I am starting a conversion of a MTB to a touring bike. It is a 7 speed which currently has Altus components. Going to try to upgrade to Deore 7 speed. Can't seem to find indexing bar ends for a 7 speed so will any friction bar end shifter work? Does it have to Shimano or just any brand? May not be an issue as I may go with trekking bars and thumb shifters, just looking at my options if I go with drops.

Thanks for the help.

You can get a good set of friction shifters for less than $20. I used them on my 8 speed. Pro's, correct me if I'm wrong, but my experience was that since they are not indexed, they simply work through a 'range' as determined by how you set your limit screws on the derailleurs.

Friction or this if you really want indexed -- https://www.rivbike.com/products/show...-mounts/17-068

Perfect thanks

eight speed has the same cable pull , just use your limit screws.

+1

I did the same thing and I'm just using 8 speed indexed shifters. If you set your limit screws right it just prevents the shifter from clicking into the last position. Works great. I'm using these.

The cable pull is not the same, but it's close enough. They sold 8 speed shifters as 7/8 speed when they first came out. I've been using Ultegra 8 speed shifters on a 7 speed cassette for years without ever missing a shift.

if you want friction, just about any shifter made will work. Shimano works great, Suntour, Campy, Simplex, take your pick.

Thanks guys, gives me some more options

Nope, wrong. 7-speed was sold as 6/7-speed when Shimano first offered indexing bar-ends. (There was a little plastic shim to change the cable pull for 6-speed.) For eight-speed, there were 2 versions: Dura-Ace and everything else. 9-speed was standard across the board, and there's been 2 versions of 10-speed: one with friction option, 1 without.

I tried doing the opposite: using 7-speed shifters on an 8-speed cassette. I couldn't get it to shift correctly across the cassette. It's probably got something to do with free play and shifting tolerances.

I am running three bikes with seven speed thumbies on eight speed cassettes. A DX a XT, and a Suntour Expert all with Shimano Derailleurs and cassettes . No problems . Shimano 7 pulls 2.9mm of cable, shimano 8 pulls 2.8.

Not wrong, in fact they're still being sold that way:

Shimano Ultegra 8 Speed Bar-end Shifters LD801 $84.95
These permit switching between indexed and friction shifting.
Complete with cables, housing and down-tube cable stops for attachment to down-tube braze-ons. If your bike doesn't have the braze-ons, you also need to buy a pair of clamp-on cable stops.

The 7-speed units are no longer available, but the 8-speed shifters actually work quite well with 7-speed cassettes, especially with modern rear derailers.

As I said- the 7-speed units wouldn't work for me on an 8-speed cassette. They can put anything they want in their ad copy.