Hi,

anybody knows where can i buy the Shimano Bar end Shifters 9 speeds set in Europe? are better for hard touring the friction ones or the indexed ones?, ¿what is the diference?

Thanks

Hello!
Have never seen bar end shifters in our local bike shops, and probably it is difficult to find them in most of Europe also. I don’t know if they are in the internet shops.
It should be clarified, that bar end shifter for rear derailleur is indexed, in contrast to a front one. This allows to use mtn front gearing, with drop handle bars, because mtn front drivetrain components are incompatible with road “dual control” shifters – so-called “brifters”, shimano ones at least. Brifters with road triple front and mtn rear gearing are good enough for light high-speed touring on plain terrain for strong rider.
There is also an option to use a crankset with smaller chainrings like 46/34/22 for full loaded touring/mountain areas, which is compatible with a road drivetrain. Perhaps such cranks exist somewhere, however I have never seen them in our LBS.
Be careful if you want to equip your bike with drop bars, keep in mind that a frame for drop bars should be a bit shorter and a brifter doesn’t have an adjuster for a front derailleur.
Good luck!

Hi perroloco

look here
http://www.radplan-delta.de/rennradteile/rennradteile.html
for
Lenkerendhebel Dura Ace 7700 9x SL BS 77 (about 1/4 down the page).
They cost 60 € there.

Saludos,
Arno

Hi Perroloco,

and happy birthday, by the way.

Just feed the words "bar end shift levers" into your favourite search engine. One of my search results: Irish shop .

As far as I know, those shifters can be set to indexed mode and friction mode alternatively. Some people I know use 10-speed shifters, set to friction mode, on 9-speed cassettes.

Cheers,
Thomas

Thanks comrades,

i like that shifters, they seems strong enought... but anyone of you have used them?

I have never used anything else for touring. Here in Finland, Dura Ace bar end shifters can be bought fom all good bike shops.

I've got the 9speed shimano ones on my Long Haul Trucker. I love them, probably because I spend a lot of time with my hands towards the rear of the drops where the shifters are, and also because I can with one single motion change down a whole lot of gears at once when coming to a stop.

I've crashed the bike a few times (once quite seriously) and the shifters have never sustained any real damage. Just some scratches, even though the handlebars are bent now.

They work a treat for me.