Cycle Tourist

OK, So I love classic bikes but...
I'm not opposed to adding a seven speed freewheel where there was once a perfectly good 6-speed. My conscience even let me use aero levers without losing too much sleep. Shifting however is a whole different story. Friction down tube shifters are used clumsily at best by new riders and classic bikes deserved to be saved and used and enjoyed so what's the solution? I've always found friction shifters intuitive but many do not. Friction barends are much easier and safer and indexing bar ends would make almost any classic a better bike. A sweet riding well crafted bike should be ridden, not hanging and rusting or even gathering dust. My point is I've seen plenty of flat bar 7 speed shifters for $20. which is great but wouldn't it be great if that technology could produce decent bar end shifters. Think of the classics that you could resurrect as daily drivers. I have found people that love a Fugi Club, friction DT and all but It would have had a broader appeal with a barend "snapper."

I've used indexing tech. on classic combinations with a 90% success rate. Luckily most of the middle grade and upper grade stuff were made with a goal of feeling linear and therefore works very well with indexing shifters.

Since we're the topic, we were always told that stem shifters were a mark of a cheaply made bike. This is self fulfilling. No matter how nice some of them got they marked these bikes as beneath the attention of serious cyclists. I've rethought recycling decent stem shifters. When you think about it, it's a recycling program all it's own. Now the front wheel has a gyroscopic effect so the explanation that it effects your steering is really untrue. Another I'd heard is impaling yourself while going over the handle bars.😂
I suspect the shorter cables were rumoured to make shifting more dependable. It may had been true in early years but the slightly longer cables make no difference now.

Kuromori

SL-A050 works decent for this purpose, although they're closer to stem shifters than bar end shifters.

thinktubes 

Vote for Pedro

clubman 

'...wouldn't it be great if that technology could produce decent bar end shifters.'

I think these are called Suntour barcons. About $20 each.

ryansu

I haven't used them and they aren't $20 or 7 speeds but Microshift has 8 speed bar ends BS-A08 / BS-T08 can be found in the $60 range. Or as was mentioned above get Suntour bar cons for about $25-30 on ebay

clubman 

Just thought I'd 'out' some NOS 3X6 Accushift barcons from Greece. A fair price compared to most of the NOS Suntour stuff. He ships to US but not Canada?
What a maroon.

Sandstrom

rosefarts

I've got Microshift 10speed barend shifters WITH mountain bike pull ratio. They work perfectly. Much crisper and less finicky than the last barends I had, Dura Ace 8 speed.

They were pretty spendy though, especially since I only needed one and the front went straight into the parts pile.

blart

I bought a set of NOS 3x6 Accushift bar end shifters from Greece on ebay years and years ago. I wonder if it is the same person?

masi61

His eBay store has the 7 speed SunTour indexed barcon’s as well, but for more money.

I purchased an NOS set of the 7 speed ones from a seller in Crete about 5 years ago. I havent’t deployed them yet. I got Command 8 speed shifters on the CAAD3 Cannondale and RetroShift (aka Gevenalle) Audax aero brake levers with “braze on” mounts on which I have Shimano 105SC 7 speed indexed levers on my 3 x 7 speed Saint Tropez commuter bike. Both systems shift so well, there was no need for the barends.

cs1

Shimano 8 speed work well with 7 speed. If you're a perfectionist you can just lose a cog on your 8 speed cassette and have flawless shifting on the remaining 7.

John E

I don't care at all about indexing and prefer friction for simplicity and verstility, but I do like barcons, and I am glad to know there are some newer options around. Do all of them have friction mode?

noobinsf 

You have to be careful with listings on ebay, as I learned. I have some 9-speed Microshift bar-ends, but you have to get the "T" version for friction capability. (See above, part numbers for the two versions are, for example, BS-A08 / BS-T08.) I have the "A" version, but I am planning to build an index drivetrain, so it isn't such a big deal for me that mine are index-only.

Cycle Tourist

"About $20" each is usually over $30 including shipping. I'm not opposed to friction shifters at $20 if I can find em but when I see mt. bike 7 speed shifters with brake levers for under $20 I figured indexing barends are possible for a similar price.

chainwhip

Once everybody in C&V has bought their three sets, the market would dry up. LOL.

But OTOH, sad to say, the selection of fantastic, classic, steel framed bikes in need of restos/modernization is likely to blossom and balloon in the next five years +.

Better get the barn ready!

clubman 

If I were in the market, this guy could keep track of auctions for me.

Indexed bar ends were made in smaller numbers, so I wouldn't expect the bottom to fall out of their prices.

Chris_in_Miami

Some stem shifters are better than others, especially these ratcheting Suntour units:

uncle uncle

These just don't have the vintage panache that some are looking for, even for lowly stem shifters. I do wonder how well these work (anyone, anyone)? Besides their taking up highly coveted handlebar property, if they worked, they do have the appeal of letting a novice keep their hands on the handlebars during shifting.

wrk101

To make a new shifter with a retail price of $20, you are going to need a manufacturing cost of $5, probably less. For a small niche product, its not going to happen.

+10 the lowly stem shifter can make a really nice product for many applications. There are even indexing versions out there.

I had a buyer ask for the cost to remove the Suntour bar end shifters from a Trek 520 I was selling and replace them with stem shifters. I offered to do it for free. SOLD!

himespau 

My first bike with drop bars actually had those Scott Drop In bars. The stem shifters were in just the perfect place when you had your hands on that lower "in" position on the bars.

Cycle Tourist

Score!!
I saw a Puch with a clamp on shifter on the top tube near where a stem shifter would be. I think it was from the 70's. It's easier to find a decent clamp on shifter than a good stem shifter so it might be worth considering.

canklecat

Closest you'll find will probably be the humble but functional SunRace SLM 10 or 96 friction thumbies. They can be mounted pretty much anywhere on the bar or stem, and even clamped to the ends of the bar, although it won't look as neat as purpose-made bar-end shifters.

I used a set of SLM 10 on my hybrid for about a year after the original Shimano indexed thumb shifters quit working. Depending on the handlebar and grips I was using, I'd mount 'em near the grips or near the stem. Worked fine.

I finally got a proper set of Shimano 8-speed bar-end shifters on a half-price sale via some online vendor (either Jenson or Amazon, I don't recall). Cost something like $40, much lower than the usual price. Dunno why that particular set was discounted so much -- it might have been marked as open box but unused, or worn packaging, but it looked brand spankin' new to me.

I've used 'em in friction and index mode. Only the right/rear derailleur is indexed. The left friction shifter covers my Univega's 30/40/50 triple chainring. The bike has the original 7-speed Exage rear derailleur (nearly identical to the next year's model Deore LX long cage). With an 8-speed cassette I can shift the entire range in friction mode, but it'll do only the smallest 7 cogs in indexed mode. The little stopper inside the derailleur's pivot won't quite set it reliably in the biggest 32T cog. But it covers the same 13-28 range as the original 7-speed cassette and I use the 32 cog only as a bailout when I'm hauling a heavy load on climbs. Usually the 30T chainring and 28T rear cog is enough.

cudak888 

What America needs is a $20 internally geared hub so people don't get tired of bike commuting on a POS $5 Falcon derailer system.

Thing is, it exists - it's a Sturmey-Archer AW. But it doesn't come on bicycle shaped objects.

-Kurt

clubman 

[QUOTE=cudak888;21217215
Thing is, it exists - it's a Sturmey-Archer AW. But it doesn't come on bicycle shaped objects.

-Kurt[/QUOTE]

It would be a challenge to quantify the work done and energy saved by AW's

Never mind the knee replacements!

Rollfast

What America truly needs are good used bike baskets with less rust than the Tin Woodsman.