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FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE IF YOU HAVE OWNED MicroSHIFT.
So, after looking at reviews and peoples experience with Microshift (also known as Forte and Nashbar which are re-labelled Microshift in the U.S.A) I have come to the conclusion that they're a reliable and fairly priced groupset.
I was researching reviews on them as I am buying a Microshift groupset and wanted to see what peoples experience with them are. I decided to put all of the information together into one big post whilst thinking about it.
MicroSHIFT groupset on Team Exergy's Felt.
Here are my findings below, as you can see there are positive and negative views on them.
Once I have my groupset, I will do a review on my next blog.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Microshift reviews.
MicroShift patent images (explosion view PDF file)
Great review on Road bike review .
MicroSHIFT White review here
Forte/Arsis Review here on the shifters.
On weight weenies there is another review on the Forte groupo.
Road.cc did a review on the Arsis (level above White) groupset and it got 8/10.
Nashbar Microshift Review 1
Nashbar Microshift Review 2
Even a pro rider was using MS on his bike.
I did some digging and found loads of different reviews. Might be too long to read but if you're bored...
GOOD POINTS
"Aside from it’s BLING factor as the only white groupset out there, it is also incredibly light and after having put it through its paces, I can safely say it is better than anything else I have ever used including Dura-Ace, yet it retails at a third of the price!
I have yet to run it with my race wheels but on my very worn and tired training wheels it shifted like a dream. In fact I completely forgot about it after the first few kilometres and to me that’s the sign of great componentry.
Let’s face it you don’t want to be worrying about something so fundamental as a gear shift, it must just do what it is supposed to and let you focus on the road and going fast."
_______________
"I've owned Sram Apex and Force (current), Shimano 105 5500, and Microshift 9 speed shifters. I have to say, that the Microshift shifters were much nicer than expected. I bought them for next to nothing off craigslist intending to resell them for what they were actually worth, but in the mean time I installed them on the bike that had the 5500 parts. I ended up liking them more than the Shimano setup! The brake lever is rigid which I really like, and having the two paddles there right next to each other is really nice (which is mainly why I went to Sram). The shifter shape is fairly good and they felt just fine on long rides.
Quality wise, they were right in line with the 105 stuff, maybe even a little better. The shifters were much lighter than the Shimano (although not as light as the Sram shifters). I suggest you try them out, the parts are cheap enough that it's not a big investment, and you might end up liking them as much as I do!"
_______________
"Mechanic at my LBS (felt dealer) said the same thing. felt goes to microshift and explains exactly what they want and microshift makes it. he had the same comment about the 105s being better, but said there's nothing wrong with microshift.
felt also puts the microshift shifters on some lower-end bikes with sora components. not the same shifters as the 105 bikes (9 spd vs. 10 spd obviously), but it seems like it'd be nice to have shifting in the drops as opposed to normal sora shifters with the thumb button."
_______________
"Getting everything working on the stand is one thing, it's how it performs on the open road that counts. I have only put on about 150 miles on the MicroSHIFT set-up, but every shift has been flawless and I have not had to make an adjustment yet. The hood are comfortable, with a Shimano-like feel. Reaching the brake levers is easy despite having smaller hands and once I became used to the shifting method, it is not only easy, but it becomes second-nature. The shifters are easily reached from the hoods or the drops, but I do spend most of my time on the hoods. Each push of the lever results in a smooth down-shift and a quick, but firm, push of the smaller lever up-shifts quickly, with a sharp click, but nowhere near as loud as some reviewers stated. MicroSHIFT lacks the refined feel of the Ultegra levers, but I was never once disappointed by a missed shift."
_______________
"Shimano sued and LOST a while back. I have microshift brifters running ultegra cranks, fd and rd. Works great, shifts are quick and precise, throws on the big lever can be a bit long but not terrible. Unlike sora, you csn shift from the drops. Biggest drawback is you can't hide the shift cables like the latest and greatest 105 and ultegra. But for $120 a pair, they are a great option. You could save a lot of money buying a felt with them up front then upgrade later to some used Shimano brifters."
______________
"Like most threads in the Road forum, you will find wildly differing opinions. The throw on 105 was too much for me, and Microshift was the cure for that. I currently run 8 and 9 speed MS. Microshift is my preferred shifter."
_____________
I'd put most of the Microshift shifters against 105 quality.. but I've only tried 5600. Perhaps 105 made a huge leap with 5700 (by all accounts it did) and so now maybe it's closer to 10 speed Tiagra. I will say that in feel and ergonomics it's loads better than Sora. Try it out with an open mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
_____________
"I just built up a bike with Microshift ten-speed, and I gotta say that I'm amazed at how good it is. The shifting is dead-on precise every time. Maybe it'll fall apart in six months, or maybe it'll last for years, but for now, it's really impressive. For reference, I normally use Dura Ace 7800"
_____________
Don't be fooled by the price nor the supplier of this group. It is no slouch. These are professional grade components used by the pro cycling team Exergy.
____________
I don't understand that. I have Microshift on two bikes, ride almost exclusively in drops, and have no problem shifting even when racing other guys. I've done a bunch of 200k+ rides on them and they work great.
____________
"Another satisfied Microshift user here. I recently installed the Performance Bike branded 10 speed levers on my road bike. They are carbon levers and very light. I had Dura Ace 7700 9 speed on it previously. I just could not pass up a brand new set of shifters with cables, housings, etc for $125.00.
My initial impression was that they are loud, they seem about 50% louder than my 7700 shifters, but my 7700 shifters did set a VERY high watermark. I dabbed just a tiny bit of grease on the mechanism and they are much more quiet.
The low to high chain ring shift is longer than I am used to but not by much and like was stated above, I have typically trimmed the FD long before moving to the big ring and then it is a normal push.
The rear shifts fast and very positively both up and down. No complaints there. I also find the FD trim to be very responsive and accurate, unlike every 105 shifter I have ever used.
I find the hood shape and size more comfortable than the 7700 that they replaced. I also thought I might not like the fixed the brake lever and twin shifter paddles since I have ridden Shimano for so long, but I really do like the design quite a lot.
All of this said, I only have about 200 miles on my set, by the end of spring I should have enough mileage that durability will be tested.
Many people probably won't give the components any street cred and call it Microshit etc, but I think it was very easy to setup and so far so good. Hey if it does take a dump at least I am only out about 1/3rd of the cost of any other comparable set of shifters."
____________
I upgraded my winter bike from Shimana Sora 8speed to a Microshift Centos 10speed and they work great, my other bikes have Shimano 105 10speed. Whichever shifters you use, they just take getting used to, with Microshift, initially I kept trying to flick the brake lever to change but once I got used to the two levers, they work fine with thick winter gloves. Going back to Shimano 105 now seems awkward and will have to be relearned in Summer.
On performance, Microshift and 105 are almost identical, Microshift rear derailleur is better, bought a 2nd one as a replacement for 105 on one bike. The Microshift front chainring shifter is a bit slower than 105 tho, it must be said that I didn't change over from 8speed chainrings so maybe this is a factor. Front shifting isn't as critical, so this is not a big issue.
Very surprised more bike makers don't fit Microshift on bikes instead of Shimano and spend savings on better wheels.
__________________________________________________________________________________
BAD POINTS
"I also bought a Felt F95 this year that has Microshift 9 speed shifters mated to Tiagra derailleurs. Everything functions just as well as a complete Tiagra package would, but I would likely have paid several hundred dollars more for a full Shimano groupset. I will admit that shifting from the drops can be a bit daunting, and the throw from the small ring to the big ring up front is pretty long (making it difficult if you have smaller hands).
All in all, Microshift isn't perfect, but it works quite well and at the price it's a fantastic alternative to larger competitors if you're on a tight budget."
_______________
"Bike shops don't call it MicroShit for nothing.... "
_______________
"I don't like the mushy feel of brake levers that come on the felt f95. I haven't ridden them extensively, but they do seem to last fairly well, and the price point is right. the forte rear (micro shift) isn't as long lived. "
_______________
I find they're the clunkiest of all road shifters, but they work fine and are reliable in what they do. Just not as smooth. Shimano is the smoothest, but that doesn't make Shimano what I prefer. I don't prefer Shimano's road shifting.
______________
The local bike shop received some bikes with Microshift on them from the factory. The shop had so many problems with them, they refused to take more, and exchanged some of them for shimano.
______________
When I was shopping for a new bike, I test rode a Felt Z6 with the Microshift shifters and hated them. They felt cheap and they were noisy as hell. They did seem to work fine but I couldn't get past the noise and cheap plastic feel. It appears Felt is no longer using these on the Z6 for 2012.
______________
Fuji paid to replace all of the MicroSHIFT shifters on their low-end road bikes in our shop with Sora/2200 shifters last model year. We were told to throw them away.
The throw on the paddle for the front derailleur is insanely long. Think full throw on a Campy shifter to shift across 3 front chainrings. It takes that to shift 2 on MicroSHIFT.
The paddles feel clunky.
The shifters just feel "wrong".
They're garbage.
______________
I have not ridden on a bike with microshifters other than around the bike shop that I work in. In that brief period of time I found the shifters to be too stiff, clunky and they did not "feel right" On the other hand I have been riding Shimano STI for several years in several forms and found that even Tiagra and Sora "feel better" and operate better than the microshift. I have not ridden SRAM road groups for an extended period of time but the experience I have with them has been positive.
To agree bluntly...microshift road shifters are garbage.
______________
These are fully compatible with Shimano 5600, 6600, and 7800 shifters and derailleurs. I actually have used this group as well. I received a KTM frame from Taiwan a few years ago, and it came to me built up with the Microshift aluminum 10-speed group. Functionally it is the same as the Arsis, but not as flashy looking.
My experience with the group was so-so. If you like Shimano ergonomics and functionality, and want a budget group, this might be for you. The shifting is very different from Shimano though... it has a very mechanical (almost clunky) feel to it and definitely doesn't share Shimano's smooth feel. The lever throw for moving up the cassette and shifting into the big ring is also very long/slow. I also had a problem with the loops on some of my gloves (you know the ones between the fingers to help pull the gloves off) getting caught on and looped around the tabs that drop the chain down the cassette.
I can also second the rattling problem that was mentioned above. The internal build quality is not nearly as good as you would find in anything from the big 3, so it might offer the performance of say 105 (5600), but it is no-where near as durable long-term. One person I know who tried to run this long-term on his main bike changed to Ultegra SL because many of the internals started to wear and fall apart (springs for the brake levers broke, the brake cable holder came apart, when replacing the cables the head had to be drilled out because it had been glued in by Microshift, as well as other issues).
I didn't care for the performance or the ergonomics, so I've since switched over to all SRAM on my bikes - which offers much better performance and I much prefer the ergonomics. IMO, if you're looking for a high performance budget group, it is smarter to spend a few extra dollars and look at lower end Campy, SRAM, or Shimano (Veloce, Rival/Apex, 105-5700/5600). My personal choice would be SRAM or Campy...
__________________________________________________________________________________
Colorado Pro Bike: Erik Slack’s Team Exergy Felt F1 with 'White' brifters, 'White' front D with Ultegra rear D.
Código34 CKT Novatec uses Microshift too
Also, an owner changed his 105 components for Microshift.
So, after looking at reviews and peoples experience with Microshift (also known as Forte and Nashbar which are re-labelled Microshift in the U.S.A) I have come to the conclusion that they're a reliable and fairly priced groupset.
I was researching reviews on them as I am buying a Microshift groupset and wanted to see what peoples experience with them are. I decided to put all of the information together into one big post whilst thinking about it.
MicroSHIFT groupset on Team Exergy's Felt.
Here are my findings below, as you can see there are positive and negative views on them.
Once I have my groupset, I will do a review on my next blog.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Microshift reviews.
MicroShift patent images (explosion view PDF file)
Great review on Road bike review .
MicroSHIFT White review here
Forte/Arsis Review here on the shifters.
On weight weenies there is another review on the Forte groupo.
Road.cc did a review on the Arsis (level above White) groupset and it got 8/10.
Nashbar Microshift Review 1
Nashbar Microshift Review 2
Even a pro rider was using MS on his bike.
I did some digging and found loads of different reviews. Might be too long to read but if you're bored...
GOOD POINTS
"Aside from it’s BLING factor as the only white groupset out there, it is also incredibly light and after having put it through its paces, I can safely say it is better than anything else I have ever used including Dura-Ace, yet it retails at a third of the price!
I have yet to run it with my race wheels but on my very worn and tired training wheels it shifted like a dream. In fact I completely forgot about it after the first few kilometres and to me that’s the sign of great componentry.
Let’s face it you don’t want to be worrying about something so fundamental as a gear shift, it must just do what it is supposed to and let you focus on the road and going fast."
_______________
"I've owned Sram Apex and Force (current), Shimano 105 5500, and Microshift 9 speed shifters. I have to say, that the Microshift shifters were much nicer than expected. I bought them for next to nothing off craigslist intending to resell them for what they were actually worth, but in the mean time I installed them on the bike that had the 5500 parts. I ended up liking them more than the Shimano setup! The brake lever is rigid which I really like, and having the two paddles there right next to each other is really nice (which is mainly why I went to Sram). The shifter shape is fairly good and they felt just fine on long rides.
Quality wise, they were right in line with the 105 stuff, maybe even a little better. The shifters were much lighter than the Shimano (although not as light as the Sram shifters). I suggest you try them out, the parts are cheap enough that it's not a big investment, and you might end up liking them as much as I do!"
_______________
"Mechanic at my LBS (felt dealer) said the same thing. felt goes to microshift and explains exactly what they want and microshift makes it. he had the same comment about the 105s being better, but said there's nothing wrong with microshift.
felt also puts the microshift shifters on some lower-end bikes with sora components. not the same shifters as the 105 bikes (9 spd vs. 10 spd obviously), but it seems like it'd be nice to have shifting in the drops as opposed to normal sora shifters with the thumb button."
_______________
"Getting everything working on the stand is one thing, it's how it performs on the open road that counts. I have only put on about 150 miles on the MicroSHIFT set-up, but every shift has been flawless and I have not had to make an adjustment yet. The hood are comfortable, with a Shimano-like feel. Reaching the brake levers is easy despite having smaller hands and once I became used to the shifting method, it is not only easy, but it becomes second-nature. The shifters are easily reached from the hoods or the drops, but I do spend most of my time on the hoods. Each push of the lever results in a smooth down-shift and a quick, but firm, push of the smaller lever up-shifts quickly, with a sharp click, but nowhere near as loud as some reviewers stated. MicroSHIFT lacks the refined feel of the Ultegra levers, but I was never once disappointed by a missed shift."
_______________
"Shimano sued and LOST a while back. I have microshift brifters running ultegra cranks, fd and rd. Works great, shifts are quick and precise, throws on the big lever can be a bit long but not terrible. Unlike sora, you csn shift from the drops. Biggest drawback is you can't hide the shift cables like the latest and greatest 105 and ultegra. But for $120 a pair, they are a great option. You could save a lot of money buying a felt with them up front then upgrade later to some used Shimano brifters."
______________
"Like most threads in the Road forum, you will find wildly differing opinions. The throw on 105 was too much for me, and Microshift was the cure for that. I currently run 8 and 9 speed MS. Microshift is my preferred shifter."
_____________
I'd put most of the Microshift shifters against 105 quality.. but I've only tried 5600. Perhaps 105 made a huge leap with 5700 (by all accounts it did) and so now maybe it's closer to 10 speed Tiagra. I will say that in feel and ergonomics it's loads better than Sora. Try it out with an open mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
_____________
"I just built up a bike with Microshift ten-speed, and I gotta say that I'm amazed at how good it is. The shifting is dead-on precise every time. Maybe it'll fall apart in six months, or maybe it'll last for years, but for now, it's really impressive. For reference, I normally use Dura Ace 7800"
_____________
Don't be fooled by the price nor the supplier of this group. It is no slouch. These are professional grade components used by the pro cycling team Exergy.
____________
I don't understand that. I have Microshift on two bikes, ride almost exclusively in drops, and have no problem shifting even when racing other guys. I've done a bunch of 200k+ rides on them and they work great.
____________
"Another satisfied Microshift user here. I recently installed the Performance Bike branded 10 speed levers on my road bike. They are carbon levers and very light. I had Dura Ace 7700 9 speed on it previously. I just could not pass up a brand new set of shifters with cables, housings, etc for $125.00.
My initial impression was that they are loud, they seem about 50% louder than my 7700 shifters, but my 7700 shifters did set a VERY high watermark. I dabbed just a tiny bit of grease on the mechanism and they are much more quiet.
The low to high chain ring shift is longer than I am used to but not by much and like was stated above, I have typically trimmed the FD long before moving to the big ring and then it is a normal push.
The rear shifts fast and very positively both up and down. No complaints there. I also find the FD trim to be very responsive and accurate, unlike every 105 shifter I have ever used.
I find the hood shape and size more comfortable than the 7700 that they replaced. I also thought I might not like the fixed the brake lever and twin shifter paddles since I have ridden Shimano for so long, but I really do like the design quite a lot.
All of this said, I only have about 200 miles on my set, by the end of spring I should have enough mileage that durability will be tested.
Many people probably won't give the components any street cred and call it Microshit etc, but I think it was very easy to setup and so far so good. Hey if it does take a dump at least I am only out about 1/3rd of the cost of any other comparable set of shifters."
____________
I upgraded my winter bike from Shimana Sora 8speed to a Microshift Centos 10speed and they work great, my other bikes have Shimano 105 10speed. Whichever shifters you use, they just take getting used to, with Microshift, initially I kept trying to flick the brake lever to change but once I got used to the two levers, they work fine with thick winter gloves. Going back to Shimano 105 now seems awkward and will have to be relearned in Summer.
On performance, Microshift and 105 are almost identical, Microshift rear derailleur is better, bought a 2nd one as a replacement for 105 on one bike. The Microshift front chainring shifter is a bit slower than 105 tho, it must be said that I didn't change over from 8speed chainrings so maybe this is a factor. Front shifting isn't as critical, so this is not a big issue.
Very surprised more bike makers don't fit Microshift on bikes instead of Shimano and spend savings on better wheels.
__________________________________________________________________________________
BAD POINTS
"I also bought a Felt F95 this year that has Microshift 9 speed shifters mated to Tiagra derailleurs. Everything functions just as well as a complete Tiagra package would, but I would likely have paid several hundred dollars more for a full Shimano groupset. I will admit that shifting from the drops can be a bit daunting, and the throw from the small ring to the big ring up front is pretty long (making it difficult if you have smaller hands).
All in all, Microshift isn't perfect, but it works quite well and at the price it's a fantastic alternative to larger competitors if you're on a tight budget."
_______________
"Bike shops don't call it MicroShit for nothing.... "
_______________
"I don't like the mushy feel of brake levers that come on the felt f95. I haven't ridden them extensively, but they do seem to last fairly well, and the price point is right. the forte rear (micro shift) isn't as long lived. "
_______________
I find they're the clunkiest of all road shifters, but they work fine and are reliable in what they do. Just not as smooth. Shimano is the smoothest, but that doesn't make Shimano what I prefer. I don't prefer Shimano's road shifting.
______________
The local bike shop received some bikes with Microshift on them from the factory. The shop had so many problems with them, they refused to take more, and exchanged some of them for shimano.
______________
When I was shopping for a new bike, I test rode a Felt Z6 with the Microshift shifters and hated them. They felt cheap and they were noisy as hell. They did seem to work fine but I couldn't get past the noise and cheap plastic feel. It appears Felt is no longer using these on the Z6 for 2012.
______________
Fuji paid to replace all of the MicroSHIFT shifters on their low-end road bikes in our shop with Sora/2200 shifters last model year. We were told to throw them away.
The throw on the paddle for the front derailleur is insanely long. Think full throw on a Campy shifter to shift across 3 front chainrings. It takes that to shift 2 on MicroSHIFT.
The paddles feel clunky.
The shifters just feel "wrong".
They're garbage.
______________
I have not ridden on a bike with microshifters other than around the bike shop that I work in. In that brief period of time I found the shifters to be too stiff, clunky and they did not "feel right" On the other hand I have been riding Shimano STI for several years in several forms and found that even Tiagra and Sora "feel better" and operate better than the microshift. I have not ridden SRAM road groups for an extended period of time but the experience I have with them has been positive.
To agree bluntly...microshift road shifters are garbage.
______________
These are fully compatible with Shimano 5600, 6600, and 7800 shifters and derailleurs. I actually have used this group as well. I received a KTM frame from Taiwan a few years ago, and it came to me built up with the Microshift aluminum 10-speed group. Functionally it is the same as the Arsis, but not as flashy looking.
My experience with the group was so-so. If you like Shimano ergonomics and functionality, and want a budget group, this might be for you. The shifting is very different from Shimano though... it has a very mechanical (almost clunky) feel to it and definitely doesn't share Shimano's smooth feel. The lever throw for moving up the cassette and shifting into the big ring is also very long/slow. I also had a problem with the loops on some of my gloves (you know the ones between the fingers to help pull the gloves off) getting caught on and looped around the tabs that drop the chain down the cassette.
I can also second the rattling problem that was mentioned above. The internal build quality is not nearly as good as you would find in anything from the big 3, so it might offer the performance of say 105 (5600), but it is no-where near as durable long-term. One person I know who tried to run this long-term on his main bike changed to Ultegra SL because many of the internals started to wear and fall apart (springs for the brake levers broke, the brake cable holder came apart, when replacing the cables the head had to be drilled out because it had been glued in by Microshift, as well as other issues).
I didn't care for the performance or the ergonomics, so I've since switched over to all SRAM on my bikes - which offers much better performance and I much prefer the ergonomics. IMO, if you're looking for a high performance budget group, it is smarter to spend a few extra dollars and look at lower end Campy, SRAM, or Shimano (Veloce, Rival/Apex, 105-5700/5600). My personal choice would be SRAM or Campy...
__________________________________________________________________________________
Colorado Pro Bike: Erik Slack’s Team Exergy Felt F1 with 'White' brifters, 'White' front D with Ultegra rear D.
Código34 CKT Novatec uses Microshift too
Also, an owner changed his 105 components for Microshift.
