What shifters should I get if I change gears a lot?
 

I change a few times a minute: when I accelerate or when going up/down inclines. What kind of shifters should I look for?

My budget is under $300 so looking at the used road bikes most of them have down-tube shifters or stem shifters. Would those be suitable?

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

your budget for shifters is $300, or your budget for a bike is $300?

why are you changing gears several times per minute?

ok couple of questions... if you are looking at used bikes, how do you know you are going to be changing gears several times a minute?
Why are you changing gears so often?

now that the questions are asked... if you actually change gears that often, down tube or stem shifters would mean you will be riding with one hand off the bars all the time...so if you are actually going to be changing gears that often you would need to have STI shifters.

I change gears often because it's the fastest way to accelerate. You wouldn't drive your car in one gear all trip would you? Same principle.

What type of riding will you be doing ? Some people find hybrids, with fairly skinny, slick tires, to be decent road bikes. You can often get more for your money, and have thumb/trigger shifters that do not require moving your hands.

I don't like straight bars of hybrids for very long rides, but they are fine for shot-moderate rides.

Di2 shifts very quickly and effortlessly

With a budget of $300, hopefully they will have Di2 Claris soon :-)

If you usually ride kind of hard stem shifters suck because they make you sit up every time that you shift. If you ride kind of leisurely, down tube shifters suck because you have to bend too far down to reach them. Only you can determine which is better for you.

Whichever you choose, train yourself to operate both of them with the same hand so you'll only have to take one hand off of the handlebar.

Unless you fall into a real good deal I wouldn't worry about indexed shifters on the handlebar until your budget loosens up a little. That way you'll have more of your budget to spend on a better frame and wheelset, you'll be less likely to find your newly purchased shifters are worn out, you'll probably have to do less shifter adjustment and you'll also be training yourself to become a better rider.

Also, you'll likely want to upgrade your derailleurs if you upgrade your shifters to STI.

Actually, the fastest way to accelerate is probably to stand on the pedals, but that may only sometimes be the most efficient way. I believe you're over-thinking it. Find the best fitting, best equipped bike you can within your $300 budget and enjoy the ride. When people ask if $300 is your budget for shifters or the whole bike, they're talking about Di2 (electronic) or "brifters" (indexed shifters integrated into the brake levers). Most other shifters aren't quite so pricey. The type of bike you select (actually, the handlebars) will determine what your shifter options are.

My recommendation is Gevenalle shifters. More durable than brifters and you can go through numerous gears pretty quickly:

Shifters Archives - Gevenalle

If you are male and ride in traffic, you do not want stem shifters. Should you hit a stopped car or opening car door and you have a lever pulled back, you could impale yourself on them and find yourself castrated. (At a race many years ago, I has a bystander come up and tell me that happened to him.)

For down tube shifters, taking your hand off the bar to shift means no accelerating while your hand is off, hence a slower start. Now I raced back in the day when that was all there was. We dropped a couple of cogs while rolling up to a light and did one shift midway through our acceleration. I now rider fix gear a lot. No shifts. I don't get dusted by guys doing multiple shifts. (I do get dusted by guys with quads I was never given and guys 40 years younger than me but all the gears in the world won't help those issues.)

Ben

FWIW. I, too like to shift often. I had a mountain bike/commuter with rapid fire shifters and would shift often. I then acquired an older roadbike with friction shifters on the down tubes which helped cut down on my shifting, but not by much. My new bike has brifters and I am constantly shifting.

I shift gears all the time as well, but generally the fastest way to get up to speed is to use a gear in the 65-80" range that you need to stand to pedal for a few yards, so you don't need to shift until you're nearly at cruising speed. It's sort of like starting in second gear when you have a car with decent torque. :thumb:

Stem shifters don't pose any more risk to your anatomy than the angled quill stem they're attached to! If you go over the handlebars, neither is a threat, and if you slide off the saddle into the top tube, that's going to get your attention a lot faster than the stem or shifters! :D

Save up another couple weeks and get something with 9 speeds, shifters integrated into the brake levers.

I like trigger shifters best for mountain or flat bar bikes, they are quite fast and precise, and I much prefer them over grip shift systems. You can get a set of XTR shifters for under $300. I like the XT and XTR levers because you can upshift by pushing or pulling on the front lever. You can get them in 8, 9, 10, or 11 speeds, depending on whatever your bike comes with. In fact, you could probably get a new cog, derailleur, and new trigger shifters for less than $300 if you shop around. On my old folding bike, I installed an XT cog, chain and derailleur, XT shifters, and XTR brake levers, all parts were new, and the total cost was $200.

If you are riding a road bike, the regular "brifter" set up will work. I have (and have had) many road bikes, but all have used Campy Record ergo-power type shifters, which are about as good as it gets. I have never used Shimano brifters, so I can't comment on them.

I think the OP meant that $300 was his budget for a used bike, but he never actually responded to the question whether that was for shifters or a bike... Maybe the assumption on the part of some responders that it was just for shifters blew his mind :p

not really, but have fun anyway... and good luck on finding a bike.

Thank you all for the advice. I appreciate it.

If you are are recreational rider looking at used road bikes, you MIGHT be able to find something at that price with STI shifters (combo brakes/shifters). Or at the very least, what some people call Microshifters (push the brake lever to shift up, but push a small button with your thumb to shift down).

If you aren't set on drop bars, you'll find much more selection at that price point for a hybrid with trigger shifters.

If you are shifting a lot, you definitely DON'T want drop-bar or stem shifters...and you definitely don't want any kind of grip shifters that you have to twist.

I still don't think you've given enough details for someone to give you a good answer.

Here are my questions:

1. Do you have a bike, now. If so, what is it. And what type of components does it currently have? (Gears in front/rear. Current shifters. Current brakes and brake levers, etc.)

2. What do you want to buy? Just shifters? A whole component set? A whole new bike? If a whole new bike, what type? Road, Hybrid, MTB, Cruiser?

3. If you want to buy a whole new bike, would you consider used or just new? If used, it would help to know height, weight, inseam, and location, so they could give advice on CL bikes in your area.

GH

In my 50 years of cycling, I have heard of one castration. All men's bikes have top tubes. Nearly all have stems with that corner. Perhaps a quarter have stem shifters. I rest my case.

Ben

Look for 7/8/9/10 speed cassette hub, indexing, shimano; Exage, 105, 600, Ultegra or maybe a current- 1 generation old Tiagra group.

Shimano 'hyperglide' ramps on the cassette, and ramps and pins on the Cranks came in in the late 80s and was standard by the early 90s on indexing groups. That's where the good shifting comes from.

Ignore bikes with stem shifters, threaded freewheel hubs and rear friction shifting.

Indexed 7/8 speed groups with downtube/ bar end shifters and hyperglide cassettes are a better bet than early STI shifters IMO.

Dual pivot brakes are another thing to look for to find a modern bike from the 90s.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psbolo80xs.jpg

A shimano 8/9 drivetrain gives you a few options for running campagnolo brifters too (which are $100-$200 a set new).