Stupid is as stupid does

[Ming the Merciless]

And people wonder why we like downtube shifters

Indeed, or bar ends, and on friction mode, none of this indexing rubbish.

 

[raleighnut]

Indeed, or bar ends, and on friction mode, none of this indexing rubbish.

Indeed I bought some 'Dura-Ace' 8/9 speed bar end shifters when they were stupidly cheap, the bloke in the shop told me "they only index with Dura-Ace cassettes but you can use them in friction mode" which was true but what he didn't know was Shimano used the same cassette spacing as 8 speed on their early 9 speed DA cassettes when 9 speed went across the range they changed the spacing (narrower gap) but those old bar ends will index on any Shimano 8 speed cassette, matter of a second to flip em to 'friction' by turning the little 'D' thingy on the lever though.