Saxicola

0
Hi all, I'm building a Crust Lightning Bolt in the new light blue. I want to put 2 x 11 speed brifters on it but I'm struggling to find something that fits the look of a classic rando bike, e.g. silver levers. Everything is black and/or plasticy looking. I've given up finding brown hoods. Gearing will be 2by but I'll settle for 1by and a bar end shifter for the front. I'd prefer Shimano compatible. Any suggestions for a more classy looking brifters over all the black plastic looking ones? Older and used is fine, ideally under $200. Best I have found are the Shimano St 5800s and 7000s. There are some nice campy ones but I don't think I want to go that route. Thanks!

shoota 

How about silver Shimano 11s?

If you go barend there are retro looking options: https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-23-8mm...BoCbSsQAvD_BwE

Spoonrobot 

I've got a planned mid-modern retro build using Sensah silver shifters with white hoods



They have brown hoods too but it looks like a darker shade:

Classtime 

If you are fine with bar ends, just get Dura Ace 11 speed bar ends. Then you can use more normal looking and feeling brake levers that aren't so long and tall and stupid looking. Is your Lighning Bolt a cantilever model?

non-fixie 

Least disturbing visually, IMO anyway, are the early Campagnolo Ergo levers. Available in 8 and 9-speed (with a matching Campagnolo RD and cassette) or 5/6-speed with any Shimano SIS RD and any standard 5 or 6-speed cassette or FW. Go 3x if needed. The left lever will shift pretty much anything FD-shaped.

non-fixie 

BTW, I have tried modern Shimano on this bike, but didn't like the looks ...



... and 11-speed Campagnolo, and liked the looks even less ...



YMMV, though.

mhespenheide 

Shimano R7000 is technically offered in silver, The shifters (pictured above) look pretty good and the rear derailleur looks okay -- it has polished parts and matte parts. It's hard to find, though.

fliplap

How much work do you want to do? SRAM levers are easy to strip, polish and rebuild. These are technically 10S levers with 11S internals, but the rebuild process with the 11S levers is just as easy.

MrGastrognome

You can try dyeing a set of light colored hoods. This guy is using Shimano r7000 which have a silver lever option and got some good results that seem to be holding up well.

non-fixie 

On a side note: if you're using a front bag, be aware that Shimano levers take up more room when shifting than Campagnolo levers. This means your bars need to be slightly wider for the bag to not interfere with the shifting. Just so you know.

Saxicola

It is indeed the canti model. Thanks for the suggestion. I just can't get used to them, I'm a relatively new rider to drop bars and I really like the shifting right at my hands. I was thinking I could compromise for the front since I won't be using that as much, but for the right I really would prefer a brifter if possible

Saxicola

I have the Crust Nitto shaka bars (520mm) and I'm going to make my own bags. I didn't think to consider this so thanks for the tip!

Saxicola

Thanks I saw these, have you heard anything about the quality? I don't care about less popular brands but I would like to get the shifting as good as I can within reason

Saxicola

Nice! Unfortunately I have a Shimano Ultegra derailleur now. Which I know is not going to look awesome but I got it for a really good price. But I am definitely willing to strip and customize anything, I am an artist so have a lot of stuff to hand and will find it fun and rewarding to customize stuff

tiger1964 

So far that's the only "classic-looking" product shown in this thread, IMHO.

I've wondered about those, leave the brake lever sliver and paint the shift trigger matte black, and it would just about disappear. Can the hood be trimmed and the brake cable be re-routed to un-aero it?

Catnap 

I have Sensah SRX brifters on my State All-Road gravel bike. They are 1x (i.e. no front derailleur) which means only the right side is used for shifting. It has worked well for the past 3 months with no issues; crisp shifts every time. Having read reviews by folks who have used them for over a year, there's been no quality issues or complaints about them that I have seen. I would recommend them, and they are quite affordable.

mstateglfr 

You want to paint a shift lever, cut the hoods, and reroute the brake cable?
Just stick with tech from before '87 to be safe.

SJX426 

No.
I like these levers. Not currently being use though. I moved to second gen.
IMG_20180930_093436 on Flickr

Catnap 

Agree that's likely not possible but I applaud your creative thinking to make a ~30 year old part look 50 years old.

Spoonrobot 

I've been using the 9 speed and 11 speed levers since late 2021 on my gravel bikes and they have been working great. Sensah themselves rate their levers as 105-level and I guess that's about right based on weight and feel. I switch between Sensah 9s/11s and Shimano 5800/7000 pretty frequently and other than the slight ergonomic and functional differences can't tell the difference in shifting/reliability.

non-fixie 

I haven't tried, but with the proper fabrication skills you might be able to.

I like the way they look and feel, though, and they work exceptionally well for my (touring) purposes.

non-fixie 

The second generation Campagnolo shape looks a little more modern, and feels a bit different, but still works OK visually on an eighties bike, IMHO: