I currently have 105 brifters working on my bike.

I want to try out bar end shifters on the same bike.

Will the brifter levers still work the brakes ok if the shifter cables are removed? Thanks.

Yes.

Bar end shifter suck, reaching to the bottom of the bar, and away to shift - bleh.

I'm building a tourer on the Nashbar touring frame. I need road shifters for a 9-speed mtb drivetrain--options are kind of limited. Plus I think the bar end shifters look cool. Plus I want to try them in my clip-on aerobars. Plus I just want to try them because I'm an old fart with lots of time to waste and they've caught my interest!

Lots of people agree with you on the Bleh--if they're bleh for me, they're going back--I'm thinking I can try them for a few days and they won't show signs of use, unlike a lot of this stuff that scratches if you look at it.

Just so the brakes work during the trial! Thanks.

I wouldn't give up my bar end shifters for brifters. Perfect part for touring, they are damn near unbreakable and cheap and easy to replace just in case you do manage to break them. I see the appeal of brifters similar to the trigger shifters on my mtb, but for my money you can't beat bar end shifters on a commuter or touring bike.

I think this depends on the terrain (how often I need to shift) and where my hands are most of the time. If they're in the drops or on the aerobars, then barend is good. If they're on the hoods or bartop, then brifters make more sense . . .

I feel that brifters make the most sense ergonomically... your hands are more likely to be close to the brake levers than the flats on the end of your bars.

However, brifters are more complicated and are pretty much impossibe to repair (especially on the side of the road), have no friction option (because if something can go wrong - something WILL go wrong), are slightly heavier (but not enough to make a difference to 99.9999% of riders on the road), and cost 3X or 4X more than bar end shifters.

All that being said, I have Brifters on one bike and I love them. I have Bar end shifters on another and I love them. I am building a new bike and I am planning on bar end shifters, but depending on availability, I may go with brifters (for an Alfine IGH).

Yeah big whoop do. Just carry a set of bar-end shifters if you really think it's going to fail on you while touring.

Bar end shifters are very good shifters. They are more consistent shifting for beginners. I love my STI levers , Ergo Levers and my Double tap levers (don't know anything about Nashbar duel purpose levers and whatever else is out on the market). No professonal or serious racer would use bar end shifters. Not that bar end shifters aren't cool . Duel purpose shifters allow people to stay in a more comfortable yet aggressive riding position and still shift and brake. But there was a time when bar end shifters was high tech and several pro racers used them. I have one of my road bikes working very well with Shimano 10 speed bar end shifters , DA r/d and with wing style shallow bars the bike is a blast to ride. I also use some inexpensive Tektro aero brake levers and between the Tektro levers and the DA bar end shifters I might have saved some weight but I know I saved a bunch of money.

This would tend to make things more comlicated, which is what we try to avoid. I try to, anyway.

Bar end shifters give you tactile feedback as to which gear your're in. They also let you shift through the entire range of cogs in one sweep.

True, the position of the bar end would give some indication as to the gear. True, you are able to sweep accross the cassette more. Their are certainly pros and cons of every device (although I see no pros of DT shifters).

I recently helped a friend of mine build up a touring bike. She was debating between brifters and bar ends.

I explained that brifters would allow her to shift and brake when stopping, a nice convienence. Plus, one doesn't have to remove hands fromt the handlebar to shift, and if you are a bit unsteady riding (or tired) then one CAN "wobble" a bit, such as riding uphill and shifting. However, brifters CAN fail and cannot be switched to friction should the indexing go out of adjustment. When touring, especially when quite a distance away from a bike shop, the best thing is to have gear that has less of a tendency to cause trouble.

Bar ends are near unbreakable, can be switched to friction BUT you have to remove your hand from the brake lever to shift (as mentioned above), and when stopping, it is nice to apply brake and shift to an easier gear for starting again - as can be done with brifters.

So, pick your poison.

She decided to go with bar ends. The reasons are;
1) this was a touring bike and was going to be ridden on rural roads, so unlike city riding, there won't be alot of braking and shifting at the same time (such as city riding)
2) although she likes getting her hands dirty, she is a little uncertain of her mechanical skills and did not want the extra complication of adjusting the indexing for a brifter (should it be needed).
3) she did not like the fact that a brifter is unrepairable, something she did not want to happen when touring.

I did recommend brifters as the chances of them breaking are slim (but can happen) and should the indexing go out of adjustment all that is needed is to either adjust the barrel adjuster on the downtube or the derailler.

Having said all that, I LOVE brifters. My road, touring and commutter have them and coming from using DT shifters for years then bar ends, I don't wanna go back.

However, unlike Operator, I realize that people have differant opinions and experiences and do not waste my time belittling others for their choice of shifter.

Your 105 shifters will shift any Shimano MTB rear derailleur.

I love barcons. Maybe you just lack the coordination to operate them properly!

Seriously, I've had barcons on at least one of my bikes since 1989 and have never had a problem. With that said they aren't as easy to get to as brifters. But I don't race so fast shifting isn't a problem.

I am a Barcon fan as well (even more than the shimano bar end shifter, Barcon is a Suntour registered trademark for those nifty ratcheting ones.) but I do question claims of their durability. Or at least damage resistance. Because they stick way out at the end of the bar, they are actually kind of prone to damage. I've broken two shifters, both snapped off at the lever. One was when I had to ...opt out...of some technical terrain. The other was just a run of the mill crash. Both times the bar end was abruptly severed from the shifter.

I've ridden with bar end shifters and STI/Ergos and there is NO comparison. To me the only advantages of barends are cost and the slight bit of comfort a friction option may offer.

As to coordination, come ride with me and I'll show you several places where shifting from bar ends would require superhuman coordination. Unless you can predict your shifts all the time, every time and never have to shift while standing or pulling hard on the bars, barends don't make it.

My 105 brifters are 10-speed. I cannot run them with a 9-speed mtb cassette; even though, as you say, an mtb rd has the reach (I currently have an xtr long-reach rd back there).

This sums up my reservations re bar end shifters--I'm a little shy on the superhuman coordination!

"Back in the day" when down tube shifters was the only thing available, when standing to climb, one had to always sit down to shift, then stand back up.

There's no way one can stand, using bar ends or DTs, and take your hand off the bar and reach down to shift. At least I couldn't and never knew anyone who could.

For touring, when I used bar ends, I never had the need to stand so it wasn't really an issue. The coordination thing is quite real, even when sitting and climbing, you had to be careful when taking a hand off the bar to shift.

I had recommended brifters for the tourng bike rebuild, but in the end (no pun there), she decided with bar ends, feeling that the even slight chance of trouble wasn't worth it.

To each their own.

When you say "back in the day" when down tube shifters was the only thing available -- you do realise that barcons first came around in the early 1970's ( I think that they came out in 1970 but for sure no later than 1974).

If you ride in the drops when you are climbing (or on the flat roads for that matter) you will not have to take your hands off the bars to shift or brake. Combine bar end shifters and shallow drop bars and you can be near the brakes and the shifters all the time by comfortably riding in the drops.

At the cost of some of these new high tech duel purpose levers -- the bar end shifters/aero brake lever can not only save a bundle of money but they also work very very good. And for the color coordinating crowd -- colored brake hoods and bar end shifter covers can be matched to the bar tape quite easily.

I should have clarified DTs Vs brifters with respect to road bikes.

I had bar ends on my touring bike, DTs on my road bike, at the time. Mid to late 80s(ish).

Yes, but when in the drops you do have to move your hand back to reach the bar ends. There is a difference between "being near" to the shifter and not having to move your hand (at all) from the hoods OR the drops to shift (as in the case with brifters).

Of course, bar ends DO work very good. I do not believe anyone said they did not. People did say they liked the convienence of the brifter, as do I. I certainly won't be going back to DTs.

If I was doing some major touring, I would opt for bar ends over brifters.

+1
The only way you'll know is to try them. It's really not difficult to shift with either.

Nor would they ride with racks, panniers, fenders, or lights

When I said no professional or serious racer would use bar end shifters wasn't a slam on bar end shifters. What I was refering to was that technology has advanced and the need for faster/safer shifting & braking makes duel purpose levers a necessary part of racing competitively.

Bar end shifters (also called barcons) used with shallow drop bars requires little movement -- barely 1 inch and certainly less than 2 inch's of hand movement to operate both brake & shifter. To allow this convenience the drop part of the bar is trimmed to allow the shifter to be closer to the brakes. Most bars have extra flat section that can be easily trimmed.

I still use bar end shifters (8,9 and10 speeds) and have DT shifters on classic bikes (would not be proper to have a classic vintage bike wth modern equipment on it -- fashion patrol will dock you points). I have been blessed to own and enjoy a wide range of bikes and equipment. Bar end shifters and DT shifters still have a place on modern bikes today. Touring , casual riding and even serious recreational riders can/do enjoy bar end shifters. Modern DT shifters will be around as long as there are people that like the look of a bike from "the good old days".

I've done this, and yes it works fine. The only thing I would add is to plug up the shifter cable hole so that water and dirt doesn't get sprayed into the shifter mechanism.

FYI, there are 10 speed mountain cassettes out there, although they are expensive. IRD and SRAM XX or Apex come to mind. Depending on how low you want your gearing, you could also do a 11-28 or 12-27 road cassette and use a MTB crank. STI + a road FD will shift it fine. (Don't use a MTB FD with STI). Or use Tiagra 9 speed. Anyway, there are options out there if you don't like the barcons.

I'm the proud owner of an 11-34 IRD 10-speed for only $133. Weight 377g (they don't mention that in the ads)--for the new bike I want mtb 9-speed for $$ reasons.