univega.duder

Hello,

I'm trying to determine how to move my flat bar 11 speed road shifter (Shimano RS-700) to the left so my thumb won't rub against it while riding. It's a folding bike with a narrow 580mm carbon bar. The bulge near the middle of the bar is preventing the shifter and brake from moving further to the left.

My local bike shop suggested using I-Spec to combine the shifter and brake mounts. The brakes are Shimano XTR BL-M9100 but when I spoke with Shimano they told me the RS-700 shifter is older and not compatible with I-Spec. I was curious if there any other shift adapters that would be compatible? I've noticed Wolf-Tooth and Problem Solver make shift adapters but I can't tell if they require an I-Spec compatible shifter?

Another thought would be to replace the shifter but I don't know if there is another 11 speed flat bar shifter that would be compatible with both my 11 speed Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 rear derailleur and I-Spec?

Another thought would be to replace the handle bar with one that does not have a bulge such as the Meriwether Ti sweeper bar. This seems like an expensive option ~$240 but perhaps there are other more affordable bars I haven't found yet.

I would be grateful for any thoughts or suggestions. Thank you!



Thumb is rubbing against shifter. The bulge near the center of the bar is preventing the shifter and brakes from moving further over.

Barry2 

Given that the lever appears to be still available (as a pair) @ $135
I'd consider shortening the actuation lever, knowing for $135 I can replace it IF I don't like the result.

Barry

Barry2 

Here's an observation.
In my house right now, two flat bar hybrids have the Gear shift mounted inboard of the Brake.
Yours is the other way around.

Barry

Ironfish653

^^ This ^^

Swap positions with the brake lever and shifter.
It appears that the brake lever clamp is hinged; you should be able to remove it without dismounting the grips, even.

veganbikes

I mean all good advice above but that Ti bar looks nice and I would go for that personally regardless of the issue.

What bike is that? Helix? If so curious about your experiences with them I have heard things but you have a real bike so obviously stuff has shipped. I am interested in a folder and love titanium,

t2p

RS700 shifters

cyccommute 

As the great Roc Ingersol once said, “Oh! That’s not right.”

cpach

The OP's mounting is normal. Current generation I-Spec EV levers move the clamp location inboard on the lever body and are intended to mount the shifter in between the support bracket and the clamp. This is mostly to shorten the lever arm between the brake lever and clamp, reducing the very small amount of flex in the lever body itself. That said, nothing stopping OP from trying to run the shifter inside of the brake lever, unless he really dislikes the resulting lever position. Personally, I like to set up my flat bar levers so that I can just get my index finger on the crook of the lever--OP's position is very far outboard of this, but he's locked into pretty much only that brake position because of the very narrow bars with a pretty normal center bulge. If it were my (very expensive) bike, I'd get new handlebars that gave me the freedom to set my brake lever position how I like.

If you want a more sensibly priced handlebar option, look for 25.4mm bars and use a 25.4 to 31.8 handlebar shim. These should generally have a narrower center bulge. There's tons of older bars in about that size, including reputable carbon ones, as take offs from older XC bikes. A lot of these are floating around because a common upgrade is to a more modern bar width.

Barry2 

The survey of pre I-spec levers (same as OP)I took in my house, indicates the OP non I-spec levers might be different than the survey results!

Barry

cpach

OP has I-spec EV compatible brake levers. His shifters happen to be standard band mount.

univega.duder

Unfortunately the bulge in the bar doesn’t allow me to move the shifter to a the left of the brake and still be able to clamp the shifter.

I emailed with Wolf Tooth thinking one of there shift adapters might allow me to combine the mounts but they said that my shifter is a “non I-spec shifter” and incompatible with brakes. I’m thinking a new handlebar may be the easiest solution.

cyccommute 

Okay. Didn’t see that at first. Looking at the “I-Spec EV” levers, all I got to say is that it’s another stupid idea from Shimano! Why move the mounting point on the brake lever from the end of the lever and then put in a little bit of metal to stop the lever from flexing? What in the world was wrong with the original mounting point? Really stupid idea.


Frankly, I’d consider dumping the stupid levers for something with a better design. You can spend a lot of money trying to “fix” this problem and still not get it right or you can just replace the lever with a better design.

I’ll stand by my “Oh! That’s not right?” comment.

maddog34

that bar is just a bad design... there are 15 31.8 bars on a shelf here that DON'T have such a long taper.... and are also 2 to 4 inches wider.

personally, i don't bother saving bars as narrow as yours. they hit the scrap bin when removed.

univega.duder

I'd certainly consider replacing the shift levers but I can't seem to find another 11 speed flat bar shifter that will shift the 11 speed Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 derailleur. Let me know if you know of one. My current plan is to try a different handlebar.

cyccommute 

Not the shifter. Replace the stupid brakes so that you can move the shifter over to where it needs to be.

One really has to wonder the design process that went into that design:

Fresh new engineer: ”Say, let’s move the mount point to the middle of the reservoir. It would look cool.”

Boss: ”Sound good!”

A few weeks later:

Fresh new engineer: ”Good news, boss, the lever works just fine. It a little wiggly on the mount. Flex might be a problem.”

Boss: ”Well, why don’t you just add a little tab on the end of the reservoir where the old clamp used to be. That way, when it flexes, it will just hit the bar and stop.”

Fresh new engineer: ”Great idea, boss! That’s why you’re the boss!”

Some old curmudgeonly engineer speaks out from the shadows of the meeting room. “Why not just leave the clamp where it used to be and where the lever never flexed”

Boss: “But that wouldn’t be new. With the new design we can force everyone to change over to a new kind of brake lever”

Curmudgeonly engineer: “Stupid Shimano!”