In praise of Silver Shifters

[John H.]

I have used indexed shifters my entire adult life. To be honest, I never really had any issues and I never really found any of my bikes particularly difficult to set up and adjust. That said, for some reason when I went to spec out shifters for my new Sam Hillborne, I decided to try out Rivendell’s Silver Shifters mounted on the bar ends of my Albastache bars.

What a great decision that was. I can’t believe how
much more *enjoyable* they make shifting. I have them set up with a 9 speed Connex chain and a 11-32 cassette that I got from Rivendell and after a little getting used to I feel I can shift nearly as accurately and efficiently as I could with lower range Camagnolo ergo levers (which were wonderful, by the way).

If you’ve never tried friction shifting and are curious, I’d definitely recommend picking up a set of Silver’s and giving it a shot.

[Joe Bernard]

It's in that bar-end position where the real magic occurs. You push down with the heel of your hand and pull up with the last two fingers. It's perfect.

[Fullylugged]

I have them on the down tubes of both of my RBW products and really like them there. Great feel.

[William!]

Maybe I got a bad set? I had terrible ghost shifting problems from mine! After several years of fiddling with other things to try to fix I replaced them with Dura Ace dt shifters (converted to bar end). Problem solved.

[Paul G]

I used to have all sorts of auto shifting and slipping Silver levers on the downtube of my Roadeo when putting down power, especially when standing. Those problems don't exist as bar ends on the same bike. Not sure why that is. I even bees waxed the screws in both locations. I really like them better on my drop bar end pods though so no loss for me.

Shifting is perfectly fine for me with a 105 5701 rear derailleur over a 10-Speed Ultegra cassette. Plenty of precision helped by the long lever length. This is coming from having switched to Silvers from Dura Ace indexed bar end shifters. It took maybe a week to adjust to them.

That said, I'll be switching to a 9-speed setup when the 10-speed cassette is done. 9 is more economical.

[Patrick Moore]

The Silvers do have a nice feel and a precise action. But my several bar end sets were delicate; knock over the bike and crack something essential -- forget what it was; might have been an internal part of the lever proper. At any rate, it required buying a new lever. Also, the plastic friction washers were prone to breaking, andI had to use blue Loctite to keep the bolts properly tensioned.

I went back to the old SunTour bar cons. These pull more cable per unit arc, and they need to be severely Loctited to the proper tension, but once you do that, they last and last. Also, I've come to prefer the feel of the shorter, more bulky lever with its greater cable pull: I shift 10 mismatched (14-27, thinking of 13-26) with an 8 speed road derailleur, and once I overcame my diffidence and shyness and internalized the brutal "shift with authority, as if you were answerable to no man" style, all is capochetic. Copacetic. Serendipitous.

Patrick Moore, who just had a nice capochetic ride to and from church on this our Holy Saturday, for the pre-Pascha morning liturgy with its 50,000 interminable gospel readings.

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[rob markwardt]

I, too, went back to Suntours. I think the Silvers do feel better and look better but with heavy use they aren’t as durable. I had a couple sets where the internal ratchet rusted to the point of not being able to “click” anymore.

[Pam Bikes]

If you still have them, I'll buy them as a back up.

[jeffrey kane]

What Pam Bikes said, except the opposite: if anyone is looking to sell a pair of Shimano 9 speed bar end shifters (Ultegra or Dura Ace) then I'm 'yer man. Just let me know!

[Fullylugged]

"I had a couple sets where the internal ratchet rusted to the point of not being able to “click” anymore."

I have them as DT shifters on both my Riv bikes. I really like the feel of them. That said, DT bosses are located just where salty sweat drips on long summer rides and RBW did not provide a stainless internal ring. I did take mine apart, clean them and apply grease and they continue to function with no issues. I would buy again when needed.