I replaced my downtube friction shifters (which were Shimano 600, and probably pretty nice) with Suntour barcons. (New old stock.) I much prefer the location on the handlebars, but the shifting on the chainrings has always required a pretty decent bit of muscle. (The cog shifter I can manipulate with finger pressure.) What's wrong here? Misadjusted shifter? Poor quality component? Or *gulp* am I just weak?

It sounds like:

1) misadjusted shifter,

2) misadjusted front derailleur, or

3) too much friction in the cable housing (kink in cable?)

or 4) Too much slack in the cable.

-Kurt

Thanks. I have a feeling that my LBS isn't familiar enough with bar end shifters, never mind ones that aren't indexed. Can anybody point me in the direction of a primer on friction shifting? Anybody have pictures of how exactly to route the cables?

OK, there are several different schools of thought on this; some purists insist on routing the cable housings straight forward, exiting the handlebar in a straight line and curving back to the stops like this picture. This is the way most factory rigged barcons left the factories. The theory is that by minimizing the cable housing bends, internal friction between the cables and the cable housings is minimized.



Some think the friction issue is a red herring and run the cable housing inside the bar tape all the way to the end of the tape near the stem.

What works for me is to set up the cable housing exit near the brake levers. That way, the cable bends (and friction) are minimized, but it doesn't look as weird as the factory rigging.

Hmmm... interesting. I'm guessing that you don't ride the hoods much? If so, is that arrangment comfortable?

Actually, I ride the hoods, in the drops, and on top. There's enough space for my thumbs between the hoods and the cable housing that I'm not even aware the cables are there.

Stan,

Are your shifters the "Schwinn Approved" made by Suntour? This is what I installed on my Paramount. Just curious, also it looks as if you've added extra wrap or something at the ends of the bar near the shifters. What did you do? Thanks!

1) The factory installed barcons on my Raleigh have the housings leaving the bars at the first bend.
2) My other two barcon equipted bikes have the housings under the tape all the way to the stem. Both work fine, and one of them is indexed, and therefore less tolerant of friction.
3) A question for Stan: how do you incorprorate your pictures into the body of the post, rather than as attatchments?
Top
(not too proud to ask seemingly dumb questions)

It might be as simple as loosening the screw that doubles as the pivot in the bar end just a little bit. Another possibility is that you're missing one of the friction plates (not sure if that's the proper terminology) from the shifter.

Bob, the barcons are Campy p/n 1012/3. According to the first owner, they were an option in '72 and he had ordered the bike from Schwinn with them. I wish he had also ordered the Campy side-pulls.

I use rubber "shrink tubing" on the bar ends for dressing the tape.

Top, to post photos into the body, you have to put the photos up on an image hosting service, then paste an image tag with the URL to the image into the body of the post where you want the photo to appear. I use Photobucket to host my pictures.

Good call. When I first got my bike the barcons were both hard to shift. A local legend, Ed Litton, loosened the pivot screws (actually, he loosened the nuts) just a hair and suddenly they shifted easily, but still had enough friction to stay put.

Thanks for the help. It turned out that the shifter cables needed lubing, and that was all. (This is far and away the most accurate board on BF, by the way.)


EDIT: Scooper. My God, that's a beautiful bike.

Concur!



On my UO-8, I route the barcon cables out before the first bend, then over my Bellwether front bag. This keeps them out of the way of my hands, whether I am on the hoods, the drops, or the tops.
https://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...0&d=1161131253

Neat idea! That is a gorgeous bike!!

Thanks, guys. I consider myself very fortunate to have it, but the real credit belongs to Don Mainland and the artisans at Schwinn who built it, and to Scott Pritchard, the original owner who rode it and lovingly maintained it for thirty-four years.