spudston

I'm trying some Kalloy trekking bars on my Trek 7.5FX hybrid. I've installed the bars with a longer stem and the positioning seems good. but, when installing my Deore shifters I realized that now, my bar ends are facing inwards instead of outwards like on the stock "flat" bars. So, I've currently have the rear shifter on the left bar, and the front one on the right, which is opposite from the usual. My question is, is this a simple matter of swapping the two cables, or are the left and right shifters different, the right one indexed for the rear derailleur, the left one indexed for the front derailleur? Also, I've always had annoying clearance problems with these shifters. They always seem to be in the way of my hands when I'm just trying to grip the bars. I've got them as far away from the grips as possible. It seems that anyplace I mount these shifters on the trekking bars, they are in the way, whether at the bar ends or on the front of the bars. Any thoughts? Should I get new shifters, or do I have them set up wrong?

Timber_8

I put my index shifters up on the front bar in there stock location. I wanted them in the center because I use aero bars and I spend most of my time on the center bar. Be careful not to spread the clamp and further than you need too. Aluminum is not very flexible, I used a #2 Philip's bit for my drywall gun to peg the clamp open enough to have magnetic friction to slide it around the bar. I rerouted the cables so they didn't cross each other, they will be tight but they will let the bike make a maximum turn.

bamacrazy

Cool setup! Do you have pictures of your entire bike anywhere? Thanks for posting!

JanMM

Right and Left triggershifters are different. One is for front and other is for rear; they are not interchangeable. You will note that when they are not connected to derailleurs that the front shifter only clicks a couple of times and the rear will shift 8-9 times, depending on model. Indexing lives in shifters, not derailleurs.

spudston

Thanks for that. My shifters are separate from the brake levers which would seem like an advantage but the separate clamps take up more room. I tried the shifters on top (like yours) and the brakes on the bottom near the grips, but the Deore shifters are so bulky that they eliminate the use of the top part of the bar for gripping. Looks like with your shifters you have more finger clearance. I don't know why Shimano designed the Deore shifters so the triggers are so close to the grips you can't hold on without contacting them.

spudston

Thanks. That's what I thought. I know some who mount these bars use bar end shifters with Paul's Thumbies but that runs into a lot more money.

spudston

This is the best setup I could come up with. A little awkward for shifting, but not too bad. This way I have three hand positions without the shifters getting in my way. Obviously I need to tape the bare bars. Comments?

Timber_8

That does look pretty good, I didn't know the new shifters were separate from the brakes. I can see where that could make a difference. Did you put the break levers on before the shifters or after the shifters, I guess it would have to be before or it just wouldn't work. The bar up front isn't aways an option, I just put Butterfly bars on my riding partners bike and it wasn't an option because the brake levers were so big. Here is a picture of the entire bike

spudston

I've since wrapped the bars and am testing it out. I'm not used to having the brakes separate from the shifters. I'm also thinking of putting the brake levers on the sides pointing away, kind of like a road bike. It's not natural for me to grab for the brakes by moving my hands closer to my body. I think it's better to have the levers away like you have, or like I said, on the sides. I'll figure it out in a while as I'm going on a 30 mile ride in a few minutes.

That's a real nice looking "rig" you have! I have that same rack trunk for my commuting stuff.

Thanks for your help.

devildogmech

Ya'lls handlebars are backwards........