MKIV987

I'm wanting to put drop bars with bar end shifters on my old Trek 800 mountain bike. My components are all mountain bike oriented - cheap Shimano triple crank with a bottom-pull FD, 8 speed rear. I'm seeing a lot of Ultegra/Dura Ace bar end shifters on Ebay and I'm wondering if those will work with my mountain components or if I would need the corresponding road derailleurs for this to work. I don't have a preference between friction and indexed if that helps.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Nobodyetal

Bar end shifters are extremely versatile.
They should work fine with the setup you describe (as long as your rear derailleur is Shimano)

I can't ever get mine to index properly but I'm sure that's user error.
And anyway they work great in friction mode.

himespau 

yeah just don't get the new (sora?) 8 speed bar end shifters. Those don't have a friction option.

GP 

I found out last week that the indexing feature is not always interchangeable. I have 8-speed and the shop had a choice of, IIRC, 7/8 & 8/9/10 shifters. If I would have bought the 7/8s then changed to 9-speed, the shifters would still work but only in friction.

mycoatl

Yes, they will all work fine in friction mode. However, if you want to index the rear derailleur, you should know that the Dura Ace 8-speed bar ends pull a different amount of cable than the "light action" 8sp bar ends. They will index properly with other DA components, or with other shimano 8sp using the alternate cable routing showing by Sheldon Brown.

brooklyn_bike

if you know you'll never run indexed: suntour bar end shifters can be had for a decent price. i have them on my stumpjumper conversion with midge handlebars and they're working great...

fietsbob

only indexing I use is in IG hubs,
On several derailleur bikes , they're all with non indexed, bar end shifters.

Mustache bars went on my winter bike , based on an MTB frame.

I recommend fitting figure 8 bend trekking bars instead,
then the Mountain controls slide right on the bar, including Grip shifters..

otherwise need new brake levers and shifters , etc.

wicki

Have you riden bar ends and drops before? ...if not I strongly advise try before you buy....