Steely Dan

i'm an idiot.

i wanted to get rid of the stupid grip shifter on my folding bike because grip shifters are stupid and annoying. so i went and ordered a lower-end shimano Alivio 8-speed trigger shifter. then i go to attach the new cable to my rear derailleur and lo and behold, i have a friggin' SRAM rear derailleur. not compatible. crap!

all of the bikes i've ever had in my life have ran/run shimano, so i completely spaced the fact that my little folder runs SRAM. the current rear derailleur is old and bent and could be replaced, so i guess that's the route i'm gonna go in, but i still feel like a moron. who orders parts without confirming compatibility first?

i also decided to upgrade to some Ergon grips for my folder too. SO. MUCH. BETTER!

fietsbob

Consider getting rid of the derailleur scheme too..

Grip shifting an IGH is better, IMHO.

for derailleurs I never saw a reason not use friction shifted levers.

this past winter the linear sequencing sight unseen proved its superiority
when I bought a cycle rain cape, as it kept me dry , but I could not look
down at the current ratio combination to decide what would be the most appropriate
combination in the gear-raqtio sequence pattern was to be the next one.

LesterOfPuppets

Luckily 8-sp Alivio derailers start @ $36, Acera only $25 at one of my LBSs.

Me? I love Gripshifters and hate non-round grips...

no motor?

I hate grip shifters, but managed to buy the right brand when it was time to replace them.

Steely Dan

nope. i like having multiple gear ratios too much. and riding along lake michigan's windy-ass shore everyday like i do, i really enjoy being able to modulate my gear ratio to compensate for the different wind conditions i face.




i like IGH's, i have an alfine 8 on my foul weather hybrid, but i do not care for any kind of twist shifters. one of the reasons i went with an alfine 8 is because it came with a trigger shifter. it's a personal thing and everyone is different. for me, i don't care for twist/grip shifters.





blech. i have no desire to go back to the bad old days of friction shifting. once again, not my cup of tea at all.

RaleighSport

So did you check the specs to make sure the pull ratio is really wrong for it? If not it may just require some fine tuning!

Steely Dan

the pull ratio is wrong. the shimano shifter "works" with my SRAM derailleur, but it takes two pulls or clicks on the shifter to move the chain up or down one cog, leaving 3 of my 8 gears unavailable. it'll be fine for the short term, but i have already ordered a alivio 8-speed derailleur to get the system right.

RaleighSport

:/ Sorry to hear, but my SRAM x4 shifter works great with my Shimano 200 GS RD so figured I'd try and help with the KISS method.

Wolfwerx

The last two sets of grip shifters that I've thrown away were SRAM, used with Shimano derailleurs. No probs whatsoever.

I threw them away, though, because I dislike grip shifters, too. They never seem to stay in tune. I always seem to go back to either stem shifters or barcons. The only exception is the brifters on my "fast bike", though I could go back to stem shifters on it and it wouldn't hurt my feelings. I like friction shifting.

Like you say, everybody is different. Otherwise this forum would be dull.

RaleighSport

I could live without my brifters on my go fast bike.. but I sure wouldn't go back to DT's! Does anyone actually like grip shift though?

fietsbob

To each their own , Index shifting is where the new bike sales are ,
and customers buy them and defend their purchase, after the fact..


I have the only index scheme I use is the Sturmey Archer 3 speed ..
a 2 cable grip shifter that Rohloff uses has no detents on the handlebar end.

I use that R'off grip shifter on my bike with Trekking [7/8" tube] bars..

It is , Bike Friday Pocket Llama, Rohloff, disc brakes,
that I ride daily year around.. so yes I like the grip shifter,
at least that one..

heck, in the early 60s I even used a friction lever to shift that AW3 hub..

YMMV

Steely Dan

not exactly. i got a hand me down Schwinn 10 speed when i was a teenager with down tube friction levers. i never cared for the friction shifting. i mowed lawns all summer and saved up for a mountain bike with shimano indexed shifting and never looked back. as i said before, friction shifting is not my cup of tea. been there, done that. it's cool if you still prefer that old school tech, but there is a reason the rest of the world moved on to indexed shifting.

daveF

SRAM makes two x4 shifters, one that is compatible with Shimano & one that is compatible with SRAM derailleurs. My Tikit has the one that is Shimano compatible.

dscheidt

I believe they also make deraileurs that work with hsimano shifters.

RaleighSport

Interesting, I got mine in a trade so I'll have to take note of that.

no1mad 

My bike came with grip shifters. Disliked them at first, then got used to them. I imagine it's easier to shift with grips than triggers when wearing bulky gloves.

modernjess

You are living proof of my theory: Grip shifters make you stupider.

seeker333

Grip shifters combined with a "rapid-rise" Shimano RD result in about the fastest, easiest, most intuitive shifting possible. These shifters are very reliable and nearly impossible to damage in a crash.

The only complaint I have about them is they can be a bear to re-cable, as some cables are slightly too large in diameter and are almost impossible to thread. The original SRAM cables work without a hitch.

The cheaper Shimano-compatible grip shifters sold today are not the best - Rocket model (9 spd) was the best.

Someday I hope to try out a Grip Shift / SRAM RD combination, but my Shimano derailleurs seem to last forever, so maybe I'll never know.

no motor?

My 10 speed from jr high in the early 70s had index shifting, and I thought it was cool then because that's what all the 10 speeds had. When I bought a bike with grip shifters in 2004 I thought they were great when I found out 1 click shifted the rd, now I wouldn't want to go back to either one with all the shifting I do.

kookaburra1701

I like my gripshift on my Kensington 8. I make motorcycle noises when I change gears, which is my favorite part.

pht-pht-pht-pht-brrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRR-

treadtread

You worry me sometimes

kookaburra1701

xtrajack

I LOVE friction shifters, swapped out my brand new (when I bought the bike) indexed trigger shifters for vintage Shimano Fingertip friction shifters.

gearheadgeek

I do! I've used them for 17+ years on one of my bikes. Original GripShift (SRAM), Sachs, and now back to SRAM. Easy to make a shift, easy to shift a wide range in one motion, and I find them easy to adjust/maintain. Only problems I've had are breakage - I've broken a couple of right shifters in hard crashes (mountain biking). Not sure a trigger shifter would have survived either.

Not that I'm a zealot - I use Shimano trigger shifters on one bike, barcons on my main commuter, and old thumb shifters on my wet weather commuter. I definitely prefer indexing over friction.

Leisesturm

Yes, we are all different but... criminy, how different do we all have to be? I mean... isn't there anything we can all agree on? This forum is supposed to be about helping one another and it gets very hard to do that when the people you try to help say: "I love my 1865 Rudge Penny Farthing and I can't imagine... in fact, I know that there isn't a sweeter shifting drivetrain out there". In this very thread one poster suggested trying IGF instead of dérailleurs and another poster rejects that on the grounds that they need gears for wind, hills, etc.

So.... very much FWIW... I personally use ALL three shifting technologies discussed in this thread. Often on the same day of the week. I can obviously work with all three but I have definitely come to a ranking of how much I like a particular setup. If I had the money I would convert all my bikes to Grip ****ing. To my mind (and hands) there is nothing more intuitive and natural.

H

2005 Raleigh Coupe Tandem - Trigger shifted
2008 Kent Dual-Drive Tandem - Friction shifted ( OEM Grip Shifted but failed mechanically)
2009 Giant Halfway Folder - Grip shifted
2007 Downtube IXFS Folder - Grip shifted
199? Schwinn Tourer (Commuter) - Trigger shifted
198? Schwinn World Tourist (Commuter) - Indexed Friction shifted