Best Shifters?

[Drago]

Hhhhmmm. Very, very tasty, but not that tasty!

 

[Zenroad]

Carbon breaks to easily. Give me metal. Heavy metal.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Carbon breaks to easily. Give me metal. Heavy metal.

I agree. But I'm a Clydesdale so weightweenie-ing is a little ridiculous in my case. I only generally buy carbon stuff* if that is what comes on the new bike and wouldn't even think of upgrading to carbon bars or seat posts on an off road bike.


*one exception is a pair of secondhand carbon cranks which I got cheap.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Ki2 is where its at these days.. Electronic shifting for MTB, accurate, effective, reliable and quick, shift under power
http://www.ki2bike.com/

Buy it as a kit or adapt your own, its your choice... anything else is manual labour

 

[Zenroad]

Ha! Electronic shifting!! What's it gonna be next? An automatic crankset that goes round and round without us having to pedal it ourselves? I already have one! It's called a Kawasaki KLR650. Electronic shifting is...what, exactly? At the press of a button, I get: accurate, effective, reliable, and quick shifting? I already have that. It's called Shimano rapid fire, and it's all mechanical, baby! At the mere click of a button... Love the stuff. And NO BATTERIES needed! My god, I can't think of anything I'd rather NOT have on my bicycle than electronic shifting. Call me lo-tech. Keep it simple, folks.

 

[Zenroad]

By the way, I ordered Shimano XT SL-M780 shifters yesterday. Good price, free shipping. I've been using XT dual-purpose shifter/brake levers for 13 years, and it's been spot-on. No complaints. Shimano it is. I just hope the shifters come with that little plastic disc that replaces the optical gear display. Another piece of useless tech. I KNOW which gear I'm in---the one that feels right!

 

[Drago]

Quality is a 7 letter word

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Quality is a 7 letter word

so is Biopace.

 

[02GF74]

don't rule out the SLX range, works pretty well as far as I can tell.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

don't rule out the SLX range, works pretty well as far as I can tell.

Some folk are just allergic to groupsets that don't start with an X it seems

 

[Zenroad]

I know. It's spooky, but I think in the case of the XT or XTR stuff, there really is a quality curve up there.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I know. It's spooky, but I think in the case of the XT or XTR stuff, there really is a quality curve up there.

wait until you try X0

 

[Drago]

SRAM is a four letter word beginning with S.

 

[Zenroad]

Shimano XT SL-M780 shifters are on the way in the mail. If they work as well as the XT dual-controls I've had for 13 years, I'll be happy. I'm just hoping that I can give the gear display the heave-ho and find a little plastic cover plate for the open wound. Im reading that it can be hard to come by. What the..? I wonder why Shimano stopped including it with the levers. A small piece of plastic.

 

[mickle]

Expedition touring bikes should have thumb shifters. Much less complicated than Rapidfire. (Ps the proper term for 'dual-control' is STI (Shi**no Total Integration)).