In praise of friction shifting

[Ming the Merciless]

I have bar ends on my recumbent with 3 X 9 gearing. I also have a 10 speed turbo wheel. The turbo wheel is shared with my 10 speed road bike. For the turbo I'd put the rear shifter on friction to work with the 10 speed wheel. But one day whilst out on the road it was necessary to unclamp then reclamp the cable. I was late for a club ride and didn't have time to fettle the cable tension for the indexing. So I flipped the rear shifter to friction and left it there. Off I went on the ride.

I love friction shifting on 9 speed and haven't had to mess around with cable tension since. If a cable breaks then fitting a new one and getting going again will be just a few mins. Muscle memory usually means you get the shift spot on first time, if not it's quick to trim.

Friction shifting rocks. I'd forgotten how good it is.

 

[Saluki]

My old steel roadie has friction shifters. I love it. No faffing about required.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

My old steel roadie has friction shifters. I love it. No faffing about required.

My first racer in the 80s had friction shifters so it's like returning to how I used to shift in my late teens. The faff free nature is a big part as you get a really good feel for the perfect shift. You feel more connected to the process, rather than whacking some lever and letting it decide.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

The faff free nature is a big part as you get a really good feel for the perfect shift. You feel more connected to the process, rather than whacking some lever and letting it decide.

I'm pretty sure that index shifting is less faff than friction shifting if the faff under discussion is that in the actual shifting process. Click and you're good.

But, what I am not so sure about is that one develops the perfect feel for a perfect shift with friction shifters.

I noticed that on quiet roads where I can hear the drivetrain talk to me, I can get a good shift. However, as soon as there's enough traffic noise to down out the drivetrain, getting a good shift is more difficult. The shift then is kinda approximate, but still "there", yet as soon as the noise abates, you can hear it wasn't such a good shift after all.

I think audible feedback is a dominant factor in getting a good shift with friction shifters.

 

[Drago]

I went back to friction a few years ago when I picked up my Claud Butler. Having not ridden a bike thus equipped since my skills took a while to return, but beyond any shadow of a doubt I quickly developed the feel for the perfect shift..snick...no rattle. All by feel.

I wouldn't say it is any better than index shifting, bit it does bring a certain simplicity to proceedings without any detriment once one is used to it again.

 

[Colin_P]

The only downside I've found is that you spend more time in a gear, especially when the shifters are on the down tube. Whereas with brifters you'd be up and down the cogs like there is no tomorrow.

Actually it isn't a downside at all.

 

[si_c]

I found that with friction shifting you can feel the change so that rarely do you need to hear the drivetrain.

I rarely had misshifts when I used it, however indexed systems on the bars are more convenient overall.

 

[ozboz]

I had bat end friction levers on my Surley but a swapped them in the end: I couldn’t get on with them , but they did work very well,

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The only downside I've found is that you spend more time in a gear, especially when the shifters are on the down tube

I find that to be the case, especially when riding in traffic and I want to concentrate on where I'm going and what other vehicles are nearby, rather than reaching down for the gear lever. I tend to make changes less often, and if I know I'll need a lower gear soon, tend to change earlier when the opportunity arises, rather than wait until I actually need the gear - which is no big deal with indexed shifters.
The overall effect is friction shifters probably have a small negative impact on average speed, because the rider will tend to put up with being in a less optimal gear for short periods, rather than make an extra gearchange. Since I'm not racing, it doesn't matter to me - but I can understand why faster, more user-friendly indexed and electronic shifting has become the norm in competitive cycling.
One day I can see one of the component manufacturers designing an auto-changing system for racing bikes, using load and cadence sensors to decide when a different ratio is needed.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The only downside I've found is that you spend more time in a gear, especially when the shifters are on the down tube. Whereas with brifters you'd be up and down the cogs like there is no tomorrow.

Actually it isn't a downside at all.

On my recumbent the levers are just below the bottom of the hand so it’s easy enough to change as necessary. But a lot of the time it isn’t necessary as you can just change your cadence for a while.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Ah, but only with index shifter triggers can you go "pew pew pew" and pretend you're Luke Skywalker riding a stolen speeder bike through the forests of Endor.

 

[itboffin]

I had them on my Mercian and did really like the ease and smooth changes but they slipped so I flipped them to indexed mode and lost the retro love and changed to newer shifters, I can see they’d have a place on tt bikes

 

[Smokin Joe]

I had them on my Mercian and did really like the ease and smooth changes but they slipped so I flipped them to indexed mode and lost the retro love and changed to newer shifters, I can see they’d have a place on tt bikes

Time trialists were among the first and most enthusiastic users of index shifting and electronic gears. The last thing you want to do in a TT is spend time moving your hands out of their aero tuck while you faff about easing the chain into the optimum position.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Time trialists were among the first and most enthusiastic users of index shifting and electronic gears. The last thing you want to do in a TT is spend time moving your hands out of their aero tuck while you faff about easing the chain into the optimum position.

Indeed time triallists are better off fixed gear.

 

[fossyant]

You can stick friction. SIS down tube shifters are the business.