Issues with swapping brifters for barcons?
 

I have a '99 Bianchi Eros, which is a 27 spd (triple + 9 gear cassette) with Campy Mirage components. It came with brifters, but I'm considering a switch to barcons. Will any kind of bar-end shifters do the trick? Will I need new brake levers, or can I continue to use the brifters for braking?

Check me if I'm wrong pros, but do the Campy/SRAM-mano differences filter down to barcons? The left/front barcon will likely be friction, so it doesn't matter there. Not sure about the rear though.

Well you COULD use the old levers. But I'm wondering why you want to switch? If the levers are not working well why not fix them? If you don't like the feel of how the brifters work then you'll still be stuck with them instead of the much more sleek and ergonomic simple aero brake levers. And if it's just that you don't like the feel of the Mirage brifters then selling them will put a bunch of money back in your pocket even after you buy the far cheaper aero levers.

If you really insist on this then I'd want to get proper indexing 9 speed shifting for the rear and go friction on the front. I love being able to trim the front to avoid cage clicking in the more useable but extreme combos.

I think to run indexed you'll need Campy bar-ends, which are quite expensive. You could use any bar-ends in friction mode, but I don't understand the need to switch to bar-ends if a) your brifters are working ok and b) you like the feel of the brifters enough to keep them after switch to bar-ends.

All barend shifters are friction for front shifting so they are all mix-and-match among the various manufactures. Rear shifting is brand-specific so you will need Campy barend shifters if you make the change.

The Mirage brifters will continue to work as brake levers only if you wish.

I'll go along with the others and ask what's the incentive for the change? I've used barend shifters and brifters and the brifters are by far the more convenient.

Other clever parts swaps: a Campag made freehub body that is steel spline and uses Shimano cogs,
about a C note Cambria bike sells them..
and the J tek travel agent like pulley for the slight differences , between the<C> and S RD designs..

And yes you can pull the Guts out of Campag brifters and use them as brake levers ,
minus the little levers and so forth.

Campag Brifters and bar end F Left,shifters,are minus friction mode,
where as Shimano's 9 speed have that option.
there is a middle ground.

Campy's barend shifters are friction for front shifting like everyone else's. Agree they don't offer a friction option for rear shifting as do Shimano barends.

I don't know of anyone who's brifters offer a friction option at either end although Campy Ergos do have a multi-click ratcheting action for front shifting that is almost as versatile as friction

Well circa 75 Campag only made the #1012/3.. bar end lever ,
a friction only lever.

They work great.. with the period derailleurs , Campag Rally in my case
thats what I still use on my road bike, got off the band wagon at 7 speeds.
though I did adopt a newer 'race' triple crank ..

until I got my Rohloff bike..

You could use shimano bar ends and just use it in friction mode. I thought that campagnolo 9 speed bar ends were hard to find and expensive if found.

Use a shimano barcon and use a J-tek to correct the travel

Changing to barends won't correct that problem, particularly if you retain the current brifters as brake levers. Either their shape "hits" you wrong or you aren't moving your hands around enough on the bars. One of the major advantages of drop bars is the multiple hand positions they offer.

I don't brake with my thumbs, so I don't see how retaining the brifters as brake levers would affect that. Nor is it hand positioning - it's the repetition of downshifting with the right thumb only on a long ride. I have non-brifter bikes and this isn't an issue when I go for long rides on them.

Well, yeah, I assumed you didn't brake with your thumbs. :)

My point was that you must ride with your thumb poised over the "mouse-ear" for long periods anticipating the need to shift and that's what I meant by not moving your hands around. Do you really shift so often that you have to keep your thumb always by the mouse-ear?

It would if you have a tendency to grip the hoods when riding - I think that's what others were insinuating. Shape and behavior would be the same, albeit you'd be pulling off the hoods to shift if you moved to the barcons possibly giving your grip some rest. If that's indeed the case, it's only a "fix" because it made your behavior change, which could potentially be accomplished (for free and with no changes) by realizing you're doing it and adjusting accordingly.

I have to agree with Hillrider. Likely you just need to shift your hands back onto the bends more often. Likely the fatness of the brifter is pinching a vein or artery due to how you hold the hoods and that is what is making your thumb go to sleep. Or even if you just alter your hand position very slightly so your thumb is not resting on the shifter button. Or perhaps the bars are just a hair too low or forward for the style you use on that bike. For your thumb to have its circulation get cut off that implies that you're leaning on that hand too much. You may just need to move up or back so you're not leaned so hard onto your hands.

Oh, just thought of another thing. Do you ride with gloves all the time? If so and they are full fingered it may be that the thumb is too short and you're jamming your thumb into the tip of the thumb pocket of the glove. I know with my motorcycle gloves if I have even the slightest steady pressure on any of my finger tips I'm soon in agony. In your case it may be that the same pressure is triggering a nerve in a slightly different way.