How many shifter types do you have?

[robc02]

Campag Ergos - 9 and 10 speed.
Campag 10 speed bar ends (TT bike)
Suntour Powershift bar ends.
SRAM MTB trigger shifters
Sturmey Archer Classic Trigger - 4 speed.
Sturmey Archer 5 speed using two 3 speed Classic Triggers.
Sturmey Archer 3 Speed Thumb Shifter this one. Takes a bit of getting used to as it works the opposite way around to the trigger!

Also in our household we have a Sturmey Archer 3 speed quadrant.

[pwa]

Just bar end levers now. They feel natural to me. I can keep the moving hand on the bars, albeit in a different position, and shift with the edge of the palm or a couple of fingers while still having one and a bit hands steadying things on bumpy road surfaces. I shorten the bars by a few cm so the levers don't stick out too far. And the cables only have a couple of cm under the bar tape so changing cables can be done without all that unwrapping. Frictionless front shifting is simple, easy and avoids the chain rub so many indexed systems suffer from. Indexed rear is crisp and no fuss.

Oh, and on the now unused Thorn Rohloff tandem I have one of those twist grip things, which is less pleasant to use. A bit of a lump.

I used to have Campag and Shimano STI / Ergo drop bar brifters but found them more trouble than they are worth.

[Tigerbiten]

I've only got 4 on my recumbent trike.

1:- Rohloff twist grip for back hub gear.
2:- Bar end friction shift for front chainrings.
3:- Heel plates for Schlumpf HSD front hub gear.
4:- Downtube friction shifter to work the back parking brake.

Do I win ........

[elPedro666]

Gripshift (9 & 10sp)
Shimano RF+ (8 & 9sp mtb)
SRAM underbar (mtb)
Shimano thumbshifter (7sp)
Suntour Wishbone (7sp)
Shimano STI (road 9 & 10sp)
Shimano STI (with the little side button)
Campag Ergo (road 9 & 10sp)
DT friction
Alfine (8sp underbar reverse direction)
Bar-end

...and singlespeed - no wonder it's a simple pleasure! [emoji38]

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

[Cyril Haearn]

I've only got 4 on my recumbent trike.

1:- Rohloff twist grip for back hub gear.
2:- Bar end friction shift for front chainrings.
3:- Heel plates for Schlumpf HSD front hub gear.
4:- Downtube friction shifter to work the back parking brake.

Do I win ........

Your prize is a single new 21T fixed sprocket

[Mick F]

Campag Ergo on Mercian.
Shimano DA indexed DT shifters on Moulton.
I have some Campag friction DT shifters available when my Ergos wear out.

Muscle memory is a funny thing.
Even before I bought Moulton, I would often reach for DT shifters on Mercian even though I'd been with Ergos for years.
Now, with two very different bikes, I seem to look for the Ergo buttons and paddles on Moulton, and look for the DT shifters on Mercian!

[The utility cyclist]

And which are best......

Gripshifters, essential on a recumbent for grabbing a fistful of gears due to the speed differential between flat riding and hills but can be slippy in the wet

Rapidfire, cripple my thumbs and my wife doesn't have the thumb strength to push the ring changer

STI, nice but limited applications, no use on a recumbent, unless you've got a Cruizebike

Downtube - oh yes I remember them, not quite as safe as the modern options

Sturmey Archer, three speed trigger shifter - now there's a design that has stood the test of time - my personal favourite

Isn't this an area where trickle down of cable free gear changing from the expensive groupsets would come in very useful for a lot of people, still be able to feel the gear change but with so much less pressure having to be exerted.

[rjb]

Currently I have Campag ergos on the steel peugeot 531 pro. Shimano Sti's on the Focus Variado. Shimano D/T shifters on the hack. Shimano trigger shifters on the flat bar Tandem. Sturmey 3 speed triggers on the shoppers. Previously I have used bar ends - both suntour power shifters and Shimano ones, modolo morphos shifters, (good for trapping your thumb in the rain) twist grip shifters from several makers and further back I had Campag friction bar ends and D/T shifters and other brands of D/T shifters, simplex, Huret, Benelux. Even had the Shimano Positron shifters on a bike I rescued from a skip.
Like others when I have a senior moment I find myself reaching down for the D/T shifters

[gregoryoftours]

Two SA triggers, one downtubes, one thumb lever, one EZ Fire. The EZ Fires are by far the most awkward.

By ez fires do you mean the integrated shifters where the lever you pull with your forefinger is mounted on top of the shifter? They are an abomination, although not quite as bad as Shimano MTB dual control shifters!

[Patrickpioneer]

on my Rat bike I have a handlebar mounted thumb shifter for the front and a down tube shifter for the rear, it was all I had in my junk box

[Vorpal]

The ones that give me the most trouble are ones which are similar, but slightly different types.

My road and touring bike both have brifters, but one has Sora and the other Tiagra. On the bike with Sora, for some reason, I keep reaching for the 'wrong' shifter. Of course it doesn't take me more than a moment to figure it out, but ....

[sukuinage]

Campag Ergo 10s on the road bike and the tourer (tourer has Shimergo)
Alfine 11 on the commuter
8-spd Shimano thumb shifters on the pub bike and the mountain bike
6-spd D/T on my (now retired) road bike

[mjr]

Two SA triggers, one downtubes, one thumb lever, one EZ Fire. The EZ Fires are by far the most awkward.

By ez fires do you mean the integrated shifters where the lever you pull with your forefinger is mounted on top of the shifter? They are an abomination, although not quite as bad as Shimano MTB dual control shifters!shimano_xtr_shiftdiagram_03_f.gif

Yes, mine are the EZ Fires with a small red lever above and a big black lever under a gear indicator with a red needle moving. I've seen an earlier version with black/metal levers and rotating white-on-black numbers too, which seem to be even more fragile than the red. They aren't quite bad enough for me to rip them off before they're destroyed, which it looks like those MTB ones are!

[The utility cyclist]

EZ/rapid-fire an abomination?
Flat bar STI levers are one of the best gear lever types invented, they're long lasting IME, easy to lube, offer accurate and mutiple shifts in either direction with not a huge amount of effort.
They are also brilliantly positioned, far better than d/t, bar ends and push/pull flat bar shifters and I've had some of thd top quality stuff in all three of those categories.
To rubbish them is ignorant of what they offer and advantages over other shifter types both in terms of gear shifting but also safety.

[Ugly]

Ergo x2
rapid fire
down tube friction
Sturmey trigger
Sturmey top tube x2, one for a A series hub which is configured N-L-H
Automatic 2 speed