I have a 20 year old steel road bike with DT indexed shifting, 2 x 7. It would cost more than the bike to upgrade to brifters.
Could I just throw in some bar end shifters, hook them up and hope it works or is there way more to it than that? i.e., cable routing issues, etc.

It should work. Hard to know without specifics.

It's a Suntour Sprint drivetrain. 42-53 double and a 13 to 24 freewheel. Suntour 7 speed indexed rear. Friction front.

I just put them on my bike and it's pretty easy. I bought tandem shifting cable so I could run the cables all the way to the stem to look a little better. I did a search and pretty much found out everything I had to know, good luck, I think you'll like them.

Thanks George. Would you share some of your search links? I haven't found them yet.

It's a fairly easy makeover for anyone who's reasonably handy around their bike. The first step is to determine whether your downtube shifters are clamp-on or braze-on because you will need to install a downtube cabletop(s) at that location. There are cable stops designed for the braze-ons if that's what you have and also clamp-ons that would go in the same location as your shifters. The bar-end shifters are easy to install; first remove the levers and then tighten them into the bar ends using the allen-head set screw but remember it is reverse-threaded so you have to turn it left to tighten instead of right. Once that's done you'll need to remove your bar wrap to install cable housing from the shifters to the new cable stops and reinstall the wrap or put some new stuff on. No need to buy tandem cables because standard road bike cables will fit just fine. If you don't already have the bar-end shifters be sure you buy the more modern version that will work with indexed shifting. Here's a photo of a redo of some bar-ends on my Gitane Tour de France:



It's got a clamp-on cable stop on the downtube and you can see how the first several turns on the drops secure the cable housing to the bars before they exit to the cable stop.

I route my cables a little farther, coming off the bars just below the hoods, ends up looking a lot like the STI cables, and keeps a smooth curve so as not to intefere with shifting.

Thanks for the help.
I have braze on DT shifters. Just need to get the bar end shifters. I guess I will look for some used ones since new ones aren't cheap.
Any recommends for brand? Or is Shimano the only way to go.
And if I get 8 speed shifters will it work with a 7 speed drive train?

Rivendell has these pods that will go into the bar end and mount your existing shifters:

https://www.rivbike.com/search/run?qu...product=17-068

25 bucks is a deal, but I'm not sure if that's for one or for both...

^^if you want indexing I think you'll need the Ultegra 8sp. They should work with 7 speed, as well.

Anyone know of a good place to get downtube clamp on cable stops? Are the old suntours I've seen on ebay the only way to go?

Shimano shifters are probably not going to work with your Suntour drivetrain unless you are willing to give up the indexing.

^oops, didn't read the part about the suntour drivetrain. you're right. might as well just get those pods from riv or get some old suntours if you go the friction route.

You can get a set of non-indexed suntour bar end shifters. This would be a piece of cake.

about the cable routing, is there an appreciable difference with running the cable along the bar? I've usually gone straight out with the cable, but I'm about to install some of these on another bar & I was thinking of running the cable under the tape the whole way...