I fitted bullhorn handlebars with Microshift bar end friction shifters and vintage style Shimano BR L400 brake levers to my "new to me" retro Simplon Lumen. I wanted to recreate the hand position and shifting style of my beloved Puch Mistral SE, a bike I rode for nearly two decades before I crashed it into a rental electric scooter and bent the frame. I gave it a shot but drop bars just didn’t work out for me, so I went with this setup instead.
I’ve never seen this exact combo before, so I thought I’d share it here. These components weren’t meant to work together, so it took some tinkering. The Microshift shifters cable routing made it impossible for the levers to clamp on, so I cut a small channel into the levers aluminum casting to make room for the shifting cable. The levers also weren’t designed for bullhorn bars. The brake cables would’ve needed a tight 180 degree bend, which wouldn’t have worked. So, I removed some material from the inside of the levers casting to route the cables at a flatter angle, letting them pass internally through the handlebars.
It works perfectly now, and I’m happy with how it turned out!
by randomusernevermind