hi all

10/2

hi all! thught id say hi and pose a question....im new to cycling and have just bought a budget road bike for starters. the problem is the gear levers are on the down bar which is proving to be a pain in the backside! is it possible to relocate them if i get integral brake/gear levers? can someone tell me what equipment i would need and recommend which parts and where to get them? if i took it to the shop how much would it be roughly? many thanks in advance

spasypaddy

i had this problem when i was looking at a roadbike a few years ago and i remember the shop saying that yes they can be moved. I've now found out what the benefit of having them on the downtube is - have a head on crash and they wont need replacing, have a head on crash (like i did) and its at least another £80 to replace!

have a look on ebay for some shifters, depending on the make Shimano or Compagnalo search for shifters under that brand name and see what happens. Then take them to a shop and ask them to fit them.

It may not actually be possible so wait for someone elses advice before buying as i don't know which exact ones to recommend or prices

10/2

thanks mate, forgot to ask.....do shimano do a 12 gear shifter?

10/2

thanks mate, forgot to ask.....do shimano do a 12 gear shifter?

on2wheels

Shimano go up to 10 speed as do Campag, it depends on what groupset you have, I think from memory that Shimano 105 and up is 10 speed, below 105 is 9 speed, I don't think there are any 12 speed shifters, I could be wrong, ergo shifters are very expensive, I have the same problem, I'm living with it at the moment until I buy a new bike

rafletcher

You cannot get a 6-speed Shimano STI shifter (2 x 6 = 12). So the answer is, in your case, no you can't - unless you also change the rear cassette to a 9sp from a 6sp (8sp STI's are rare now), the rear mech for a 9sp one, the front mech for a 9sp one (the 9sp chain is a lot narrower than your current 6sp one), all the cables and most of the outers, and the shifters themselves. Oh and prbably the chainset as well.

Frankly it would be cheaper to sell the current bike and buy one with a 9sp groupset with STI's already fitted. Especially as I suspect you'd be having to pay someone to make the changes for you.

To explain one further thing, the number of "speeds" is usually quoted as the number of cogs on the cassette, so your "12 speed" would be termed a 6sp.

I've assumed that you have in fact got Shimano on your bike. As others have stated Campagnolo also do combined brake/gear levers (Ergo shifters). For a beginner I would recommend sticking to one or the other - mixing may work, but only in specific instances and is quite complicated to sort out.