rsrogers

Looking at one of these to replace my indexed Deore front 3X trigger shifter. I just like to have friction shifting on the front where it is so easy to trim the derailleur position. Does it matter to the front derailleur what speed my rear cassette and rear derailleur is? I would think not. I have a 10 speed on the back. Sunrace or Microshift sell these shifters as pairs usually and describes them as 3 x 8/9 flat bar friction shifters. Shouldn't I be able to replace my Deore front (left) shifter with one of these friction shifters?

Thanks!
Bob

Kontact 

Yes. Or just find a used Deore or Suntour single on ebay.

csport

Yes, you should be able to do this. Friction shifters are more forgiving in terms of FD specs.

The cheapest one I remember is Sunrace SL-M10, you can buy the left one separately.

hokiefyd 

I think it sometimes does. The width and shape of the FD cage is likely optimized for chain width and overall cassette width of the expected drivetrain. In practice, and especially if friction-shifted, you generally have pretty good latitude on what you can use as a FD.

hokiefyd 

Some also like to use a right side thumb shifter on the left, turned upside down, with the lever under the grip. In that manner, you get a similar "push to pull cable" action that you have with most trigger shifters.

70sSanO

I’ve been running a Suntour XCD4050 for a left shifter. It is enormous and works well.

For a flat bar on-road bicycle. I’ve wondered if a Retrofriction, or a Shimano spring assisted light action on a Paul’s thumbie, or equivalent, mount might be really slick.

I know Dura Ace 74XX and Ultegra 64xx had left downtube shift levers with spring assist. The old SL-422 had a spring and ratchet. The ratchet ring could be removed.

I don’t know if the bar end BS64, 77, 78, 79 have springs in the left shifter.

John

ShannonM

The Simplexes would, indeed, be slick, as they are the slickest friction shifter ever made by anyone.

Only problem is, for this application, that they take Campy-head cables, so you'd have to buy different shift cables for your front and rear shifters. Which would suck. It wouldn't suck a lot, but it would suck.

--Shannon

70sSanO

I’ve run a Campy shifter cables with Shimano downtube shifters. I bought some to use with Ergos that never worked out. I didn’t want to toss them, so I figured way not use them.

The cable head might be smaller but it isn’t really going anywhere.

John

grumpus

The new Dia-Compe version of the old Suntour Power Shifter is available as a thumb shifter, not as silky smooth as the Simplex but was anything else that good?

azgreg

I've used these on a number of bikes. They work very well.

ShannonM

I've had both the Simplex retrofrictions (later "teardrop style") and the Rivendell / Dia-Compe Silver 1 downtube levers. The Simplexes are smoother, having a slip clutch instead of the barely-perceptible micro-ratcheting action of the Silvers. (Which are a reproduction of the 1986 Suntour Sprint levers.)

I love them both. They're quite similar, and yet also rather different. The Simplexes are not only slightly smoother, but they're a bit lighter in lever effort when downshifting. I suspect this is a function of the small barrel... they pull less cable per angular movement of the lever. As you might expect, they're also noticeably slower-shifting. The biggest downside to the Simplexes is the mounting screws. They're flat-head, they're made of really soft metal, and they pretty much just suck... and, so far as I've ever been able to figure out, nothing else works, so if you bugger up the slots, you're pretty much hosed. Oh, and the compression from the screw pre-loads the clutch, and they work loose over time, so you'll have to periodically tighten them, and then, well...

The Riv / Dia-Compe Silver 2s use a bar-end / thumbshifter shape, with the micro-ratchet guts from the Sprint D/T levers. Suntour never made that. The PowerRatchet thumbshifters and BarCons used a similar mechanism, but it had bigger teeth in the ratchet.

If I had to bet (your) money on it, I'd bet the Silver 2s would work best. I'd think that either of the downtube levers would be so long as to be really awkward mounted on a swept-back handlebar.

--Shannon