Thumb Shifter Advice

[Aaron Wilson]

I'll be building up one of the new Susies (in green) soon and I'm debating my thumb-shifter options. Do you have some advice?

I'll be setting up

• 9-speed Shimano RD (RD-M952)
• Triple Shimano FD (FD-M953) on a Silver Wide-low double
• Inside-mount thumb shifters on Sim Works (Nitto) Ramble bars
• Preferably, indexed shifting for the rear

I know of

• Microshift. I've got a lot of miles on their 11-speed thumb shifter on my commuter and I get ghost shifts no matter how much I tweak it. I have a lot fewer miles on their 2/3x9 pair on my 90s mountain bike and they haven't given me trouble. 
• Paul Thumbie + Shimano SL-BS77. Tempting, but expensive. Do you have experience with this setup? Can you compare it with Microshift?
• Silver2. Pretty, but not indexed and I'm a scared wimp. Can you convince me friction shifting is the way to go?
• Are there other options (including used or NOS) I should consider?

Thanks in advance, 
Aaron

[Kainalu V. -Brooklyn NY]

Because of the cable routing, inside mounted thumbshifters must be friction because they need to be reversed, left/right. That said, clicks are pretty great, you should run the expensive Shimano/Paul stuff, or the less expensive Microshift thumbies. And that said, of my three bikes, two are friction and also pretty great, but no inside thumbies for want of the indexing option should my friction fail (just kidding, about the last failing bit, not that other stuff).

-Kai

[Aaron Wilson]

Thanks for the backup on my love of clicks. :) 

I've got my Microshift 2x9 set up inside and indexed without cable routing issues. Yes, they're reversed, but that takes about 30 seconds to get used to. Is cable routing an issue with other options?

 

[DavidP]

Usually when reversing shifters for inside mounting the left is kept as the front shifter and the right as the rear. When you reverse index shifters in this way you are forced to swap the front/rear shifting so that the left shifts the rear. It's not wrong, just unconventional.

-Dave

[Glen]

When I switched up my Atlantis to Billy Bars a few years ago I also ditched the bar ends for a Shimano Sora rapid fire rear shifter and one of the Sunrace front shifters set up for left inner mounting. 

I really like that setup but if you don't have the real estate in front of your grips, that the Billy Bars have, you may find that the shifter gets in the way of grasping the bars just in front of the grip. The left side has much more room to grasp there and if you spend a lot of time climbing in that position you may find the Sora uncomfortable and prefer the Sunrace for both sides. 

It had been almost 20 years since I last had indexing on a road bike and it's kind of a nice change. I love it on my mountain bike but its a 1X and I would never try to shift an indexed 3X (again)

[J J]

Hi Aaron. I was just telling another list member privately that Paul Thumbies + Shimano SL-BS77s are my idea of shifting nirvana. We have this combo on five of our bikes. I use them strictly in friction mode and they totally fulfilled my quest for awesome shifting. No need to explore shifters anymore! 

With the high-end drivetrain you're setting up, I can't imagine you will find smoother, lighter, or more precise action. 

The caveat is that what works for one person won't necessarily work for someone else. It's subjective and idiosyncratic. 

Good luck!

Jim

[Aaron Wilson]

Thanks Jim! I'll have to ask around to see if I can try some. Maybe I should switch my Microshift 9-speed shifter to friction to test the waters in the mean time. 

Glen, I used to use rapid fire, but really like how compact and simple thumb shifters are. When my 11-speed commuter ghost shifts, I do miss the reliability of a trigger shifter though.