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Gear shifters

placebokidplacebokid Posts: 3
edited January 2014 in MTB beginners
Hi! I'm pretty new to biking and an have a question I'm finding rather hard to word. the mountain bike i have has rapid-fire style shifters, and i find these generally more comfortable than grip shifts, but the shifting is opposite on each side: for example to shift up on the left you use the top lever and on the right, the bottom lever. I find this tends to confuse me a lot and leads to mis-shifting. My question is are all rapid-fires like this and if not, how do I tell without inspecting each one in a shop? I don't want to have to move to grip shift but I am prepared to if necessary. thanks in advance for the help.

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  • nicklousenicklouse Posts: 81,520 Lives Here
    yes they are all like that.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
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  • cooldadcooldad Posts: 32,601
    If you think about it, gripshift are the same. Twist backwards to get a lower gear on the right/rear, backwards to get a higher gear on the left/front.
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  • JBAJBA Posts: 2,714
    Just remember big lever-big cog, small lever-small cog. Simples.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Bird Zero Mk1 ¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009
  • placebokidplacebokid Posts: 3
    Hey guys, thanks for the help. I guess I'll be switching to grip shift.
  • jimothy78jimothy78 Posts: 1,407
    If it matters that much to you, there is another way. Some older shimano rear mechs are available in a format called "low normal" or "rapid rise". This means that when there is no cable tension they move towards the biggest sprocket, not the smallest like standard rear derailleurs. This effectively reverses the action of the shifters, and will make both operate in the same sense for you (thumb lever makes gearing harder, other one makes it easier). You'll find plenty of this sort of derailleur on ebay if you do some trawling.

    This will only be a short-term fix, however, as I don't think shimano make rapid-rise anymore, so eventually you won't be able to replace broken or worn out derailleurs that work in this way, and you are ultimately going to have to re-train yourself to use standard shifting equipment.
  • JBAJBA Posts: 2,714
    placebokid wrote:
    Hey guys, thanks for the help. I guess I'll be switching to grip shift.

    But you'll have the same 'problem', as cooldad has pointed out. What you are proposing is spending money to swap one problem for another.

    Just ride your bike. You'll soon get used to which lever does what.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Bird Zero Mk1 ¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009
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