Gearing set up: changing from twist shift to thumb shift?

[akb]

Is it possible? My commuter has twisty gear shifters (shim tourney from memory). My MTB has thumb shifters. I would really like thumb shifters on the commuter. Is this a simple DIY change?
The reason for the change is that I have fitted bar ends to the handlebars for comfort; changing gear becomes problematic and I just generally prefer the set up of thumb shifts and the quicker gear change.
Im a complete nood to bicycle tech stuff, so any advice would be appreciated; and if possible what I would need to complete the swap.
Cheers in advance.
Anil.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Possible. Yes. I've gone the other way and back again on various bikes. Can get expensive, but you may well be able to get what you need secondhand and you need to match shifters to mechs and the number of gears the bike has.

 

[Pauluk]

I have both on two hybrids and I prefer the rapid shifters to the twist shifters and the cables are often easier to replace as well.

 

[biggs682]

another vote for thumb shifters as twisters always need re aligning in my experiance

 

[albion]

I would never buy a bike with twist shifters though maybe there are some good ones around.

I upgraded from 7 speed shift to an 8 speed shift via ebay so just go ahead and do it.
Worst case is needing new handle rubber for the steering bar, some new front outer cable and maybe even new inner cables.

All quite cheap.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Just to provide some balance; having used both trigger shifters and grip shifters I personally prefer the grip shifters. The ones I use (SRAM MRX Comp) are as slick as any of the trigger shifters I've tried, and I like the fact I can shift a lot of gears in one go if I want to, which has its uses.

It's all about the quality I think. Some of the low-end grip shifters (Falcon, I'm looking at you!) fitted on cheaper bikes are pretty vague even when well set up, which I suspect makes many people having encountered this think that they are all like that.

Incidentally, this is a thumb shifter:

Which presumably is not what you meant.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I said my bit without actually offering any advice.

To the OP - As you will gather from my above comments I obviously haven't changed from grip to trigger shifters myself, but in theory it should be a simple job if that is what you want.

Seperate trigger shifters are available (examples here) so you can keep your existing brake levers and a new cable is usually supplied with new shifters (in my experience) so you don't have to source that yourself.

You'll need to remove the bar-ends, grips, shifters and the brake levers to fit the new shifters. The grips will be hardest to remove - peeling a bit back and squirting your choice of lubricant underneath is the best bet. Refit components, fit cables to derailleurs, set up and adjust.

Best of luck.