Frictionizing the Roadeo; ISO gutted or guttable brifters in black.

[Patrick Moore]

IME, friction with 10 speed works very well, as well as or better than 9 speed, at least comparing my own 9 and 10 speed setups, which I admit are not exactly oranges and oranges; and 10 in friction seems to work even better with an 11 speed chain. Someone recently, on this or the other list, opined that shifting 11 was even easier than less crowded cassettes, as the chain has “fewer places to go” than with more widely-spaced cogs.

At any event, I want to use 11 speed Microshift bar end shifters that do have the indexed option. 

So, the shifters have been chosen; now I just need a pair of brifter-dimensioned brake levers, or else a gutted pair of black brifters (ISO), or to gut my own brifters.

On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 6:43 AM Johnny Alien <johnny....@gmail.com> wrote:

I am going to take what might be a minority view. Friction is great but index is demonized by Rivendell way more than it should be. I have found 11 speed friction to be more finicky than its worth. If it were me and I wanted 11 speed (which I do have on more than one bike) I would stick with index as it works better IMO. If I wanted to move to friction I would also move to 9 speed. 11 to me is most useful for a 1x setup. With 2 in the front 9 is enough and works so beautifully with friction. In fact if my fictional Roadeo allowed it I would go to DT silver shifters (although bar end would work just as well especially if there are no DT accommodations) and that new fancy reverse shifting RD. Then just get the absolute most comfortable brake hoods you can find. 

On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 8:48 AM Bernard Duhon <ber...@bernardduhon.com> wrote:

I have not tried friction on 11 peed however its noticeably more finicky with 10 speed than 9 speed I can imagine the difference when going up in speeds .

--

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,

But wouldst gabble like a thing most brutish,

I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Patrick Moore]

Well, this just in, apparently MS does not make its 11 sp BES with a friction option. So on to another plan.