9 speed bar end shifters for 7 speed?
 

Quick question. I have a 7 speed Shimano Dura Ace 7400 group. My understanding is that the 7400 group came out in 1984 and was Shimano's first indexing group. I would like to use bar end shifters, but I have not been able to find 7 speed. Do they exist? If so, are they indexing or friction only.

What I can find are plenty of 8 and 9 speed barcons. Would these work? I assume that there would be no problem using them in friction mode, but what about indexing? Any chance the indexing throw was the same with 7 - 9 speed dura ace?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I think that any friction shifter would work. With indexed, I'm not sure whether an 8 speed would work with your 7 speed. I think it is the spacing between cogs on the freewheel that is critical.

The current Dura-Ace barcons are great, I'm running a nine-speed drivetrain with indexed shifting in the rear, friction in front (front is a triple crank). The Dura-Ace barcons are currently available in 8, 9, and 10 speed models, I believe. The index spacing is different for each model, not to mention the number of clicks when the rear shifter is in the index mode, of course........There are definitely some currently available shifters available for seven-speed indexing ( seven-speed version of Sora brifters, for one), but I'm not sure if there are any bar-ends made specifically for seven-speed indexing. You should be able to find some downtube shifters, though, and maybe even some bar-ends. I'd check out Sheldon Brown's site, it's great for info on stuff like this. Good luck-

I should add that since your seven-speed group is Dura-Ace, there might be other compatibility issues that don't apply to other seven-speed stuff, I don't know. Again, I'd check out Sheldon Brown's website, he lays it out pretty clearly on this kind of question-

They are available - I sold a new set recently for $50 - I wish now I had kept them. They look pretty much like the Ultegra and Duraace of today. You mighrt look at the tandem boards because on mid 90's bikes they were used alot. If need be use a set of suntour which are very easy to find.

Shimano made 7-speed bar-ends (I have a pair on my touring/commuting bike). However, the Dura-ace rear derailer and shifter of that era is not compatible with any other Shimano and I'm not sure that Shimano ever made Dura-ace 7-speed bar-ends. I've certainly never seen any.

But, 7-speed spacing is very close to 8-speed (5.0mm vs 4.8mm) and I have friends that have used 8-speed shifters for 7-speed drivetrains. So you could try using a pair of 8-speed Dura-ace bar-ends. And because of the changes made when Dura-ace went to 9-speed, all Shimano 9-speed shifters will shift a 7400 series rear derailer for 8-speed spacing so you could get 9-speed bar-ends, too. I have these on my triathlon bike and there is a sticker on them that says "compatible with 8s (7400) and 9s (7700)" or something like that.

Another thing you could do is look at converting down-tube shifters to bar-end with something like this http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/shift...urs/17068.html

I converted a Paramount from 7 speed DA to 8 speed DA by changing the freehub. Not a hard operation, you need a 7mm allen key (and a freehub, and 8-speed shifters, and the cogset, and...nah. That was it.)

lot's of down tube 7 speed but very few barcons. Did Shimano ever have a friction version?

Tim