Silver shifters, v1 vs. v2

[ian m]

I love the look of the Silver1 shifters. IMO they are the platonic ideal whether on downtube or bar-end. Yet I find in my experience the performance refuses to meet the aesthetic quality. Try as I may I can't get the shifter to stay put. Loctite or beeswax, slippage, then over-tightening. There's still no better option than the plastic washer? Hoped the brass bit over the plastic would protect it, no such luck they always crack. I'm tired of trying to make these work.

Do the newer Silver2 shifters improve in performance where they've... let's just say changed in aesthetics? It reads as though they have the same internals which I would assume is the issue. While they do have a look that maybe only a mother could love I'm willing to give them a shot if it's a noticeable difference.

I am index curious but not sure I'd want to pay the Dura-Ace bar-end price rather than making the all-out switch to brifters. Any thoughts or advice welcome.

[Richard Rose]

First, I did not realize the v1 units looked different. I don’t think I’ve seen them. My experience then is limited to the v2’s and it has been very positive on two bikes. I’ve not yet resorted to loctite & slippage has been minimal. My riding is pretty chill pace wise but my mileage is significant. Occasionally I do notice a slip & a very small turn will fix the problem. I’ve been reluctant to use the loctite thinking it might make these small in-ride adjustments more difficult? 

I’ve used all sorts of shifting solutions including AXS. I actually prefer my Silver v2 experience over all others I have used even though it’s more “work”.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 29, 2024, at 6:56 PM, ian m <darkg...@gmail.com> wrote:



I love the look of the Silver1 shifters. IMO they are the platonic ideal whether on downtube or bar-end. Yet I find in my experience the performance refuses to meet the aesthetic quality. Try as I may I can't get the shifter to stay put. Loctite or beeswax, slippage, then over-tightening. There's still no better option than the plastic washer? Hoped the brass bit over the plastic would protect it, no such luck they always crack. I'm tired of trying to make these work.

Do the newer Silver2 shifters improve in performance where they've... let's just say changed in aesthetics? It reads as though they have the same internals which I would assume is the issue. While they do have a look that maybe only a mother could love I'm willing to give them a shot if it's a noticeable difference.

I am index curious but not sure I'd want to pay the Dura-Ace bar-end price rather than making the all-out switch to brifters. Any thoughts or advice welcome.

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[Pam Bikes]

I'm not sure if I have the v1 or v2 but probably the v1 and earlier but I've never had slippage.  You do have to line up the square piece when installing them and get the plastic washer lined up too but after that it's tight enough to hold.  The exploded view that Eric Marth will help show you the critical points of contact to line up.  I do know the plastic washers break after a while but that's usually when the bike falls and the shifter takes most of the force of the fall.

[ian m]

I have completely disassembled and reassembled more than a couple times, both intentionally and un. I have run my set on both the downtube and bar-ends on more than one bike, and my wife has a set on the bar-ends of her Hillborne. We have broken so many plastic washers trying to keep them from slipping that I have multiple back-up bags.

On checking the Riv product page now it looks like the complete shifters come with a "new and improved" plastic washer that isn't available separately. Can anyone speak to an improved user experience? I have the older L/R version rather than the newer X/O version also.

I do think these shift fantastically and are in every way superior to the Sunrace shifters I used previously, it's only the slippage that grinds my gears.

[Doug H.]

Ian,

I had slippage with Silver v2 set up on my Clem. I used Loctite and it solved the issue for awhile then they slipped again. After switching to Microshift I not longer had any slippage. I am not an experienced bike mechanic so my installation may have been off with the Silvers but the Microshift worked for me.

Doug

[Jay]

I'm sure that is frustrating!  I feel for you.  I don't like when anything mechanical is not functioning up to par.

I only have experience with Dia-Compe Ene 11s.  They slipped once on me, without realizing what was happening.  I got home, googled it, figured it out and only had to tighten the 'd' ring and that has so far solved the problem.  I bought loc-tite but haven't used it.

Good luck!

[John Johnson]

I will share a personal anecdote about my V1 shifters. I disassembled them to switch from being bar-end back to being down tube shifters. When I put them on the downtube, one of them kept slipping and wouldn't hold no matter how hard I tightened the bolt (and I broke a few plastic washers). After a day or two, I opened it up and realized I'd put the sprocket in backwards (so yeah, duh, it definitely wouldn't hold). I'm sure that's not your case...

The newer replacement washers did work better for me (but they still crack over time). The brass replacement washers is what I have now, and they work well. 

cheers,

John (near Fontainebleau)