ISO: 8 Speed Dura Ace Bar End Shifters
 

Looking for Dura Ace 8 speed bar end shifters to work with 7402/7403 8 speed setup. Not sure if these even existed back in the day. I have seen 8 speed Ultegra bar ends but it appears they are not compatible with the Dura Ace rear derailleur. I am also interested in determining whether 9 speed Dura Ace bar end shifters will work with this 8 speed drive train. I have seen that in a couple of places online and I would like to get some confirmation of that here and maybe some details about how the 9 speed shifters work with the 8 speed read derailleur. Whether it's just a matter of setting the limits properly on the RD with one wasted gear space on the shifters or something else. Has anyone got any experience with any of this? Thanks in advance for any information.

Ultegra 8-speed bar end shifters are widely compatible in friction mode. That's how I've used 'em for awhile, with a mismatched set of old 7-speed Exage 500 CX RD (nearly identical to Deore long cage RD) and MicroShift 8-speed cassette. There's a stop molded into the metal of those derailleurs that limits cage swing just enough to prevent reliable index shifting into the big cog of my 8-speed MicroTech 12-32 cassette. As soon as I put any pressure on for a climb, it'll click down to the next smaller cog. But it holds fine in friction mode. With only 8 cogs, friction shifting isn't too closely spaced or fiddly, so with practice it's quick enough, including mid-climb.

I've considered taking a file or moto tool to the internal limit stop of one of those rear derailleurs so I can use index shifting across the 8-speed cassettes.

But I haven't tried the Ultegra bar ends with my Dura Ace 8-speed rear derailleurs. I think I have at least one, maybe two of those in a box somewhere, intended to rebuild my early 1990s Trek 5900 OCLV.

I have Dura Ace 10-speed bar ends scavenged from an older time trial/triathlon bike. Friction shifting would be more fiddly with the closely spaced cogs on the DA 10-speed cassettes, so I'll keep that group together on a future build for easy index shifting.

I've been using 7700 bar ends for a few years. They will shift a 7700 derailleur or a 7400 8 speed derailleur.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...95fbfab6ef.jpg
Fwiw, I have shifted a 7402 rd in 9 speed mode with no problems, on two different bikes.

Sorry, but these aren't for sale.

Yep. You want 7700 bar ends. 8 speed dura ace and 9 speed sis pull the same amount of cable per shift.

I hadn't actually looked yet at any of the 7700s. It is clearly marked as being 8 and 9 speed compatible. Thanks so much for all the info.

I might have a set and IIRC they were specifically sold as being "for DA 8-spd" but I expected to try them on whatever I had...
I will look and get back here with an update

Thank you very much. I'd be very interested in hearing about those if they are specifically for 8 speed. Maybe those were late in the 8 speed time period before 9 speed came out. Haven't come across any of those in my search.

This is what I use on my 8s 7400 drive train.

Any Shimano 9s shifter should work with an 8s 7400 RD.

What I think I have (but need to confirms) is a pair of SL-BS 50-8 Bar End Shifters which were specified as "8-speed shifting for Dura Ace" and "...cannot be used with DA 6-speed or 7-speed", but has friction mode as well as SIS.
Will update later when I have time.

I'd be interested in taking a look at those if you can hunt them down. Thank you.

I have a pair of BS50, but they shifted non-7400 7 speed or 6 speed with a little plastic clip in the channel for the shift cable to increase the pull for the larger 6s spacing. Pretty dang cool.

Well I had a bad feeling something was weird and so my spidey-sense was confirmed: what I have is the Shimano BOX for a set (levers, cables, housing and H-bar coozies) for SL-BS50-8 bar end shifters.

But what's IN that box (and noted in the stick-on paper label the vendor applied) are a pair of SL-BS64 lever which are made to work with Ultegra drivetrains (RD6401 is the reco) and NOT compatible with DA RDs, says the sticker right on one lever itself plus first thing on the instruction sheet. So SOL for your needs, sorry to say.

I guess that's why these were on sale when I bought them years back!
;)

Not that the tricolor RD is any slouch. 6401 would be the 7 speed, right? I can’t remember which moved to 8 speed.

the instruction sheet says "designed for exclusive use with the 600 Ultegra 8-speed system" and did NOT come with those plastic inserts that "step-up" the cable diameter to adapt for "lower speeds" use.

Thanks for making the effort to locate the box and establish the contents. I have gone through this same experience many times not knowing exactly what I had lurking on the shelves and then reading the label, getting pumped up, and then finding a slight variation inside the box, always just a little less valuable than what I was seeking. The most likely culprit for these occurrences are long ago upgrades to components where the old components make a new home in the upgrade box! Happens all the time. Those 8 speed shifters (based on my search, almost non existent now) must have made their way onto somebody's bike somewhere long ago, maybe even one of yours. No worries. I think I will be well served with the aforementioned 7700 shifters which are also available new at multiple retail stores such as Jenson, Performance, Nashbar, etc. Must still be a market for these shifters being that they are also 9 speed. Thanks for your efforts.