It was either start copy-pasting e-mail and message responses or write this follow-up, and I figured the follow-up would be more enjoyable with some photos, so, here we are. I’ve ridden thumbies a lot, indexed and friction style, and I’m pretty stoked about the drivetrain for my rehab rig. It’s a Paul Thumbie plate, Shimano Dura-Ace barcon shifter, Shimano Zee clutch derailleur, 28t NSB chainring, and an 11-36t 8-speed cassette.
When No Boring Bikes (1) went live I didn’t receive any notes about ditching the thumbie in general, but there are certainly a few passionate folks out there whose jam is running their thumb shifters upside down. I’m running friction mode anyway. While the front bar-end shifter has less throw than the rear it’s plenty for my 8-speed needs. So, I’ve decided to run the bike both ways, keep an open mind, and report back.
Is it harder to reach the shift lever under the bar than on top? Off the bike just playing with it, things seem more awkward. Even mounted on the Manitou Magic Toothpick fork, that I was working on reviewing for NSMB before my injury, with a wheel in it, I’m not sure. But I’ll give it at least a few rides on the completed bike, once it’s built before I make up my mind on what works better for me.
But herein lies a more important point of discussion than which position for a friction thumb-shifter is more optimal. And I’m not even talking about the irony built into any debate about optimizing thumb shifter positioning when indexed shifting is as amazing as it is these days, even at the budget level. I’ve long thought I prefer my thumb shifter one way, but I’m completely prepared to be wrong.
I change my mind, or at least evolve my thinking, all the time when it comes to bike stuff. As evidence, how often these thumbies have been on and off bikes in the last many years. I’ve run the front on commuters to shift a rear derailleur, the rear on a tringle-speed shifting a front derailleur, both on one bike with two derailleurs, and once on two different bikes at the same time sharing two halves of the same cassette between them.
Anyway, there’ll be a few more pieces in this series as I get the bike built, and ridden, and then down the road, I’ll report back on the question that almost no one in the bicycle world – but at least a few of the tens of people that read MEATengines – cares about. Friction thumb shifters, above the bar or below the bar for optimum performance?!