Today we are going to discuss shifters. There are a variety of shifters out there on the market and I just want to cover some of them and their application and my personal feelings on the ones that I have experience with.
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| Shimano SLX Thumb Shifter |
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| SRAM X9 Thumb Shifter |
Standard Thumb Shifters - Pretty common on most Mountain Bikes today. They are very reliable from my experience but the downside to me is their limited ease of adjustment while riding. What I mean by this is that if you are getting chain rub on the front derailleur you are pretty much stuck with it until you can get to a spot to adjust the limit screws.
Now if the bike tuned properly this is not an issue at all and trimming it up properly is very easy to do. I prefer this shifter on my rear derailleur because of the ease of use!
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| SRAM Twist/Grip Shifter |
Twist/Grip Shifters - These are often limited to downhill type set ups. They actually came on my Salsa Mukluk when I first got it and there is some on the go adjustment ability with them, but with snow bikes it generally means it is cold out, and quite typically it is very cold out there and gloves are required. Now to keep your hands warm some people are using Bike Pogies and gloves are not required but on my Mukluk I run an H-Bar and Pogies just do not work (nor would the Twist/Grip Shifters) so I have to wear some heavy gloves when it is cold out and shifting with these is not comfortable at all. Summer time riding is not an issue at all and the front shifter allows for trimming the derailleur so if I had a flat bar mountain bike for summer use only I would not have a problem using this type of a shifter at all.
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| Bike Pogies and how they are set up |
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| Shimano BarCon Shifter on Paul Thumbie Mount |
BarCon Shifters on Paul Mounts - For the front derailleur this is my favorite set up. You can adjust the front very easily and if you are using these shifter mounts you can swap bars very easily. They work on flat bars and all other types of bars as well and work quite well with brake handle set ups as well. You will not find this setup on a "stock" bike but your current bike can be retrofitted to these quite easily and they are very durable! As I mentioned above, this is what I run on Mukluk for the front derailleur and I love being able to trim it out with the wide range of gearing options. My Felt 29'er is set up with these on both the front and rear.
If you want to get any further information stop by the shop, give us a call, or send an e-mail out to us. We have Specialized Mountain Bikes in stock and can order from a variety of other manufacturers as well.
Tom's Pro Bike Service
3687 Walden Avenue
Lancaster, New York 14086
F: (716)651-0858
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