Thumbies.

wilkij1975

Alright all

Just wondering if anyone has used any of these new thumbshifters from Microshift or the Pauls adapters with Shimano bar end shifters?

I always used thumbies in the old days and really liked them. Not sure how they'd fare today though but would add some simplicity back to shifting?

cooldad

Thumbies are sh1t.

rockmonkeysc

All microshift stuff is sh1t.

pesky_jones

Bearing in mind you've only had answers from the god of knowledge, and the god of riding - I'd get some opinions of the mere mortals that also populate the forum.

wilkij1975

Yeah, very reasoned answers. They don't sound old enough to have used thumbies. Have to say though, I'm not sold on Microshift stuff after the shifters that came on my road bike .

Anyway, it would appear that there aren't many in favour of it. I'm not saying they'd be good to have today but I did love my old XT ones back in the day.

jimothy78

Surely bar-end shifters are a non-starter? It would only take a single tree strike to destroy them. As for old-fashioned thumbshifters, they became obsolete on mountainbikes because they required you to take thumb and forefinger off the bars in order to down-shift, which undermines your control.

If you really want "simplified" gear shifts, then you could use grip-shifters, but even then you'd have to move your hands inboard and outboard to maintain full-grip control whilst avoiding unwanted shifts. What's your problem with standard twin-lever shifters?

rockmonkeysc

I know a couple riders sponsored by microshift. They only use the mechs and both use Shimano XT shifters because the microshift shifters are hopelessly unreliable.

cooldad

wilkij1975 wrote:

Yeah, very reasoned answers. They don't sound old enough to have used thumbies.

Seriously? I have an '87 Rockhopper with thumbies. They are sh1t.
I also have an old Hardrock that had thumbies. They were sh1t.
I used to have a Muddy Fox with thumbies. Nice bike but the thumbies were sh1t.

On Retrobike they will pay a fortune for XT's and sell their granny for Paul's. But they are still sh1t.

cooldad

jimothy78 wrote:

As for old-fashioned thumbshifters, they became obsolete on mountainbikes because they required you to take thumb and forefinger off the bars in order to down-shift, which undermines your control.

Not really - I shift one way with my thumb, and the other with the knuckle of my index finger.
But they are still sh1t.

cooldad

wilkij1975 wrote:

Not sure how they'd fare today though but would add some simplicity back to shifting?

What could be simpler than simply pushing the shifter with your thumb, as with Deore/Sram trigger shifter?

shindig

I have a DX shifter on my bike as a replacement for a broken Rockshox push lock. Just recently when I first get on the bike I subconsciously reach for the thumbie to change gear even though I haven't had a thumbie on a bike since 1992.

But I do agree with the others. Thumbies are pretty crap nowadays for off road riding. Fine for a townie bike though.

Northwind

My Raleigh Marauder had thumbies. Not only that, but SIS, on the rear only obviously because who'd want indexed front gearing? How would you stop it rubbing? They were both shit, and in a completely stupid place (why do they call them thumbies? Do your thumbs come out of the back of your hands?)

Now you can actually get decent, wellmade thumbies- I had a set of XTRs for a little while, they were really nice. But still in a completely stupid place.

jimothy78

Northwind wrote:

My Raleigh Marauder ....

Happy days.... 8)

Ouija

Just switched out the cheap Shimano shifters on one of my bikes with a set of SRAM flat bar double tap shifters instead. Take a bit of getting used to but i'm kinda digging them. Leaving your thumb on the shifter you can pretty much shift up or down with the minimum amount of hand movement.



Very much like a SRAM X0/X9 minus the down shifter lever.

paul.skibum

Ouija wrote:

Just switched out the cheap Shimano shifters on one of my bikes with a set of SRAM flat bar double tap shifters instead. Take a bit of getting used to but i'm kinda digging them. Leaving your thumb on the shifter you can pretty much shift up or down with the minimum amount of hand movement.

But a modern XT X7 whatever system allows you to shift up and down without moving your hand so.......why bother with a less efficient system.

I had thumbies on an old Raleigh Blah and the old style down tube shifters on my racer - both were cr4p but on the plus side when the cables were getting baggy you could usually avoid having to do anything about it by pulling a bit harder!

wilkij1975

So not much love for them new or old! I really liked my old ones so I must be in a minority.

Oh and I'm not thinking of getting any. It's not why I started this. Just wondered what opinion was.

cooldad

Sh1t.
EOT.

Northwind

jimothy78 wrote:

Happy days.... 8)

Not your crappy blue one either, oh no, it was the cutting edge limited edition white 18 speed one. Check me out!

Ouija

paul.skibum wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Just switched out the cheap Shimano shifters on one of my bikes with a set of SRAM flat bar double tap shifters instead. Take a bit of getting used to but i'm kinda digging them. Leaving your thumb on the shifter you can pretty much shift up or down with the minimum amount of hand movement.

But a modern XT X7 whatever system allows you to shift up and down without moving your hand so.......why bother with a less efficient system.

I had thumbies on an old Raleigh Blah and the old style down tube shifters on my racer - both were cr4p but on the plus side when the cables were getting baggy you could usually avoid having to do anything about it by pulling a bit harder!

I have X0's on two bikes, X9's on another, Deore on a fourth (which allows for all thumb or thumb and finger shifting) and these. You have to rotate your wrist and shift your hand on the grips slightly to operate both thumb levers on the SRAM's (which is where the thumb/finger combo of the Deores scores better). The double taps are better and allow up to five shifts on a single push of the lever. Way better than the thumb shifters of old. Also like the fact they have a display on them (which the X0's and X9's don't).

paul.skibum

Ouija wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Just switched out the cheap Shimano shifters on one of my bikes with a set of SRAM flat bar double tap shifters instead. Take a bit of getting used to but i'm kinda digging them. Leaving your thumb on the shifter you can pretty much shift up or down with the minimum amount of hand movement.

But a modern XT X7 whatever system allows you to shift up and down without moving your hand so.......why bother with a less efficient system.

I had thumbies on an old Raleigh Blah and the old style down tube shifters on my racer - both were cr4p but on the plus side when the cables were getting baggy you could usually avoid having to do anything about it by pulling a bit harder!

I have X0's on two bikes, X9's on another, Deore on a fourth (which allows for all thumb or thumb and finger shifting) and these. You have to rotate your wrist and shift your hand on the grips slightly to operate both thumb levers on the SRAM's (which is where the thumb/finger combo of the Deores scores better). The double taps are better and allow up to five shifts on a single push of the lever. Way better than the thumb shifters of old. Also like the fact they have a display on them (which the X0's and X9's don't).

Adjust the way your controls are set up then because I dont have to move my hands to change gear with either my Deore's, XT or X7's - I have to move my thumb but that is kind of part and parcel of changing gear with any system.

Northwind

That's a bit of a balancing act, mind- I can get my shifters sorted so that I don't have to move, but if I do, sometimes I find they get in the way a little. So I have them slightly inbound, which generally takes a tiny movement to click, but still isn't troublesome.

Ouija

paul.skibum wrote:

Adjust the way your controls are set up then because I dont have to move my hands to change gear with either my Deore's, XT or X7's - I have to move my thumb but that is kind of part and parcel of changing gear with any system.

Can't. The X9's have the levers set a fixed distance apart and theres nothing you can do about that. Set them on the bar so that the smaller downshifter is placed directly under where your thumb rests on the grips and the upshifter is practically parallel with the bar, forcing you to have to reach back and up to press it. The spacing between levers on the X0's is adjustable, but if you place them close enough together so as to make the minimum amount of thumb movement they get in each others way so that you can't reach one without trying not to catch the other. The Deores are ok, but only with the right grips. On the first grips i tried them with i couldn't reach the front down shifter without swivelling my rist up to reach around the grip to catch it with the tip of my index finger. It's a combined gear/brake shifter so simply rotating it around put the brake levers parallel with the bar (not good) and then i'd have to swivel my rist down to reach the upshifter with my thumb.

There is something to be said for the simplicity of a single lever. Though i still wouldn't use traditional thumb levers that mounted on top of the bar (had some on my first mountain bike twenty odd years agao and couldn't wait to get rid of them). Don't knock the SRAM double taps until you've tried them.

The Rookie

I had a thumbie on my hack bike, when I rebuilt it I went Revoshift and sold my 20 year old plain thumbie for more than the brand new Revoshift cost - happy days!

Not very 'in' but I love the ST shifter/brake on mine as a flex of my thumb or a flex of my fingers is all I need in any direction.

jimothy78

Northwind wrote:

Not your crappy blue one either, oh no, it was the cutting edge limited edition white 18 speed one. Check me out!

Yep, same here - Dad had one too, and I remember us lugging the things round QECPs "mountain bike trails" when they were little more than dual-use footpaths.

Thewaylander

well with a title name like this i was thinking is this a CC topic.

but answering hte question thumbies are utter pap... simples grip style shift or under the bar is way more natural.

rockmonkeysc

Ouija wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

Adjust the way your controls are set up then because I dont have to move my hands to change gear with either my Deore's, XT or X7's - I have to move my thumb but that is kind of part and parcel of changing gear with any system.

Can't. The X9's have the levers set a fixed distance apart and theres nothing you can do about that. Set them on the bar so that the smaller downshifter is placed directly under where your thumb rests on the grips and the upshifter is practically parallel with the bar, forcing you to have to reach back and up to press it. The spacing between levers on the X0's is adjustable, but if you place them close enough together so as to make the minimum amount of thumb movement they get in each others way so that you can't reach one without trying not to catch the other. The Deores are ok, but only with the right grips. On the first grips i tried them with i couldn't reach the front down shifter without swivelling my rist up to reach around the grip to catch it with the tip of my index finger. It's a combined gear/brake shifter so simply rotating it around put the brake levers parallel with the bar (not good) and then i'd have to swivel my rist down to reach the upshifter with my thumb.

There is something to be said for the simplicity of a single lever. Though i still wouldn't use traditional thumb levers that mounted on top of the bar (had some on my first mountain bike twenty odd years agao and couldn't wait to get rid of them). Don't knock the SRAM double taps until you've tried them.

You must have odd shape hands. Are your parents cousins?
I have had X9 and Deore shifters and like most people I have to just move my thumbs to shift gears. Same with XT, SLX, X7 and X0.

paul.skibum

Makes me want to go and pull both my bikes out of the shed (currently the boot of my car) and have a look at the shifters but I wont because I know I only use my thumbs and with minimal movement - shimano or sram