How many shifter types do you have?

[geomannie]

It is said that doing crosswords is a good way of keeping ones brain active as you age. I have another way, having 6 different shifter types on my bikes meaning that you have to engage different sets of muscle memory to ride smoothly.

Downtube

Bar-end

STI

Brompton 6 speed (left and right controls)

Mountain bike thumb shifter normal and rapid rise

I usually automatically adapt well to whatever I am riding but times I might fiddle for the downtube on my STI bike or vice versa. The only shifter that takes me any length of time to "dial-in" is the rapid rise thumb shifter. That is on a bike I was given and to be honest, rapid-rise is against nature .

[Cyril Haearn]

+1

[gaz]

Two most ridden bikes are on bar-ends in Spinaci mounts.

Same on the rarely ridden tandem.

The folder has a rapid rise twist-grip. It only comes out when a folder is the best tool for the job.

The MTB doesn't get ridden but has rapidfire STI shifters.

I've got a left hand thumbshifter in the parts box .

[AndyA]

STI, Ergopower, Rohloff Twist, non existant x2 (one of which is a retrodirect), MTB flat. No DT levers at present.
Love the bar-end in a Spinaci!

[whoof]

5 different types.

3 bikes with road
STI
1 Downtube
2 bar end
1 Shimano mtb trigger
1SRAM twist grip
Like you no problem swapping between bikes.

[mattsccm]

Off the top of my head? Stacks.
STI road types by Shimano, SRAM and Campag, all different of course. Grip shift, thumbies, rapid rise type things in several versions, bar end, SA trigger type, down tube.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Biggest problem is getting on bar ends after a long winter with thumbs (mtb), then swapping back onto mtb, I bang my hands on the mtb bars going for the bar ends on tourer (bars wider mtb).
And on tourer went to place hand on the bars that weren't there nearly falling into hedge

[Brucey]

about a dozen different types, including some RH shifters (eg for the rear mech) which are mounted on the LH side of the handlebar. Hours of fun.

cheers

[mjr]

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

[iandriver]

Shimano STI
Shimano trigger
Shimano twist grip
SRAM triggers
Bar end
Sitting down, standing on the pedals, get off and push (fixie 3 speed)

[freiston]

Bar-ends on the tourer (friction front and indexed rear), twist-grip on the folder - but I keep meaning to change it for an indexed lever/thumb-shifter. I came back to cycling after a bit of an absence and had downtube friction shifters most of my earlier cycling with a stint on a cheapish rigid-framed mountain bike with thumb-shifters (one lever for up and another for down). When I first got the bar-ends, I was constantly reaching down to the down-tube. Love the bar-ends, liked the down-tube shifters - don't like the others. Never tried "brifters".

[Stradageek]

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

[foxyrider]

I'm well boring

Friction d/t x1 (6 speed
Indexed d/t x1 (7 speed)
Ergos x4 (2 10 speed, 2 11 speed)

There are under bar shifters on the MTB but that hasn't been used for 15 years! I have had various others, rotary, Sti, thumbies etc but when you find something that works why use anything else?

[pwa]

duplicate post

[tatanab]

downtube friction
downtube indexed
Ergo (8 and 10 speed)
Thumbshifter indexed
Sturmey trigger