O.K. I am going to do it. I am going to strip down my old raleigh mtn bike frame and build a touring bike. Where can I get the grip shifters like my Giant Mtn bike has on it? I am new to all of this so any help would be appreciated. Is there anyplace online where I can order parts for bike building. Brakes etc. Thanks in advance

I always check: nashbar.com, jensonusa.com, and pricepoint.com. Cambria bikes and Colorado cyclist tend to be more expensive and road bike oriented.

I concur about Colorado Cyclist, and Excel Sports is also over-priced; but I've gotten some really good deals from Cambria, from the HOT DEALS section of their web page. I like Nashbar best for having affordable, quality stuff. They will definitely have some grip shift style shifters, probably some on sale.

Truth be told, I actually prefer thumb shifters, but then again I also prefer clips and straps! I saw someone mentioned nashbar, and there's always BikePartsUSA as well at https://www.bikepartsusa.com/ . you might look there as well.

i recently did what you are doing, but I put road bars, road brake levers, and bar end shifters on my mountain bike... this was recomended to give me many different hand positions... and the bar end shifters are the hardest to break, and the easiest to fix. this is important when you plan to tour, and will at some point be in the middle of nowhere!!! I am really glad that i followed everyones advice... not only do the road bars make the bike 10 times more comfortable, but those bar end shifters are sweet. IMHO, they are the smoothest, surest shifters in existance (I do have ultegra brifters on my carbon road bike) consider this.

What are bar end shifters? Are they what this newbie is called grip shifters? The kind you turn with your hand up on the bars?

aebike.com is a good option for any QBP items.

Nope -- they are levers that you mount at the very end of your drop-bars, here's a picture

bar end shifters:
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

you can only use them if you convert to road (aka drop handlebars)... It is completely different from what you are talking about doing... I was just suggesting what others had suggest to me.... that is changing the mountain bike bars out for road bike bars, using bar end shifters, and using road brake levers.


generally on a tour you ride long distances. It is important to have multiple hand / body positions for an all day every day ride. traditional mountain bike bars only offer 2 or 3 positions (if you have bar ends) //// drop bars, or traditional road bike bars have 7 different hand positions, and the ability to get low in wind. That is why road bars are recomended.

generally on a tour you will travel in places that are termed "in the middle of nowhere" It is important to have components on your bike that are hard to break, and easy to fix if they do break "in the middle of nowhere" bar end shifters fit this description. They are very difficult to break because of the way they work and their location on the bike. If they were to break, many times they can be repaired, or at least rigged to get you where you need to go. The same can NOT be said for the kind of shifters you are talking about (grip shifters)

I am not exactly a pro in this department, but I can claim to be educated. I researched this for many hours, and had lots of help from the members of this great forum. You can certainly stick with your origonal plan and be successful, I just wanted to give you another possible way of doing the conversion; a way that ended up being perfect for me!

Mike

Bar end shifters are used on road bikes with drop bars. They go in the end of the handle bar where you normally would put a plug.

Example of bar end shifters:
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Gripshift are used on flat bar bike.

Example of grip shifters:
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

HERE is one example. They fit in the ends of drop bars. They can also be converted to thumb shifters with THESE, which I use.

Zach

Neither one of these are like the shifters I have and like on my giant mtn bike. All I do is twist my hands on the bars and the gears shift. I would say they slide over the bars on mtn bike handle bars.

Babysaph,

How about some details and/or pics. Help us help you...

Kevin

Before buying anything new you might consider checking out your local thrift stores and flea markets. I have outfitted two complete touring bikes for my wife and I from second hand sources. I've sold the unwanted / unneeded parts and pieces on eBay and actually made a profit on the transactions.

Many of those components most coveted by touring cyclists were standard issue on 1980's and 90's mountain bikes. My idiot proof Rockhopper Comp (just what I need) and my wife's Deore-XT clad KHS cost less than $50 together.

Rich Ligato
www.vwvagabonds.com
Around the World in a Volkswagen

What kind of shifters are on your old Raleigh? Are they thumbies or trigger type shifters? Perhaps there's really no reason to replace them for tour use unless they're broken.

i know what kind of shifters your are talking about... the kind where part of the grip turns... kind of like a motorcyle grip turns to give the engine gas...

To put it frankly, those kinds of shifters suck. many people on this forum are not familiar with them because they are not popular on todays quality bikes. you are much more likely to find them on a Xmart bike (or a lower quality lbs bike). I highly recomend you try other kinds of shifters before buying grip shifters just because you are familiar with them. A bike a purchased new a few years ago (a low quality trek mountain bike) came with that kind of shifter... they simply suck IMHO... and would be a bad choice for a touring bike that you want to make as bulletproof as possible!

Disclosure:
this is just my opinion... If you disagree, go with your origional idea. I am just trying to be helpfull...

Mike

While I agree that there are many other shifter options better than grip-shift, I disagree with your statement regarding durability. The grip-shift works just like a standard bar end shifter, and has the same amount of moving parts, it is no less durable. In fact, it is less likely to be damaged as it is not exposed in a fall.

Hmm, and yet the two bikes I have had with grip shifters have both broken - bits of plastic flying off while I was trying to shift in the middle of an intersection. None of the older downtube shifters or bar-end shifters have had anything go wrong besides maybe becoming a bit loose.

Grip shifters kind of came into vogue during the whole rapid-fire era. The big plus of grip shifters at that point was far fewer moving parts than the rapid-fires.

I agree with the majority opinion on BF that any kind of friction shifters, whether thumb shifters or bar-ends are more reliable.

With that said, I haven't had any problems with my grip shifter on my Specialized Rockhopper and disagree with the characterization of them as XMart specials. SRAM is still making lots of grip shifters, so either they've misjudged the market, or they still have appeal with some users. If you like them, I'd feel perfectly comfortable using them. They've been around for at least 15 years and have probably improved their durability and dependability.

What is the difference between grip shifters and bar end shifters. I think mine are bar end shifters. I know the whole thing doesn't turn. Just part of it. The end of the shifter doesn't turn just the middle part of it. I don't mean to sound dumb but this is all new to me. They are on a new Giant mtn bike not an old yard sale bike.

Bar end shifters

here is a picture of my mountain bike converted to touring bike:

So you want to tour bike out of your old MTB? Cool idea!

Get a soild fork, racks and these bars.


https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=


Hook them up with cheap grip shifters and MTB levers....keep the same cable routing and any MTB parts you want to keep.

And if you do use the Nashbar multi-position bar then you might consider some multi-braking position too. Just my 2 cent.

Cool bike rmwun54!

I think those cheap trekking bars can really be customized in a number of ways--- using both road and MTB parts. If I was going to build a budget touring bike...I'd start with an old MTB bike and trekking bars....