Friction Shifters

[Ontherivet77]

Am I right in thinking that if you use downtube or bar end friction shifters you can use these with a variety of systems and speeds both now and in the future?
For example, I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up and if I wanted to upgrade to Campag triple 10 or 11 speed set up would I still be able to use friction shifters with them? Many thanks in advance.

[KM2]

Yes. As long as the cable pull will take them from the smallest to largest sprocket.

[slowster]

if I wanted to upgrade to Campag triple 10 or 11 speed set up would I still be able to use friction shifters with them?

Yes, but with the caveat that the total amount of cable that needs to be pulled for 11 speed might exceed the capacity of some friction shifters, especially a vintage pair of shifters, and 10 speed might mean that a lever would need all 180 degrees of its range of movement.

Dia Compe make a pair of down tube levers for 11 speed - the right hand lever has a larger barrel to pull more cable (link below). You can also increase the cable pulled on an ordinary shifter by adding material to the cable or the barrel, e.g. sliding some insulation from electrical wire over the cable. Shifters with a ratchet mechanism, i.e. those made by Dia Compe, will probably be better than a Shimano indexed lever set to friction.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-shifte ... -shifters/

[thirdcrank]

I'd be cautious about "future."

[axel_knutt]

I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up

Shimano bar end shifters can be switched between either indexed or friction mode. Just turn the little D-loop:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.adb86ee4b51 ... pid=ImgRaw

[Ontherivet77]

I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up

Shimano bar end shifters can be switched between either indexed or friction mode. Just turn the little D-loop:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.adb86ee4b51 ... pid=ImgRaw

To clarify I'm currently using trigger shifters and I'm not massively keen on them. I've noticed that when considering changing components increasingly we are being limited by the discontinuation of components in favour of the latest system.

[thirdcrank]

Indexing is the built-in obsolescence which is overcome by friction levers but with the obvious loss of the indexing. If the rear end is opened even further then more cable pull would be needed. It's a bit of an irony that before Campag introduced parallelogram rear mechs, the cable pull on derailleur levers eg Huret and Simplex was much greater. The old levers would work with newer mechs but only needed the teeniest movement of the lever.

https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/c ... son-bobet/

[rjb]

A simple bodge to increase cable pull is to increase the effective lever diameter. Easily achieved by slipping a short length of electrical cable sleeve over the mech cable at the lever end.

[geomannie]

I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up

Shimano bar end shifters can be switched between either indexed or friction mode. Just turn the little D-loop:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.adb86ee4b51 ... pid=ImgRaw

To clarify I'm currently using trigger shifters and I'm not massively keen on them. I've noticed that when considering changing components increasingly we are being limited by the discontinuation of components in favour of the latest system.

Quite. If you want simplicity & future proofing, friction it is. I can & do, switch between running 8, 9 & 10 speeds when it suits me.

For example, a worn 9 cassette but Brexit parts availability means you can't find a new one? Put on that spare 8 speed you already have. Easy, no hassle.

[Mick F]

As for pulling enough, all you need to do, is thread some heatshrink up to the nipple end of the gear cable, and that effectively makes the diameter of the DT shifter a little more ......... giving more of a pull per degree.

My 10sp 2006 pre-QS pre-Escape pre-anything - Campag Ergos - triple or double - especially the RH - are on their way out. The bits required are no longer available. When they (or one of them) has shuffled off its mortal coil, I'll be going back to the Campag Victory friction shifters that I had before the Ergo age.

If I want Shimano (God forbid!) or any speed of any make of cassette or rear or front mech ........... 11sp or even 12sp let alone 13sp or 14sp, triple, double or even quadruple
I'll be doing what I said above.

Simple.

[kylecycler]

Just had a *light bulb* moment (I think). I've never seen the sense of going past 6 speed for downtube, stem or even bar end shifters because - thinking it through, I now think wrongly - you'd forever be reaching for wherever the shifter is - I mean like with 10 or 11 speed especially - and your hand would never be on the bars. That's what has always put me off the thought of having, say, even 8 or 9 speed non-brifter type shifters, let alone 10 or 11 speed.

But - d'oh - of course you wouldn't need to go through all the gears sequentially, you would just select whichever of the gears you need, so your hand wouldn't necessarily be off the bars any more often than with 5 or 6 speed shifters.

Does anyone understand what I mean, or am I still stupid?

[Mick F]

Utterly agree with you.

Not that you're stupid of course

.......... but the fact that you change gear into the ratio you want. Block change, one or two or five at once - or more.
One flick from inner to outer, or one movement from 13t to 28t ......... or both at the same time.
Easy done with friction DT levers.

The more sprockets you have, the easier it is and the less accurate you have to be.
Five speed there's a long way between the sprockets. 10sp, there is half the spacing and the sprocket teeth are more forgiving. Not tried 11sp, but I imagine they are even easier. No doubt 12sp is even better.

[kylecycler]

In at least the early days of steering wheel mounted 'paddle shifters' in cars (as opposed to a gear lever), the 'problem' was that drivers had to shift through all the gears sequentially - they couldn't skip gears the way they could with a 'stick shift' - and as the number of gears increased (this is especially in racing - the likes of F1 - I don't honestly know how many they have now, I've lost touch), that wasn't ideal. Don't know if it's any different now - whether they still have to shift sequentially or not - but I think that was partly why I was confused.

Suppose it's the same with brifters or thumb shifters, of course - you don't have to shift one by one - although I think I almost always do.

(Relieved I'm not stupid, Mick!)

[cycle tramp]

Am I right in thinking that if you use downtube or bar end friction shifters you can use these with a variety of systems and speeds both now and in the future?
For example, I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up and if I wanted to upgrade to Campag triple 10 or 11 speed set up would I still be able to use friction shifters with them? Many thanks in advance.

Yes (don't forget thumb shifters).. as well as working with any cable operated cable operated deraileur, and being able to shift more than one sprocket at a time, they're also quite cheap, easy to fix, and you don't have to spend alot of time maintaining the cable tension... I've been using a thumb shifter for 5 years and i've adjusted the cable tension once.

[Ontherivet77]

Am I right in thinking that if you use downtube or bar end friction shifters you can use these with a variety of systems and speeds both now and in the future?
For example, I'm currently using a Shimano Deore 9 speed set up and if I wanted to upgrade to Campag triple 10 or 11 speed set up would I still be able to use friction shifters with them? Many thanks in advance.

Yes (don't forget thumb shifters).. as well as working with any cable operated cable operated deraileur, and being able to shift more than one sprocket at a time, they're also quite cheap, easy to fix, and you don't have to spend alot of time maintaining the cable tension... I've been using a thumb shifter for 5 years and i've adjusted the cable tension once.

Yes, thumb shifters would be ideal at the moment with my current set up which is a DT friction shifter for the FD and a Trigger shifter for the rear. See photo. However, my concern would if I go back to drop handlebars at a later date is finding thumb shifters that can handle both diameters of bars.