mkeller234

I ordered some bar end shifters from Wiggle recently and they showed up today. They were listed as "Dia-Compe Bar End Gear Shifter Set" and I payed $50.98 with free shipping. I was pretty surprised when I pulled out the Rivendell Silver packaging... since I thought that finish was something Riv specs for themselves. I also thought the "Silver" levers were supposed to be fancier, they cost a whopping 78 dollars from Rivendell. The shifters look fine, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are beautiful. The finish on my 40 dollar tektro brakes is more impressive to me. Working at a printing company, I can really appreciate the box - it's very pretty.

In short: if you want to buy the Rivendell shifters, and saving 28 dollars appeals to you, they can be found at wiggle.

Maddox

I bought a new set of these same shifters off of eBay for around $60.00 plus shipping a year ago, but the Wiggle price is certainly better. Riv definitely doesn't have a monopoly on these.

mkeller234

I expect prices to be a little bit different from seller to seller, but I cannot understand 28 dollars extra for the same product.

mtnbke

It is so funny how many people drink the Grant Kool-aid.

Silver shifters aren't a Rivendell product, though Grant contributed to their design. Many places carry and sell them. They are definitely NOT Rivendell shifters, they are Dia-Compe shifters. It is so funny how many silly little trinkets people adorn their bikes with from Rivendell, it is like an exercise in validation. Personally, I think the Silver shifters are horrible shifters. There are epically amazing shifters out there from the golden age of precision, polish, and finish of Bicycling, which as Grant communicates was the 80s tailing off into the 90s. However, Grant can't sell you that stuff because he can't buy it cheap (weak dollar) and it in fact isn't really being made anymore. It isn't a sustainable business model for Grant to tell you about the amazing shifters you should go find on eBay.

Always keep in mind that at the end of the day, with Grant, he is a copywriter trying to sell you something . That and the entire vision for his "country bicycles" is actually the '83-'86 Cannondale ST (sport touring) series (being sold before he started working at Bridgestone), only his bikes are made of cheaper, weaker, heavier, and wigglier steel. To say nothing of the blah components that are available for him to build with today, as compared to the dream builds of the higher end STs (Nitto post, Nitto technomic stem, NItto Randonneur handlebars, Superbe Pro shifters, Superbe Pro pedals, Superbe Pro long cage GT derailleur, Superbe triple front changer, Sugino AT touring crank, Brooks honey saddle with copper rivets (sometimes an Ideal w/copper rivets), fenders, fitment for wide tires, front and rear racks standard painted to match frame as were water bottle cages, Stronglight Delta headset, black Dia-compe NGC970 cantilevers). The wheels are dated, as are the very good Suntour freewheels. I'd build with Phil Wood and Velocity or Mavic rims, and the better spokes that are available today. I'd also go with an IRD freewheel with its "hyperglide" like teeth cuts.

On a bike like that the shifters should be moved to either Retroshifts or Kelly Take-offs, not kept on the downtube. However, I think that the cheap not special Dia-compe Silver shifters have no place on a bike like that. They'd slum it down. If you had to have bar-end shifting I'd go with the fantastic Suntour Accushift bar-cons. Read Grant's old ad copy from Bridgestone. He represented them as the most expensive and best shifters ever made. Still true, he just can't get 'em to sell 'em anymore.

Gravity Aided

I'm sure the secret recipe
for these items is not lost,
it just cuts into the bottom line
to include the best for such a price.

sced

Those shifters are a Suntour design from the mid 80's. I have a set that looks identical except for logos from a mid 80's Bianchi that came with a partial Sprint group. They sometimes appear as downtube shifters on Ebay and you can buy the pods.

These are pricey but you get the idea.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Suntour-...item5adfbd20c1

Hoss Cartright

I bought my set of Rivendell silvers at the LBS three weeks ago for $60.00. He had them for quite some time and the original price was $78.00.

Then I found on the net that it seems the gray plastic washers are fragile and will fracture. But there are two versions of the washer, and it depends on blah blah blah...
There is a replacement kit with a white nylon and metal flat/wave and lock washer combo upgrade to fix the "problem".
Then I find the fix and upgrade instructions from Rivendell and it is explained in detail here - Their web page

Conclusion from everything I read - I'm going to run them until they break and then figure it out myself as I have a bunch of nylon washers in different sizes used in my motorcycle business.

Here's the video link for the upgrade kit installation - Their video

Pros - I like the leverage and the way they look. Cons - I think they are a little too thin and sharp-edged in respect to the way they kind of cut into the hand when pulling on them.

I saw a set on ebay this week with a buy-it-now of $40.00 (plus $7.00 S&H) and they were scarfed in only a couple of hours. Link to completed auction

I've also collected some of the vintage Suntour ones from the 1970s as I used them extensively back in those days. I bought an almost NOS complete set with cables and housings (the spiffy Schwinn approved Suntour re-label version - See image below) last week for $52.00 shipped. now have almost all my bikes upgraded to bar end shifters. The Suntours are on ebay all the time in the $35.00 range. I just scored the last set I needed this week for $31.00 shipped.

This is my 1981 Super LeTour with the "silvers" mounted.

mkeller234

Ok, everyone just ignore any angry comments. Lets not make this one of those threads.

ColonelJLloyd 

There is a newer and slightly improved version of these shifters in the works.

ctmullins 

I have a set of the SunTour Sprint levers on my Nishiki, and have loved them since they were new. Aren't these a copy of those? Grant wants you to think these are far and away superior ("bless you, but you're living in dreamland"), but I don't see how they could be.

And aren't these really downtube shifters on a bar-end pod? They look a bit fragile hanging way out in the breeze like that. I much prefer the stubby original SunTour Power Ratchet barcons.

Hoss Cartright

I hope it wasn't something I said?

Vegun

I find friction shifting with anything more than an 8 speed to be a pain in the arse.

Can you find 8 speed free/hubs anymore?

Kobe 

Nope, 3 posts before your original.

Yo Spiff

Nice price. I bought a pair with the barends the other day for $30 from a Craigslist ad. The grey washer is cracked, but I've already obtained the replacement hardware store washers that Rivendell reccomends. Might not use the bar end mounts, however. Just doesn't seem appropriate for the '88 Prologue they are going on. I can then use the bar end pods on something else.

Grand Bois

I can remember when Rivendell sold Simplex Retrofriction Down tube shifters. They stopped when the supply dried up. Velo Orange also sold them for a short time. They can be adapted to the Rivendell pods or to Shimanos. I prefer them over any shifter ever made by Suntour.

bigbossman 

I thought Wiggle had a $250 minimum order to get free shipping? Wait..... maybe that was Ribble.

EDIT: just checked Wiggle - they say free shipping on orders over $85 USD. Did they ship your $50 order for free?

Captain Blight

Is there anything special that needs to be done to mount the Simplex Retrofrictions on Shimano pods? I've got a pair coming any day now.

ColonelJLloyd 

No.

Grand Bois

It did requre some modification. I started with banded early shifters and bolted the posts from the band to the pod. I also used the stop from the band. I tapped the back of the post for a 5mm bolt to hold it. The square in the mounting face of the pod had to be cleaned up for the stop to fit over it.

Later shifters are much easier.

mkeller234

Those look nice. I can't tell if they are stubbier, which would be good. I wonder if they have the ratchet mechanism.

Not at all, you are fine. These threads have a way of going off the tracks and becoming an I hate/love Grant Petersen discussion.

I've been using Simplex Retrofrictions with a 9 speed cassette and have liked it so far. Current production Shimano 105 freehubs are listed as 8/9/10 speed.

Yes, they are copies of the old Suntour levers. For the record, the Suntour version looks much nicer to me but they seem to be expensive the few times they show up. I agree that they look totally awkward. I have two other bikes with the old style bar-cons and decided to try something different.

I doubt that these are "far superior". If anything was hype, that probably was.

mkeller234

Ah, no... you are right, I also bought a rear rack. Shipping on the rack was going to cost around 25 dollars and it's not widely available. I bought these shifters and made my order 85 dollars and change... so the way I figure, these things cost me 25 dollars since I "saved" the shipping I would have spent anyway.

mkeller234

So, are these things clear anodized or polished?

ewmyers

You can get NOS at Bike Stash for under $30. The levers look different but as far as I can tell the internals are the same as my riv Silver Shifters. No affiliation, just like the price.

mkeller234

Are they mounted on the bar-end pods though? That was the whole appeal to me.

mkeller234

I got them mounted and went for a ride today. I've got to say, these shifters are every bit as awesome as Grant said they would be. The ratcheting makes them less silky than the retrofrictions, but they feel more precise. Shifting takes a nice light touch.

I am impressed!