|   TOP MOUNT THUMB SHIFTERS | cheese
Sep 28, 2001 6:15 AM | | I have a crude idea, for those of us who still like Thumb Shifters (ie. the old 7 speed XT top mounts with both Index AND Friction option). Remember the days when Rapid Fire came out and all the old pros (NED, etc.) were still on Top Mounts? ahhh yes..
Anyway, why not take 9 speed dura-ace BAR-CON thumbshifters (these are still currently manufactured for Tri-bikes), take an old handlebar and cut a 2 inch long section, which the dura-ace fits/clamps inside of, then come up with some attachment mechanism to hold that short section of handlebar in parallel to the bar on your bike. The closest clamping solution is the $30 Aero-bars made by Performance/Nashbar, which come with an aluminum mount piece which can hold 2 bars in parallel.. but its about 1 inch too far out. I'd like to see the dura-ace in the exact same location as old XT-thumbies, if I can just figure out a decent clamping mechanism.. Any ideas? The small piece should be about 1/4" out from the main bar.
Thanks! |
| Not a new idea at all, in fact there's a guy here on MTBR | DeeEight
Sep 28, 2001 7:52 AM | | who has machined his own mounts for those 9speed bar-con shifters to run them as thumbshifters and has offered to produce them for sale to people on here if demand was high enough. |
| cool... | cheese
Sep 28, 2001 12:27 PM | | Do you know if he posted on this general forum? I would be interested in his product.. :) |
| re: TOP MOUNT THUMB SHIFTERS | Karkus
Sep 28, 2001 7:52 AM | | Great idea. Someone else on this board has already made a similar shifter using down tube shifters and custom made clamps. It was posted several weeks ago, but I can't remember who did it. |
| here's link to similar idea... | odofile
Sep 28, 2001 12:47 PM | | This guy did an awesome job integrating barend or downtube shifters into a top mount setup. They look VERY nice and not at all homemade. I'm not sure if he's selling them, but I might be pursuaded to try them if they weren't too expensive and worked well.
http://www.geocities.com/bultillo/
check em out.
Od |
| Rivendell's planning something like this. | Cory
Sep 28, 2001 3:13 PM | | I forget the details, but seems to me Grant Petersen mentioned that Rivendell is trying to commission some thumbshifters.
Smartest thing I ever did was buy two sets of XC Pros for $5 each at a clearance sale about 10 years ago. One's still in the box, and I've used the other on three or four bikes (something to do in the winter, changing things around and riding the Allez with flat bars for awhile...). |
| |
