Om-1 With Trigger Shifters? Genius or Fool's Errand

[Steven Seelig]

I'm incredibly pleased with using the OM one on my new Charlie with bar and friction shifters. Then I climb onto my platy, which has the old style Deore XT 9 speed and Shimano trigger shifters and, as one would expect, the shifting prowess sometimes works well, but under load sometimes is less than precise.

Sure, that's the premise of friction shifting for any derailleur and is completely understandable.  The question becomes, if I changed to an OM-1 with the trigger shifters would my life improve much or would I still be in the same place because trigger shifters are inherently inferior or would I see some improvements under load.

I am sure folks have strong opinions on this.  I'd be most interested to hear if anyone has actually had the temerity to try doing this.

Steve Seelig in DC.

[Bill Lindsay]

I do have a strong opinion:  

Whenever anybody says this: "I'm thinking of trying potential solution X to see if it works slightly better for me in situation Y.  What do you think?"  
My strong opinion is usually:  "absolutely, try it and see how it works out for you!"  

That's my strong opinion.  :)

I'm a little confused by the assertion that "the premise of friction shifting" is to give better shifting under load than indexed shifting.  I don't consider that to be common knowledge, nor would I use that as a reason to try to convince somebody to try friction shifting.  I do encourage people to try friction shifting, and I encourage people to be open to using index shifting also.  Being able to operate "any" shifting system is a nice skill to have, and trying a lot of things and using what one likes best is also a worthwhile endeavor.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Joe Bernard]

Try it, let's find out! The OM-1 looks like a standard 1:2 ratio Microshift mech with a reverse spring to me, I'd bet money a Shimano compatible trigger would work. 

Joe Bernard 

Clearlake CA 

On Monday, May 25, 2026 at 5:45:15 AM UTC-7 Steven Seelig wrote:

[Garth]

I seem to have seen this question raised on bikeforums and such over the years and yes, rapid rise RD's work with any shifter designed for what we know of as ye' 'ol standard ratio shifters. It doesn't have any feelings or mind of it's own, so it has no say in how it's expressed as movement ;-)

[Johnny Alien]

IME the beauty of the opposite movement doesn't really translate in the same capacity to index. Because you aren't really moving it the indexing in. That doesn't mean its bad or won't work just that it doesn't have the impact.

[Nick Payne]

Whenever I see "OM-1", it immediately makes me think of the Olympus OM-1 film SLR, as I owned one back in the 1970s. And OM System, the renamed Olympus, have reused the OM-1 moniker in recent years for their top of the line SLR-style mirrorless four thirds cameras.

Nick Payne

[Johnny Alien]

Many of them are camera/film nerds and I believe I read that the crossover was on purpose