# Touring bike setup- Why bar end shifters?



## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

A lot of touring bikes have bar end shifters. Why bar ends instead of downtubes or STI's?

I guess that STI's will leave you with shifting problems if they break but why go to the trouble of bar ends when down tubes are easier to set up?


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

Dave Hickey said:


> A lot of touring bikes have bar end shifters. Why bar ends instead of downtubes or STI's?
> 
> I guess that STI's will leave you with shifting problems if they break but why go to the trouble of bar ends when down tubes are easier to set up?


Can't answer why barend vs. STI.

But as for barend vs downtube... I think it's the ability to shift with your hands still relatively on the bar. A little more reassuring and safe feeling for some riders. I know some riders who had to look at the downtube before they reached for it because they had this fear of reaching too far down and getting their fingers caught on the spinning front wheel spokes. So they like handlebar mounted shifters

I never had that phoebia 

I prefer downtube shifters set on friction. Problem free shifting and very clean looking from an aesthetic factor. 

It's seems like standard practice now to build frames without the downtube shifter bosses. Too bad for me because I prefer downtube shifters. 

Rivendell sells nice Silver brand downtube shifters that are very nicely made. A nice alternative if you want try something non-Shimano


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

I used to tour in New England in the late 70s, and can still remember what it was like to haul a loaded bike down from speed with Weinmann 999 brakes. The faster I could get to those levers the happier I was. I also remember crossover shifting, which was a lot easier with two hands.


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## Spinfinity (Feb 3, 2004)

*I still use them and like them.*

They're trouble free, survive more crashes, work on friction mode when rain and mud has fouled your cables, and cost way, way less than brifters. They offer some degree of hands on the bars shifting which is a littler easier than down tube levers although nowhere near as convenient as Ergo levers. Friction mode, which I grew up with, also means they will shift any combination of Campy and Shimano gears and derailleurs. For a tourist riding through rural America that degree of flexibilty is much more critical than it is for people who start their rides from their back doors.


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

Rusa pretty much hit the nail on the head.
More servicable, less likely to break and cheaper (although not that much cheaper - I've seen some pretty crazy bidding wars on ebay for DA barends)
If you're touring in a third world country you might have a tough time locating replacements for sti's.
Armed with this knowlege as well as the intention to tour very remote places I still went with 105 sti's for my touring set up... why?.... because I really, really like them


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## Spinfinity (Feb 3, 2004)

*E-bay insanity?*

Excel has DuraAce bar end shifters at $82.49 for 10 speed and $55.00 for 9 speed. That's considerably less than Ultegra brifters. Thank tri-athletes for keeping them on the market.


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## meat tooth paste (Oct 6, 2004)

The 9 speed ones are increasingly becoming hard to find because many shops are selling the only what's left in inventory. The price on the new 10 speed version is about $30 more than the old 9 speed ones if you can find those.

If indexed shifting isn't a priority and friction is preferred, then any of the 8/9/10 speed bar end shifters will work since the cassette is the same width on all three (8,9,10 speeds).

They sell barend adapters that will mount many downtube shifters as barend shifters incase you have downtube shifters already. Rivendell has these for $30.


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## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Another possible reason is convenience...*

A touring bike should be comfortable to ride on the drops. What better place for your shifters than a few inches away from the place your hands spend the most time? Not by coincidence, I believe this is also the reason for aero bar placement (convenience, not comfort) with TT bikes.


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## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*From Bruce Gordon's Rantings*

I got this off of Bruce Gordon's site under Bruce's Rantings

Component Parts: Many people are requesting STI or Ergo Shifters. Although these seem to work quite well for normal riding, a loaded touring bike shifter should be able to be used in a friction mode, which neither STI or Ergo allows. Also, many people have been excited by the new Campognolo Triple Gruppos; however, we feel that there are several reasons why they are inappropriate in a loaded touring bike. The largest cassette cog available is 28 tooth and the smallest front chainring that will work with the front derailleur is a 30 tooth. This gives you a low gear with 700c wheels of only 30 inches. While a 30 inch gear might be enough for the first two types of touring, you would have to be Greg LeMond to pedal a loaded touring bike with 50 pounds of gear up the Alps with only a 30 inch low gear.​
http://www.bgcycles.com/bruce.html


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