I'm trying to mount friction shifters on a modern 1 1/8 x 31.8 stem for a bike I'm building. The shifters will need to have cable stops for the housing to go from the shifters to the downtube cable stops. I've got this origin 8 clamp adapter to mount the downtube shifters. however, I don't know where to get shifters that have cable stops. What are my options? Can I buy a vintage shifter with cable stops, take it apart, and put it on the origin 8 adapter?

stem shifters | eBay

Yes, you would have to mount the parts from a stem shifter onto the Origin 8 clamp, but it may not be configured correctly to allow you to mount the hardware for a stem shifter on to it. Very difficult to determine without inspecting and measuring everything involved.

But do you really need stem shifters? They are the worst possible option, being something invented (along with suicide levers) for people who bought "10 speeds" during the initial bike boom of the 70's and who then wanted to just ride on the top of the bars. They take your hands well away from the brakes when shifting (suicide levers are not real brakes) exert a turning force when you shift, and many work poorly. What is your reason for wanting to mount stem shifters?

it's for a touring bike. I value simplicity when it comes to situations like that, because friction shifers work with anything. It's probably not the most orthodox approach, but I don't think I'll mind it too much.

Hire a fabricator to make one .. either onto a steel stem or a steerer tube spacer with a pinch bolt..

so it wont rotate when you pull the lever.

then the kind of boss used for downtubes + a housing stop will be brazed on.

there are Thumbie adapters made to put friction levers on as thumb shifters,

they can be mounted on the bars on either side of the stem.

I don't understand why they will rotate? if it's designed to not rotate on a 22.2 mm clamp, why would it rotate on an origin 8 adapter?

Not a Mechanic I take it .
threadless steerer spacers only function as vertical compression between the top cap thru the stem to your upper bearing race

there is no torque on them individually so friction between them is fine.

just as a whole combination is turning with the fork gripped by the stem.

all those 22,2 7/8" things in 2nd post grip the stem quill . you talk about a 9/8 fork.



I dont see the J&B/ origin8 thing , show it to me.

going to add another band thing for the cable stops ? both need to grip the steerer tube.

IDK if off the shelf stuff will be perfect enough .. take some risk, and buy it and report back..

I got along fine with bar end shifters , I had a firm grip with both hands while changing gears.

Is this a 1 1/8" threaded (internal) stem, or 1 1/8" threadless (external) stem?

I was able to barely force one of the internal 1 1/8" stems into a old Suntour stem shifter, with a few mods.



As far as the external stems (which you're probably using), the problem with the DT shifters is that they normally don't use cable stops.

Our local bike recycler/co-op gets quite a few stem shifters in. If it was me, I'd take your DT boss in, and tell them that you want to try assembling a stem shifter around it (and that you'll put anything you take apart back together). Then, try a few out.

You may need to do some filing to get it fitting right.

Generally I would choose DT shifters over stem shifters. I chose stem shifters for the green bike above because it had TT cable routing, and there was no practical place to mount DT shifters without doing some significant mods to the frame (plus it is hard to get claps for oversized tubes).

still not getting why i wouldn't work

here's the adapter
Origin8 DownTube Shifter Adapter - 31.8/28.6mm, Black

actually this look quite promising
Custom builds | Rat Race Cycles

If you like friction shifters, why not get something good like these dia compe bar end shifters,

Dia Compe Bar End Friction Shifter Set > Components > Drivetrain > Road Shifters | Jenson USA

what makes a good bar end shifter?

or I could keep the bar end levers and get thumb shifters..

A touring bike + friction shifting? SunTour Barcons to the rescue!
They will look great on a touring bike, will be period correct for friction shifting, are incredibly simple to use, and are reliable.


Vintage Suntour Friction Barend Road Bike Cyclocross Shifters w DT Cable Stop | eBay
Suntour Barcon Bar End Shifters Vintage | eBay
Suntour 6 7 Speed Bar End Shifters Controls Road Bicycle Barcon Shift Levers | eBay
Suntour Friction Bar End Barcon Barend Shifters Shift Levers | eBay
Suntour Bar Con SL BC00 Shifters Accushift Index Friction 6SP Bar End 80s | eBay


Or if you want to stick with Shimano, there are some solid options here too
Shimano Ultegra 8 Speed Bar End Shifters Shifter Pair Front and Rear Set | eBay These can run friction or indexed.
Shimano SL BS64 Bar End Index Shifter Set Used 7 8 Speed | eBay same- can run either way



All these are under $60, would give you friction shifting, would fit right in on a touring bike, and wouldn't make you figure out a wonky setup for stem shifters to fit the larger stem size. The SunTour offerings(pre-Accushift) also ratchet which makes it easier to micro-adjust shifting.

I did not have index shifting until 2005, and have done 10's of thousands of miles on friction shifting, but friction or index is irrelevant to my comments. I would strongly suggest you continue to consider other options besides stem shifters, especially for a touring bike.

I did something exactly like that with a 3 speed IGH barend shifter. The interrupter levers work quite well like that. But, as much as I like my bullhorn bars, I'm not sure I would want that configuration on a touring bike.

like https://problemsolversbike.com/produc...shifter_mount1
next piece needed the housing stops .. Problem Solvers this one won't work
(not a straight cable-line from the levers)

very old Campag GS series downtube band on down tube shifters used to allow
housing to run right up to the downtube shift levers


BTW. have used Sun Tour power ratchet bar end shifter on my touring bikes for 30+ years.

Have Campag friction bar end shifters on C&V drivetrain bikes.

I wasn't planning on a straight cable from the levers. I was going for one of these

shifters with cable stops that can take cable housing. my question was whether I can take apart one of these and put it on the origin 8 adapter. maybe there was a misunderstanding..

but I've since moved on from that idea. I'm now into the bar end shifters with cross brake levers idea.

Maybe you need to convert to a Quill stem? Koga of NL had a widget to do that with threadless forks .

Merry sales has one for 1" threadless forks , the ID of a 9/8" thjreadless fork is 1.0"

here Page 113 "Quill-inator" * so you need to step down the diameter ,

perhaps Via Brazing a 1" tube inside the 1.125" one.

* https://www.merrysales.com/merry_cata...ricingfree.pdf

this is a distributor catalog you have to find a retail shop with their wholesale account.