Converting to downtube shifters

[chris__P]

hi

does anyone know how easy it is to convert from bar shifters to down tube shifters / what i would be looking at paying?

i realise its probably more common for people to do it the other way, but my shifters are broke and i want to convert to a simple system that will be easy to maintain during a long tour.

i'm guessing its a fairly simple job?

 

[Tynan]

search the forum, this one sems to come up quite often, I suspect the answer is usually that it's not entirely straight forward

 

[alecstilleyedye]

you would need some sort of bracket. when i took my bike with the bracket for cable stops where the downtube shifters would be, the lbs said "rare as rocking horse droppings", so i'm guessing that, unless the frame is steel and you can get someone to braise on some mounting points, you might be better going down the bar-end shifter route.

 

[PpPete]

You can bodge an old band-on mount to fit modern DT shifters.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

My Cannondale has had STIs fitted from new, but the bosses for the cable stops on the downtube are identical to those used for downtube shifters.

 

[andrew_s]

If the cable stops are mounted on the down tube where the shifters would normally mount, the bosses are most likely standard shifter bosses with a pair of these stops bolted to them.
If the cable stops are on the side of the head tube, you'll have to look for a pair of band-on bosses. Spa Cycles have some iirc.

 

[Davidc]

It's an unusual way to go, but I have total sympathy with you.

If you have a more or less circular section downtube it should be possible to fit one of the old clamp on fixings, complete with shifters. Trouble is you need to find some!

Try googling, try ebay, and anywhere else you can think of. There are companies which do NOS kit of this sort.

I've used quick-fire, STIs and bar end shifters, and almost everything else that's been around, but non-indexed downtube were faster, more precise, more accurate, easier to use, better positioned and more reliable than any of them. Good luck!