USAZorro

Any reasonably coordinated person can adapt to whatever shifting mechanism a bike is equipped with. Bar ends are great inventions. They are a joy on many bicycles. Not the only way to go, but a very nice one.

Grand Bois

Good luck. It took me a very long time to find a set. You also need to find the demultiplicator relay that goes with them.

JohnDThompson 

Tundra_Man 

Last summer I did a conversion on my old Panasonic from stem shifting to bar-ends. I bought a pair of vintage Shimanos (with the spring) for $40 from a forum member. This was the best bang-for-the-buck upgrade I've done on any of my bikes. I simply love the intuitive feel as compared to the stems. I think I completely adapted to the new location inside of two miles.

As a bonus, I ran my cables under the bar tape as others have done (along with the brake cables) and it really cleaned up the looks of my cockpit. As someone else mentioned, I did have to buy a cable from a tandem to reach the rear deraileur as the regular length ones were a couple inches too short.

I've only knocked a shifter with my knee when climbing once since I did the conversion, where as before it seems I would smack the stem shifters at least once a day. Yes, I know this is really a technique problem but at my age I'm probably not going to fix my body mechanics.

I've ridden friend's bikes with downtube shifters and while I do prefer those better than stem shifters, I still prefer the bar-end location. Ultimately brifters are probably the way to go but are much more expensive and on my old beast would probably necessitate changing the deraileurs as well.

X-LinkedRider

A couple years ago, I converted my flatbar hybrid into a dropbar touring bike. Being on a budget barend shifters offered quite a few benefits.

1. Far less costly that brifters setups
2. I could keep my 3x8 setup with full range of gearing
3. I could continue to use my linear pull brakes which is a nice thing for touring.
4. They were extremely easy to install, tune and use
5. If for whatever reason my indexing was faulty I could switch to friction mode. (this works like a dream by the way)
6. They are compatible with pretty much every shimano 7/8 spd out there.

Now. Onto riding with barends. It is definitely safer than downtube or stem shifters with no debate. To not have to remove your hands from your handle bars to shift means you can safely shift up and down hills and in and out of turns. (There is a reason those old shifters are called 'Suicide' Shifters) The indexing is so nice on the bar ends you never have to worry over/under shifting because of too much or too little pressure. Front shifter is friction and completely adjustable as to how much friction is needed. Once again, this becomes very handy on a long tour with lots of weight where adjustments are needed often on most bikes.

I will admit, before committing to the bar end shifters I was quite skeptical about all of the same things. How would it feel? That seems unsafe, whatever... After owning them, it is a totally different story. I did my full conversion in way under budget and this bike has since served me well on a variety types of rides but is now a dedicated touring/commuting/winter/recreational ride. Since I work from home, commuting is not a big factor.

One important thing to note as well. Bar end shifters are also intentionally designed for forward pointing bars like time trial bars or aero bars or bullhorns. Their versatility is quite amazing. That being said. Here is conversion as it sits most recently.

WNG

^Nice job converting the Giant to touring duty. Looks sweet.

FrenchFit 

Amount of leverage necessary to shift barcons? On one bike I've mounted my suntours below my hoods, shift friction levers with fingers tips only. (Note: I dislike the feel of STIs.)

escii_35

The Bar end double shift thing is beyond my coordination. When people I know talk about a low dexterity level, I'm usually the poster child. Single track -> blood and bruises.

Stem shifters are daemon spawn.

With my wingspan DT shifter are just fine though currently I'm sporting two ergo bikes and one DA bar-end.

Dawes-man

Thank you again, Grand Bois. And thanks to JohnDThompson's post, I recognise the demultiplicator. It took me ages to find one when I was building my Peugeot PX60, for which it was OE, but I'd forgotten it was called that. Happily, the PX is the machine I would like to fit Retrofriction bar-end levers to, as it's the one I use for touring, so I'm half-way there

I see an excuse for posting a photo...
[IMG]
Peugeot PX60 - 1975 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Grand Bois

The shifters have a locknut that is set in so far that no wrench that I have can get a good grip on it. I had to modify a socket.

The demultiplicator requires that you use two shift cables and one has to have a tiny end on it. I ground down the end of a standard shift cable to fit.

That's just how it is when working with the old French stuff and that's why I love it.

X-LinkedRider

Thanks. This bike rides quite well. And actually the more weight on it, the smoother in the long run. The bar ends are a nice compliment to the function as I can stack up stuff in between my handle bars and my shifting is never in the way (as it would be with brifters). I did not have much time to do a lot of touringor picture taking this year, but 2012 I assure you, will be a nice payout for this bike.

in 2008 I put about 2500 miles on a partial Cross country trip (before conversion). Had I had it setup the way I do now, I would have cone there and back with no problems. Viva la Bike life!

RaleighSport

The cult of bar ends.. awesome.

himespau 

Are those grips, the VO grips that are supposed to match a honey brown saddle? If so, how close is the match? Are they comfortable?

Grand Bois

Not even close. They're fairly comfortable. They're soft like gel, so they must be glued on well.

himespau 

Bummer about the lack of match. I was wanting to do a similar bar on a build I'm planning for my wife (though with thumb shifters as I'm using an mtb FD and mtb chainrings), and thought that looked like a cool and not too expensive way to match the honey b67. If they're comfortable, I still might go that route, but I'd prefer a good color match too.

Grand Bois

They're much lighter than my honey Flyer, but the saddle keeps getting darker and they don't.



Same with the B17.