My pair of downtube shifters have been slipping lately so I have been looking for ratchet/ retrofriction shifters but only know a few handful:

Dia Compe Silver: pretty pricey
Suntour "Raleigh" Power Shifters: rather unattrative
Suntour Bar-cons: prefer downtube shifters
Simplex: hard to find

Does anyone have recommendations for reasonable ratchet/retrofriction shifters or should I go index with my Suntour drivetrain (Cyclone shifters, derailleur, 7-speed New Winner)?

You need to understand that retrofriction and ratcheting are two completely different things. Of those listed, only the Simplex shifters are retrofriction. I don't like ratcheting shifters, so I use Simplex Retrofrictions. They're on eBay all the time, and they've become expensive. I think they're worth it. I have three sets.

My mistake. I thought that ratchet and retrofriction were similar.

+1 Simplex is the way to go. Be prepared to spend serious money as they are expensive unfortunately.

If ratcheting is all you need, the Suntours would make a thrifty option.

I have never used Simplex retrofriction shifters. Can someone explain what they are all about?

They have a coil spring inside. The spring has no effect when you pull the lever back, but it unwinds slightly when you push it forward. When a coil spring unwinds, it gets longer. The longer spring increases the amount of friction by just enough to offset the pull of the derailer spring. When set up correctly, the shift levers move easily in both directions and they always stay where you put them.

The downtube shifters are easy to find, but it's really hard to find the retrofriction bar end shifters. I didn't know they existed until I saw them in an old catalog I bought.

Didn't Campagnolo eventually make a retro-friction lever in the late 80's?

Yes, with a bigger barrel than Simplex, so you don't have to wrap the lever as far around to pull 7 speeds.

The barrels on the Simplex Retrofriction bar end shifters are so big that you have to use a demiltiplicator relay the reduce pull at the derailer. I'm using mine with a 7 speed freewheel and the shifter moves no more than 40 degrees.

I never used the simplex ones. I have used and love the Campi Doppler (retrofriction) and they are great. I also have this odd pair of Sachs ratchet shifters that are pretty cool but unfortunatly a cable end is stuck inone of them.

here is a pair of simplex NOS but they are already $65 https://cgi.ebay.com/Simplex-downtube...item3a572572eb

Yes. The box is labeled "Kit Commandi Frizione Differenziata". Part of the C-Record group. As Bianchigirll points out, the English version of the catalog described them as doppler shifters. They work very well and look good, too.

BTW, watch the Simplex shifters. At least some models do not fit standard bosses.

I think it's just the early ones that are nonstandard.

I see.

I bought a set of Spidel shifters, but they did not fit my Campy aero (top of the downtube) bosses. I guess they were the early model, in that case. I like the Campy retrofriction shifters better, anyway.

How do you identify the retrofriction ones?

The big ol' chunk of lever where the lever bolts onto the shifter boss that contains the mechanism. The non-retrofriction levers are much more svelte around the shifter boss. Its similar to discerning the difference between a typical friction shifter and an indexed one - there has to be room for all the guts of the mechanics inside the lever.

No. I have several sets of the Simplex "retrofriction" levers. The problem with them is that the retaining bolt on the clamp-on levers is a different threading than a braze-on boss, so you can't simply remove a clamp-on lever from the clamp to use it as a braze-on lever.

+1 on being careful with the older Simplex, clamp-on version. The screws look the same, but I wouldn't be suprised if Simplex would throw a curve on it an use some sort of different "Frenchyfied" treading.
If you want to be sure of the threads working on your bosses thread-wise (you stillneed tocheck if the shape or legnth of your boss works with them though), you should look for the later version with the cut out lever ends. The threads on all of those (Simplex/Mavic/Spidel versions) have the same threading as standard waterbottle bosses, so you can even replace the unattractive slotted screw with domed allen headed screws as supplied with some wattter bottle cages.

Chombi

I think that the Suntour Sprint shifters from the mid 80's are retrofriction. I have them on a bike and they are very nice, cleaner looking than those Simplex ones. They seem to have some capacity for automatically trimming the shift.

In think that these from Rivendell are the same/similar. Note that there's a mechanism built into the shifter bodies.

Never knew Suntour made a retrofriction, Are you sure they're not just ratchet shifters as they made a few models with it back then.
The later open lever versions of the Simplex retrofriction has as clean a design as any out there, IMO. It's the solid lever older (first) version that does not look as good, but can look good on older bikes.

Chombi

I remove the stock screw and replace with a buttoncap water bottle bolt. Not sure if you can do the same with the clamp-ons.

Read the entire thread.

Well, hold on a second. This has turned into a pure retrofriction thread from a mistake on the OP's part.

Melonbar123 - are you just looking for something less prone to slip than your current friction levers or are you really looking for rare retrofriction shifters?

If you're just looking for anti-slip then I have the Silver micro-ratchet shifters on two bikes and they work beautifully. Not very sensitive to adjustment (there is a friction component to the mechanism) and smooth as can be. You hardly feel the ratcheting action and can trim them however you want.

disclaimer: I'm not flipping bikes nor digging bikes out of the trash nor entering the velo-cheapo contest so I can afford $40 for shifters.

My shifters have been slipping so I was looking for something that can hold onto my gears.

here is a reference to the shifters sced is talking about (I think) very nice looking and not too expensive

https://www.velo-orange.com/diacosish.html
These are copies of the Suntour Micro ratcheting shifters and one of the best shifters of all time (only the discontinued Simplex retro-friction are slightly nicer). Still, these are so smooth and the ratchet equalizes upshift and downshift effort so perfectly that they will satisfy even the most demanding randonneur

I purchased what I hope are Suntour Sprint ratchet shifters that sced talked about. Very pretty and sleek. I have the clamp-on model but found this picture of what they look like.

I was wondering if I can just add these shifters to my braze-on bosses or would I need some sort of adapter?