ramuji

Not sure yet (won't be able to ride for a few days), but I might have damaged one of my Shimano 105SC downtube shifters today while working on my bike.
Started looking for replacements tonight, just in case I did mess it up beyond repair.
The online auctions where I live (Japan) seem to have a lot of Dura-Ace 7700, 7800, and 7900 available, both used and NOS.
I have an 8-speed cassette and since I only use friction shifting, is there any reason other than aesthetics to prefer one of these three series over the other?

Just trying to get myself and my 30-year old steel-frame bike back in shape, really new to DIY maintenance and sourcing components, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Classtime 

If your certain of going friction only, consider Silver Shifters or the Dia-Compe friction shifters. 7900 is indexed only so avoid those

ramuji

I've been using friction only since 1993, no plan to change.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into Silver Shifters and Dia-Compe.

smd4

I only have the 7700, and have never used them in friction. I like the contours of them, and also that the left lever stops up at a slight angle from the downtube, for ease of grip.

jdawginsc 

Are they braze-ons?

If so, powershifters (ratcheting) or Simplex retrofrictions would be solid gets.

rccardr 

IMHO, Shimano’s best friction shifters are 6207’s.
Easy to set up, reliable as a brick, seldom need adjustment, work with doubles or triples, polish up nicely, relatively inexpensive.
I even use them on my trainer, which is 10 speed!

jdawginsc 

Those are the ones with the anti slip lock and sealed mechanism right? Do they take proprietary bosses for braze-ons

rccardr 

Not a sealed mechanism, or at least not particularly well sealed.
However, rode them in three days of significant rain recently as well as at Eroica a couple times and they required no cleaning or adjustment. So, there’s that.
Same internals as same era Dura Ace friction left side levers.

Note that these came in both 4.5mm bolt/Shimano specific braze on mount (same as the banded mount ones. I think) and 5mm regular old braze on mount. So get the 5mm ones.
They show up on eBay pretty frequently, expensive right now but they’ll drop in price cuz who would want’em.
Bought a couple pairs of new ones for like $28 each last year, so just be patient.

tkamd73 

The whole 6207 group was one of Shimano’s best!
Tim

ramuji

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I'm learning a lot about friction shifters.

I only have the 7700, and have never used them in friction. I like the contours of them, and also that the left lever stops up at a slight angle from the downtube, for ease of grip.

I like the look of the 7700 shifters, which is why I asked the original question.

Are they braze-ons? If so, powershifters (ratcheting) or Simplex retrofrictions would be solid gets.

Yes, they are braze-ons. The ratcheting shifters look interesting, but Rivendell Silver/Dia-Compe are the only ones I've been able to find here in Japan.

Today I found a pair of used Shimano SL-1055 (7s) shifters that appear to be in good condition. I don't see any significant difference from my SL-1056 (8s) shifters, other than the SIS 7s/8s setting. So I might just go with these since I'm familiar with the look/feel, and they are significantly less money than the Dura Ace options.

Regarding my damaged SL-1056 shifter: The plastic cover piece - the bit that says "Light Action", "SIS", "Friction" (I'm still not allowed to post photos) - cracked and fell off while I'm in the middle of gluing/mounting tubulars for the first time. Now that shifter won't shift my 8s cassette (13-23) through the entire range of gears. Is that because of the damaged plastic cover (and maybe other internal shifter parts?), or is it more likely that I inadvertently bumped the rear derailleur while removing/installing the rear wheel?

ramuji

I just purchased the SL-1055 (7s) shifters, so hopefully they'll be here before the weekend. This will be my first lesson in installing/adjusting shifters and shift cabling, and I guess I might need to learn how to adjust the rear derailleur if the damaged shifter isn't entirely the cause of the problem there.

Seanaus

FYI, Shimano still sell base level 8 speed downtube shifters brand new, part number is SL-R400. Any of the Dura Ace options will be very expensive, if you could find them available (the 7800 ones are next to impossible to come by).

smd4

Boy, you weren’t kidding.

rccardr 

SL-R400 shifters do not have a friction option, which is what the OP is looking for.

Seanaus

I didn't know they were indexed only, thanks for the up to date information Obviously the friction requirement rules out the SL-7900 also, they too are indexed only, no friction option.

ramuji

Yeah, the SL-R400 shifters were the first that I looked at, and the price is right, but as pointed out by rccardr they don't have a friction option. I didn't really like the look of them, either. That's why I started looking at Dura Ace options. The 7800 shifters are indeed hard to find. I misspoke in my original post; the 7700 and 7900 shifters seem easy to find here, but not the 7800.

The SL-1055 shifters that I purchased should hopefully arrive tomorrow. And I'll indeed by using the friction option, so hopefully they'll be just exactly what I've been used to for years.

Thanks, everyone, for the continued advice and information.

ramuji

I installed the SL-1055 as soon as they arrived, and noticed an unexpected difference between the original 105SC (8s) and the new SL-1055 (7s) shifters. When shifted into the small chainring, the left SL-1055 shift lever is parallel with the downtube (and this angle can't be adjusted, as far as I can tell). I'm accustomed to the angle of the 105SC lever, which stops short of the downtube when in the small chainring. And, since only the right lever was broken, I put the original 105SC back on the left side.

I've been riding with this combination (105SC lever on the left, SL-1055 lever on the right) for the past two months with zero issues.

Thanks again to everyone here for the help and information.

DiabloScott

I have 7700 and they work great in 9v index mode - (also very pretty!) but the friction mode won't hold the derailleur in place no matter how hard you screw the tightening screw in.
The left shifter doesn't go all the way forward - it bugged me for a while but now I like it a lot.

georges1

They are very expensive but they are well built and speed indexing is fast,smooth and easy and Dura Ace provides you the highest level of shifting precision and accuracy, I have sl 7700 on my Peugeot and they will be upgraded by SL 7900 . For my next two road bike builds, I plan to buy SL 7900 again

ramuji

Question about the Silver Shifters:

Does the left shifter stop at an angle to (not flush with) the downtube when shifted all the way forward?

How about Dia-Compe friction shifters?
​​​​​​​

smd4

Yes, for Shimano. By design, to make it easier to grab.

ramuji

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not sure I understand. I'm asking about the Rivendell (Dia-Compe) Silver Shifters recommended by Classtime , not the Shimano shifters.

Classtime 

I think the SS are clones of Suntour shifters with the same mechanism as Dia Compe and the stop will line up the lever with the down tube. But, being friction, maybe you could adjust things such that the lever need not go all the way forward to put the chain on the small ring?

smd4

Sorry. Misread your post.

ramuji

I kinda tried that with the SL-1055 shifters that I have on there now, but couldn't get it to work.
I think I'll just bite the bullet and pay for a set of new (NOS) Dura-Ace SL-7700 shifters.

Thanks for your help.