How-To: Ensure consistent shifting all winter long
January 16th, 2008 by JoelGuelphOne word: Friction!
During a winter of commuting in harsh cold weather, I re-discovered the beauty of friction shifters. I could never get my bike to shift too well with my RapidFire shifter because my shifter, cable and derailer were frozen and covered in snow. I recovered a dumpster bike with an old set of stem-mounted friction shifters. I took the shifters off, threw away the front shifter, and mounted it on the only tube that was the right diameter (my top tube), and I haven’t missed a shift since.
The first step is to find a shifter. Shifters should work with all cassettes and derailers although I have never tried it with a SRAM 1:1 derailer. Chances are you’re local bike shop will have a few kicking around that they’ll give you or sell you for under $5. Old garbaged 10 speeds are another great source. If you insist on putting something new on your bike, you can pick up something like this (note the list of compatibility, everything!) for $7.50. One note: if you find old 10 speed style shifters, make sure you get the clamp as well. If they mount direct to the downtube you may need to keep searching unless you have downtube mounts on your own bike.
The second step, install it. Start by removing your old shifters, saving the old cable and housing if you can/desire. Find a spot to mount your new find, remembering it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the handlebar. Run the cable and housing as you normally would, and I recommend liberal use of lube so as to keep down the maintenance. Some even go so far as to pack a bit of grease in each end of the housing to create a seal that will keep some of the road grime out and the lube in. Make sure your derailer limit screws are adjusted properly (they should be if you are simply removing your old shifter), ensure the shifter is in the position with the most slack (when you pull the shifter, it pulls cable, not releases it). Pedal the drivetrain to move the chain to the smallest cog, and then tighten the cable down in the derailleur. If you experience a bit of a dead spot in the shifter, i.e. the first few degrees of activating it does not move the derailleur, you need to tighten the cable. You can either turn out the barrel adjuster or simply reattach the cable to the derailleur with a little more tension.
Friction shifters also have a friction adjuster. If the shifter is too hard to move by hand or if your shifts immediately slip back down, you need to adjust the friction. For more friction, screw the screw or knob in, and it should stop slipping. For less friction, unscrew the knob or screw, and the shifter should move a lot more easily.
If you have never used friction shifters or can’t remember the last time you did, you should find that shifting is easier than you think. I rarely have a problem with the chain not finding its gear. Even when shifting multiple gears at once, I’ll hit my gear 19 times out of 20. And even when my cable is frozen and gummed up with road grime or rusty from spending the night in the snow, I can always pull the cable through it to find the gear I need.
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I’m using Dura Ace barend shifters on my 29er. Couldn’t get’em to work right in index mode, but set them to friction and you’ll prolly never go back. I love them.
Just a note. I tried to set up a SRAM X9 rear derailleur with my vintage XT thumbies. They say this won’t work. I now believe them. I thought because the derailleur was “dumb” and the shifter was “smart” that it wouldn’t matter. Has anybody made something like this work?
Interesting idea, my kind of idea, “the less there is to go wrong, the less that will go wrong”.
the problem I would have is, I don’t mind taking my hands off the bar, I Do mind keeping them off long enough to find the gear, maybe the difference is the new derailers (shrugs)
Choke- what handle bar set-up do you use?
@Quinn: You can definitely get thumb shifter style that don’t require you to remove your hands from the bar. The one I linked to (for $7.50) would fit the bill or using something like the Paul’s Thumbies (http://www.paulcomp.com/thumbmtn.html). Mine is mounted to my top tube and I don’t have a problem with it. I guess I don’t shift too often when commuting.
@Bill: I’m fairly certain the reason it won’t work is because the SRAM uses a 1:1 cable pull ratio and the Shimano is based on a different (2:1?) ratio. You can check out the Jtek Shiftmates (http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm) although they look like they are “geared” towards road components.
Actually I think this is what you need: http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate_straight.htm
“Actually I think this is what you need: http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate_straight.htm” Thanks. Kind of like the Travel Agents for Vs and road levers. Yeah, I guess the 1:1 is more of a factor than I first surmised. When I compared the X9 to my XT, it appears that the X9s pivot positions are very different from the XT which makes the X9 move in a different arc.(?) But, I was drinking. Can anybody confirm this? (The arc, not my drinking)
I’m riding On-One’s Midge flared drop bars with Dia Compe linear-pull dropbar brake levers & LX rear derailleur and XT front.
Sram with thumb shifter is very hard to work properly. I eventually switched to an old XTR rear derailer and durace thumb shifters with a Paul conversion kit. It works awesome in the winter. I did this because my Dad would not give up his Suntour thumbies to me. Hey Dad if you are reading this give me back my Suntour group set Please.
this is beyond ghetto
Yeah, I prefer to use friction shifters all year round. I view it as a choice: either a simple mechanism that a human intelligence can easily control, or a complicated mechanism that is useless once broken.
Besides, if you use them enough, you get to the point where you can practically just flick at the lever and shift perfectly.
Yeah, with very little practice, you’ll have perfect shifts without even thinking about it.