non-thumb shifters (not for the squeamish)

forgotrafe

Had a nasty accident at the weekend - see http://www.forgot.co.uk/thumb - which might mean thumb shifters aren't an option. If not are there any finger operated shifters? Or are ghastly gripshifts the only option?

Hopefully wont need them but it's all a little emotional at the moment and the wait to find out might be better if I knew there was alternatives...

peter413

Grip shifters are probably the only option if you can't use thumbies

They are a lot cheaper though, you can get some XO grippys for the price of X9 thumbies

butcher of bakersfield

Looks nasty. Could've been a lot worse though! I'm sure thumb shifters won't be a problem once it's healed. I'm currently reading Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography, and I never realised that Tony Iommi had a similar accident - lost the tips off a few of his fingers on his fretting hand. Rather than just giving up though, he made his own thimbles and went on to become one of history's influential guitarists.

Have a watch of this for a little inspiration... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbB8ayMlAs

forgotrafe

Love the inspirational message, thanks. Am actually feeling positive, asking this question is part of that - am loving the mtb and having just qualified as a mtb leader/trainer means it's important for me to be able to carry on.

Cferg

Have you thought about changing your shifters around ie. right to left and left to right kind of thing then buying grip shifters for the front only? Obviously it would take some time to get used to, admittedly it sounds rather dodgy but it could be a possible fix leaving you with the trusty triggers if the grips arent doing it for you. Good blog btw, very interesting !

bike-a-swan

I was thinking (always a bad sign!), I doubt they exist, but could you get some levers mounted backwards, i.e. push them with your fingers from the wrong sides of the bar?

ilovedirt

You could maybe get onto some bike component custom shop, if such a thing exists?! I know it exists in the guitar and bass world (i play bass) so why not in the cycling world? I'm not sure.
Hope you heal up nice and fast anyway and retain the use of your thumb! I've had some VERY close calls before!

Anonymous

you might find shimano dual controls work well fo you, the brake lever acts as a shifter in much the same way as on a road bike, i actually quite liked them when i used them.

nicklouse

forgotrafe
your link aint working.

hope things do sort, there are quite a few options out there.

but depending on what you have and what your riding is.

ok blog working.

TBH I dont think you will have any issues. except the double thumb shift may be out of reach.

As Mr Sheeps said the shimano "waggle" shifter could be a very good option.

but before changing anything see how it is.

forgotrafe

Thanks everyone. Knowing there are options means I can put it out of my mind (if you follow). Am sure I'll be fine with existing XT shifters though, because surgeon was positive. Have been a very lucky boy!

nicklouse

so hows things?

forgotrafe

Aw, thanks for asking Nick.

Went to hospital last Friday to have dressing that'd been on since operation removed. First sighting of new thumb was grim! However Doctor said it will heal but followed with stern warning that if I didn't take it easy and let it mend or I got an infection I'll be back in hospital to have more amputated. Obviously I'm doing as he says! So no riding and no going to work in Cannes for two weeks

These photos are from Tuesday, about 4 days after seeing doctor, about 2.5 weeks after accident. Not for the squeamish! Picture 1 Picture 2. Sorry for the poor focus.

Okay, it doesn't look too pleasant in the pics but to me it looks much better than it did and can see it's starting to heal. Nurse agrees and gave me an expectation that within four weeks I'm going to see a dramatic improvement.

In terms of shifters, movement/feeling seems okay and thumb is probably "only" going to be half inch/12mm shorter than it was. So hoping existing XT shifters will be okay if I just move the right hand one outboard a little.

Thanks again for the concern!

Pufftmw

That looks well sore!

How about swapping your shifters left to right? You will likely use the front changer less than than the rear I was thinking...

Anonymous

Oh ouch, get well soon bud.

Chunkers1980

Pufftmw wrote:

That looks well sore!

How about swapping your shifters left to right? You will likely use the front changer less than than the rear I was thinking...

Mate - my heart goes out to you that's nasty.

Swapping just wont work sorry.

Anonymous

corr blimey that is gopping, glad it is healing though.

forgotrafe

Just had dressing changed again and it's looking okay. Need to look past the dying bits, already dead bits and crusty blood

forgotrafe

Back to the hospital in a week. Hopefully the prognosis will be good. Obviously I'm going to ask how long it'll be before I can ride again

tptvmbircn

no the best of injuries there and obviously very annoying!

I think as mentioned the dual control will be the best option, personally i hate grip shifts and if you can get away with duals you should be better off imo.

get better soon

jay12

:shock: looks nasty. get well soon

pilsburypie

Ohhhh ahhh! Don't know about the position of your shifters, but my thumb seems to push at around the bit where your thumb bends.... You have plenty more thumb tan that so may not be a problem..

Anyhow, let it heal fully and you may well be suprised. Hop all goes well for you.

PS, You could always become a milkman (for some reason as a kid we had a good few milkmen all with missing fingers!)

Radioactiveman

Hopefully di3 will be out soon, be expensive but might be usefull for you?. Very lucky escape by the sound of things.

Had a few close shaves with angle grinders, I know put a concrete block between me and the grinder and always keep feet out of line of cut

forgotrafe

Went to hospital yesterday and they're really pleased with progress, thumb is healing well and I've been discharged. Looks like it might end up a few mm longer than envisaged

Still got a lot of healing to go but should be back on a bike in two weeks or so! And can get on turbo trainer tomorrow (sticking in a single gear) which is great news given how much sympathy food I've eaten the last four weeks

Obviously wont know till I try but looks like thumb shifter shouldn't be a problem, will probably need to move it a little more outboard but I have XT shifters with the display removed & run outboard of my brakes so no problem there.

Thanks for all the support and for putting my mind at rest that alternative shifters were available when the future looked a lot more bleak and unknown.

nicklouse

from another thread on here



there is always a solution to any problem.

Anonymous

Excellent to hear it's healing nicely, best wishes to you.

Anonymous

yup, good news.

forgotrafe

nicklouse - what thread was that? That picture's very humbling. I'll shut up now as my little dilemma has well and truly been put into perspective!

Anonymous

It was a thread about some pointless question regarding how many an which fingers people use to brake. Then an (effectively) one armed rider shared his incredible, and inspiring, setup.

nicklouse

brake levers fingers and how many one of real mans "topics"

but back to yours, i was reading/watching something about a guitarist that lost the ends of some fingers/thumbs and had some "extensions" made so he can still play. so there are even more ways around the shifters.

forgotrafe

yeehaamcgee - cheers & thanks for the kind words. As you say incredible & inspiring! And as I say, humbling. What the f*** have I got to worry about in comparison? Though this thread wasn't attention seeking (hope it never came across that way), it was about putting my mind at rest re options should the thumb not have worked out as well.

jay12

nicklouse wrote:

brake levers fingers and how many one of real mans "topics"

but back to yours, i was reading/watching something about a guitarist that lost the ends of some fingers/thumbs and had some "extensions" made so he can still play. so there are even more ways around the shifters.

i think i saw that on 7 ages of rock like 1 year ago or more.