First off, I love bar end shifters. All of my main bikes have them. The Suntour barcons are as good as everyone says. Even so, I stumbled on some old shimano bar end shifters that are, in my opinion, far superior. The feel like retrofriction shifters to me.

not my photo:

Whilst we’re on the topic, has anyone else noticed if routing bar-end shifter cables under the bar wrap affects shifting smoothness? They tend to undergo a pretty tight bend near the stem as they exit the wrapped portion.

Although I’m more bothered by [brake] cables encroaching the space above handlebars than shifter cables hovering below the bars, it *is* nice when the entire area is cleaner and hidden under the wrap.

Good to know, thanks.

Regarding the Suntour/Shimano question, I’ve always considered Shimano setups more sterile. The indexing is crisp, but seems to be rigid and relies on forgiveness from the hg cassette. Friction mode feels even worse, requiring lots of trimming. I think they are definitely designed to work better indexed, and with Shimano components. I must say, however, that reliability has always been excellent.

Suntour’s accushift, at least on my complete XC 9000 setup, works flawlessly in both modes. There is a ‘springiness’ that always seems to bring the lever far enough to switch cogs, but brings it back to perfect alignment after shifting— no trimming needed. However, this takes a bit longer to first setup whenever I replace cables.

Friction with ratcheting has always given me great confidence in use. This applies to all older Suntour barcons I own.

i agree, the modern Shimano shifters are great. I use mine indexed mostly, but I’m friction mode lately since it’s due for maintenance. Either way, they are really nice shifters.

I’m kind of surprised by the amount of people that are not experienced with bar end shifters or Barcons. I have two bikes with Suntour Barcons and one with Shimano indexed 7 speed bar end shifters. Additionally, I have one set of DT shifters (Simplex Retrofrictions) and 3 sets of Suntour Command shifters in use. I do have a set of Ultegra brifters that I’ll get around to using one of these days- But I do prefer the Command Shifters to the other options for drop bars.

The “why” is pretty simple- you have control of the handlebars with both hands while shifting. That means you can shift more often, with more control over the bike and more control over the shift. Whether anyone feels you should not have to look using shifters- the point is that shifting is a skill that needs to be practiced to develop proficiency. But even at the ultimate level of proficiency that can possibly be attained, downtube shifters require you to let go of the handlebar with one hand.

As far as cable routing... I’ve done it a few different ways. The more traditional manner is running the cable/housing out of the bar wrap at the lower bend of the bars, looping it back around to the cable stop on the same side. I’ve also routed the cable/housing to the OPPOSITE side of the downtube. (As referenced by Sheldon Brown as “Criss Cross Cable” routing). The advantage is you get more gentle arcs to the cable. The disadvantage is that you need to cross the cables back under the downtube if you wish to have the right shifter control the rear derailleur. In practice- it’s not a problem at all. The only problem I’ve found is if you have ‘over the top of the BB’ cable routing- it’s more difficult to cross the cables under the downtube because they WILL rub against the bottom of the down tube.

You can also run the cable up along the bars so that it exits the bar wrap up by the stem- this has the advantage of looking “cleaner” as some people like- it also keeps the cables out of the way of any front bags or accessories that may be in the cable arc. You can, again, run the cables to either cable stop and cross as necessary... Again, going to the opposite cable stop makes the arc more gentle. If you do choose to run cables with more extreme bends, you’re best served in using modern coated cables and lubed housing just to reduce as much friction as possible. Heck, you’re best off using that stuff anyway.

I haven’t used Retrofriction bar ends- but I did get a set of the Shimano L600 bar end shifters on recommendation of people here and the description that the action is very “Retrofriction” like.

I love Simplex Retrofriction shifters- there’s something special and smooth about the pawl-less clutch of Retrofrictions- but the Shimano shifters aren’t clutched- they just rely on spring tension in the lever mechanism to counter the derailleur spring. So while there’s no clicking- and it’s “smooth,” the lever don’t have that “clutched” feel that are the signature of the Retrofrictions.

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