ebr898

Hello all,
I remember that a few of you had bought some cheap thumb shifters off e-bay awhile ago and modifed them to friction. I am buying some of these $.99 falcons from Nashbar


Has anyone tried removing the indexing off these to make them friction?

John E

I did the conversion on a similar-looking unit simply by opening it up and sanding down the detents. As long as you can adjust the friction setting, it should work find.

Noah Scape

I think those ARE friction shifters?

ebr898

I thought the might be just friction, but the ad said 5 speed(?). I hopefully will know in a couple of days. If not I will take the dremel tool to it as John E suggests and remove the detents .

It seems as though Nashbar is getting rid of all the older stuff. I mean they only carry a few square taper bottom brackets now and there is other things that I assume they would carry , like smooth post cantaliver brake sets.

ronzorini

I would think so too, since there's no 1 through 5 markings indicated?

Anyway, here's a stupid question: I'm assuming I would have to buy a matching pair--L and R--for the front and rear derailleurs? The Nashbar one will only work on the rear, right?

Grand Bois

These are cheap and much higher quality.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=013

I don't think you'll ever see index shifters marked 1 through 5.

USAZorro

I think the "indexing" is accomplished by a very tiny ball bearing that sits in position and catches on indents. I have adapted a similar six speed indexed to friction by removing the tiny bearing.

ebr898

I asked the customer service rep about the left or right , he put me on hold , and came back on the line with an answer. He said they could be used for eather. I don't know whether the base plate can be moved 180 on the mounting band or if the rep did not know what he was talking about.
At $.99 a side I was willing to risk it. If not a little brazeing and I can configure it to what I want. I am working on trying to duplicate somthing like kelly take-offs for a pair of Origin8 "gary" bars.
One pair ( I orderd 5 pair) is already spoken for. I will use them on my son's little caliente road bike. The drop bars were cool/cute, but at 9, he is safer on a riser bar. The others I can do modifications ( Laughing like a mad scientist edit mad cyclist, “ welcome to my laboratory, hahahah” ). If and when I get the mounting bracket right, then I will look at some nicer ones, like Dirt Drop has pointed out.

ebr898

They arrived yesterday.
FWIW - They are not indexed, they have a ratchet sound that is made by a plastic on plastic spring loaded paul and notched (^^^^^^^) top of the case. They are all marked "R" for right side.

illwafer

ebr898,

i just got a pair of these in today. how many speeds have you tried using these for? i'm going to see if they'll do all 9 of mine, but i'm guessing maybe 7 or 8.

riva

I'm using one of these to shift my crosscut triple FD. I think I paid nashbar 0.59 $ on sale and with a coupon. Was strong enough to survive an endo with just a little chipped plastic!

ebr898

I have used them on 7 & 8 speed, but in fixing up older bikes I have generaly found nicer bits salvage/used. They do work alot better than cheap grip shifts, anyday.

illwafer

i installed these yesterday on my bike. i am using XT M770 9-speed cassette and XT M760 9-speed RD, and they work great! they are at about the limits of their range, but the shifting is smooth.