Gear shifting ;-)

romft

Hi,
looking for a bit of advice. I have just been advised by the doctor that my right thumb is knackered - something to do with age - we will leave that one there.
My thoughts are as the right thumb does the majority of the shifting work on the right side. Does anyone know if you can get a shifter that indexes on the left. So I could have the rear shifting on the left and the front mech on the right. Then my right thumb would not be used so much....Your thought and advise please.......

Kind regards
Jamie

Chunkers1980

Grip shifters might be an idea.

Or better shifters that require less action. Do you have Shimano with duel release, you can use your finger the other way in the gears?

romft

Hi,
I have just invested in a set of Shimano Saint shifters, so that should help. Just wondered if anyone had heard of a set up that had the shifters on opposite sides....

But grip shift is a good thought.....cheers


Cheers
Jamie...

Twelly

The dual release only applies to the cable release (shifting to a smaller cog). The bit that will put most strain on your thumb will be shifting to the bigger rings.

Try searching disabled MTB clubs and asking around there as I know there are riders in the world with one arm who have all controls on one side. May be somewhere that makes left handed rear shifters.

Grip shift is a good idea.

paul.skibum

Dual control might help - it wasnt that well received but I believe you can still get it where you brake and shift with the brake levers like on a road bike. No thumb involvement at all then.

Those new hydraulic gear systems remove all effort from fingers and thumbs as I understand it but they are bleeding expensive. Similarly the shimano electronic shifting systems (not on mtbs yet) could be an answer if you are King Midas.

Twist grips maybe. But then you will develop limp wrists instead.

bails87

paul.skibum wrote:

Similarly the shimano electronic shifting systems (not on mtbs yet)

I saw some flat bar Di2 shifters on a tasty looking Yeti at my LBS. No idea if they're custom/prototype or what though.

dhobiwallah

Not seen the electric gears - but if they work on road bikes why not on MTBs? Are they tied to certain cassette ratios or do they not like mud?

Twelly

All the cables are held internally and it isn't hard to seal a battery from the elements so I can't see mud/rain being a problem.

Maybe MTB'rs aren't pussys and can change gear just fine without any help from a big strong electric motor.

...no offence romft :roll:

.blitz

Was using a Sachs Wavey shifter up until fairly recently on the olde Proflexe I didn't notice any disadvantages to it.

The action was pretty good - positive and clicky - maybe on the heavy side but by the same token it didn't shift accidentally. Easy to shift multiple gears as well just twist it

Not really sure why trigger shifters are so popular tbh unless it's because they work better with lock-on grips

plugp7

I've got arthritis in both hands, (and other places) and I switched to Sram X9 gripshifts a few years ago and never looked back. I've never experienced accidental shifting that most anti-gripshifts bang on about. Arthritis or not, I woudn't go back to thumb shifting.