Thumb shift or grip shift?

dapperdan

Hello everyone

My daughter's bike has a Shimano SLTX30 6 speed rear shifter but the button has snapped off. I repaired it with Sugru but that didn't last long so I'm going to replace it.

My question is whether a grip shift would be more durable. Any thoughts / recommendations?

JBA

As above, go for thumb shifters.
I don't know why manufacturers put twist grips on kids bikes. They are awkward to use with small hands and tend to put kids off.

thistle_

I think they are simpler - you just turn one way for up and the other way for down.
If the OP's daughter has figured out thumb shifters then I'd stick with it.

dapperdan

That's reassuringly consistent!
Thanks all.

Harry182

Another vote for thumb shifters here. My son is 9 and on his second geared bike. First thing I did on both was replace the gripshifters with thumb shifters. (Second thing was to convert from 2X to 1X.)

steve_sordy

I took responsibility for kitting out my two grandkids with bikes, starting from when they were two years old. They have had twist grips and trigger shifters. They both preferred the trigger shift.

So, one more vote for trigger shift! They need less effort than twist grip. Also, it gets them used to what will come as they get older. If you are still on twistgrip and they are having trouble shifting into the biggest rings, then disable that option for a while until they get stronger. You can do this very easily by moving the limit screw on the mech.

gomezz

steve_sordy said:

I took responsibility for kitting out my two grandkids with bikes, starting from when they were two years old. They have had twist grips and trigger shifters. They both preferred the trigger shift.

I did the same for my Grand daughters bike, even I found the Gripshift hard to use!!

loltoride

I have just replaced my daughters thumb all the way.

The Rookie

JBA said:

I don't know why manufacturers put twist grips on kids bikes.

3 reasons
1/ They cost less
2/ They are cheaper
3/ They're less expensive

The Rookie

Yep, the most common one is the SRAM MRX and it's aweful.

Noting I have an X0 on my commuting bike (great for decluttering the bars, levers get caught up with neighbouring bikes in stands etc) and it has a lovely light crisp action.