. repeat with lighter oil until you've satisfied your lust for tinkering or silence.

and yes, IME, trigger shifters make a clicking sound. possibly an intentional aural confirmation feature. remember there are people out there riding in the winter and the indexing "feel" when changing gears may be masked by gloves or mittens.

I have had 2_3 speed Bromptons , the Old steel Trigger shifter was a lot harder to pull into first, on the AW3, than the new plastic one is with the BSR,. gear ratios identical.