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    Anyone running poor man’s barcons?


    Building a retro graveler as a gift for a friend. Already putting money into bar tape and new and like new brake levers and mini-v’s and potentially tires so I’m trying to keep the budget on track. I’ve thought through a few ways to use these shifters on these bars and considering hand placement and cable routing this appears to be the best option.. has anyone out there done this before and how did it turn out?

    by bikinibottomrealest8

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    15 Comments

    1. jorimaa on

      redditors be like this is dangerous pls don’t do this, get proper shifters or I will call your mom and tell her to take your bike away

    2. After_Classroom7809 on

      I tried to do something similar on my old commuter. It had downtube shifters and I attempted to move them onto the bars close to the brake levers. I couldn’t get the fit just right, they were awkward to use so I moved them back.

      I’ve never liked barends so wouldn’t do what you’re doing because of that. But I may revisit mounting them inside the levers sometime, I’ve seen some ways of making it work.

    3. rockies_alpine on

      I love hitting my knees on shifters when I’m out of the saddle. It’s the best way to gear change unexpectedly, faceplant and go to the hospital.

      Stick them up on the flats if you’re this concerned about the budget. This is stupid and dangerous.

    5. Suspicious_Escape_56 on

      I am!! I just have them oriented so the shifter sits inside the bar to protect it from falls, and to mimic the action of real barends

    8. Imazagi on

      Yes I did it with the same Suntour clamp thumbies and it works totally fine. There’s a post I did somewhere here. But orient them in a normal way like barcons. And no matter what others say, outside and not inside of the bars, so you can shift them with the palm of the hand. 

      You can also do this with newer thumb shifters that don’t fit drop bars by putting a wooden plug in the bars, sanded to size. I also have a post about that version

    9. Papa_Canks on

      I feel like a thumbie just above the brake hood might work well for shifting from the hoods. Might have to switch left and right. 

    10. Horror-Raisin-877 on

      I like to think that I invented this at the end of the 80’s. I was probably also the first person in the history of the world to put dropbars on a mountainbike 🙂

      I rode them as a courier for a few years, worked great!

    12. Zacupunk on

      I’ve got those set up on my 85 Team Fuji. It works totally fine, but I want the shifters for something else so I have been looking for a set of vintage Suntour friction shifters.

    13. A-STax32 on

      Keep the current orientation and move them about the width of your palm further up the bars. They will be far easier to use that way. You’ll be able to put your hand on the drop section of the bar and actually hold it whilenusing your fingers and thumb to sweep the shifter

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