Shimano shifters in the way of thumb

paul.zone

Hey, just had a ride on my new bike, it came with Shimano Deore M610 10 Speed Rapid-fire Shifters

The thumb lever completely gets in the way of my thumb while it's at rest (ie hand fully wrapped round bars rather than on the shifter).
I notice the Shimano SLX M670 also comes in this style on the latest models and wondered if anyone else felt this was a issue for them, personally I can't get comfortable even by taking the shifters further down the bar it's still in the way.

nicklouse

Move the shifters and brakes away from the grips.

JBA

All thumb shifters from Shimano and SRAM are pretty much the same design. Just move them further inboard so that they are not in the way of your thumb when 'at rest' but can still be easily reached for gear changes.

paul.zone

Can't seem to get it functional and comfy by moving it away sadly.

I've had SRAM shifters which I had no problem with whatsoever but don't really want to mix and match so I might have to buy either the m560 downgrade or a previous year of the SLX M660. What do you guys with knowledge think

It's a Giant Talon 1, 27.5"

cooldad

If you like Sram, get a Sram named shifter. Attack or Rocket.

Kowalski675

paul.zone wrote:

Can't seem to get it functional and comfy by moving it away sadly.

Are the gear indicators removable, like on the higher spec models, to give you more flexible positioning options?

paul.zone

Apparently not, they don't come with a cover under the indicator so you'd leave it exposed - another reason to upgrade I suppose.

bikaholic

Post some pictures of your hand(s) on the handlebars just in case we're dealing with mutant hands here.

Put your camera into macro mode and take several pictures - upload the best ones.

toastedone

Remove the indicators and cover with gaffer tape

paul.zone

bikaholic wrote:

Post some pictures of your hand(s) on the handlebars just in case we're dealing with mutant hands here.

Put your camera into macro mode and take several pictures - upload the best ones.

Hopefully you can see what I mean by this, the gear unit is as far over as I can reach comfortable to the 1st shifter and the other is digging into my thumb.
I could keep my thumb on the 1st lever permanently but I won't be wanting to do that on roads etc.

*AJ*

Levers and gear levers look far too horizontal to be in a natural position they want to be in line with your forearms as you sit on the bike.

This would also mean that your thumb sits above the trigger and I'd also move both of them inward on the bars a little more...

cooldad

This^^^^^^^^^^^^

cooldad

cooldad

Useful
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/w ... ike-20662/

bikaholic

paul.zone wrote:

bikaholic wrote:

Post some pictures of your hand(s) on the handlebars just in case we're dealing with mutant hands here.

Put your camera into macro mode and take several pictures - upload the best ones.

Hopefully you can see what I mean by this, the gear unit is as far over as I can reach comfortable to the 1st shifter and the other is digging into my thumb.
I could keep my thumb on the 1st lever permanently but I won't be wanting to do that on roads etc.

You've got a very lady-like grip: hands not used to forming a proper fist to punch people with (what I sometimes refer to as the palm down politician's fist - a hand guesture that is used to articulate speech which avoids the rude pointing guesture).

What I mean by "lady-like" is that I have only observed that grip style in ladies who are new to riding a bike. Gents tend to tuck their thumbs in and thus bypassing the thumb lever problem.

nicklouse

Looks totally wrong to me.
Levers too close to bars. Looks like your wrist is down. Arm not inline with levers etc.

Have a read of the link above.

I would not be buying anything yet.

The Rookie

I presume that grip was standing next to the bike, not sitting astride, hence the low wrist position.

Levers both need rotating down (at the front) as pointed out, I'd also be moving brakes and gears in further away from the grips for a better 2 finger brake, that will move your thumb away from the bizarrely located shifters.

Most men grip with the thumb more over the fore finger.

paul.zone

The Rookie wrote:

I presume that grip was standing next to the bike, not sitting astride, hence the low wrist position.

Yes, apologies. However moved brake lever down to be almost aliened with my arm as pictures here:

Also moved everything along as far as possible limited to my thumb reaching gear shifter which allows me to place my hand over 90% of the grip without it sticking in.
Happy enough for time being, many thanks everyone.