Retro-Practical Thumb Shifters

I'm sick of my SRAM shifting because:
1) The rear derailleur pivots wear out and get sloppy after a season.
2) 1:1 ratio makes it take three or four strokes to shift down the whole range of gears.
3) With my giant hands I often shift accidentally.

I'm now running "vintage" Suntour Accu-shift Plus Expert thumb shift levers with an XT Shadow derailleur and XT 8 speed cassette on my trail bike (2x8 speed), and with an older XT derailleur on my commuter (1x8 speed). The shift action is the QUICKEST, most intuitive, simple, and concise of anything I've used in 20 years of trail riding. I never wanted 9-speed and would still use 7 if I could get good hubs. Shimano's new Shadow derailleurs are the best design and have the strongest spring of any I've seen.

Problems though are arranging the shifter around bulky hydraulic brake levers, and simultaneous control actions (shifting, braking, and holding on for dear life).

My trail bike with Suntour Accushift 7/8 speed levers.

Detailed Version:

Hey kids, gather 'round and listen to old-man Larry blather about bike shifting. Since 1988 I've tried most types of shifters for trail bikes. My first bikes had top-mounted lever shifters, or thumb shifters. Initially they weren't even indexed and you had to hunt around to get your derailleur aligned just right. Indexing was a glorious development.

Grip shift was short lived on my trail bike and has appeared on a cruiser or two. It is an elegant, simple, intuitive, light technology. I like it on a comfort bike or commuter, but on the trail the big wrist/arm motion is hard to isolate from your steering, and since my hands are freakishly large, I found myself accidentally shifting through tech sections. Not good.

Rapid-Fire and other triggers are really the most practical solution for trail riding. You can simultaneously maintain grip on the bars, apply the brakes, and shift. I do have some gripes though. Over time the action required to perform the task of shifting keeps increasing. I recall (correctly?) the original XT rapid-fire could down-shift the entire range with one thumb stroke but subsequent generations required two strokes. SRAM's 1:1 actuation on rear derailleurs increased a full range shift to three strokes. 1:1 is marketed as improvement to shifting accuracy, but I argue indexing and derailleur alignment are what affect shifting accuracy. Shimano accuracy was never a weakness. My other complaint with recent SRAM triggers is the hair-trigger and location of the up-shift lever makes it extremely easy to unintentionally upshift, especially with my goon-hands. I think Shimano rapid-rise shifters have the same issue, but I have never really used them.

My urban commuter. Note the contact between the shifter and brake handle.

Though I preferred Shimano shifters, I preferred SRAM rear derailleurs for their stronger springs. Unfortunately SRAM and Shimano shifters and derailleurs are not compatible, so for the last three seasons I rode SRAM. A downside to SRAM derailleurs has be the main pivots have shit bearings. I've been getting little more than one season out of SRAM derailleurs, while the same XT I rode for at least 3 seasons is still in service on my urban bike.

Shimano has finally issued the Shadow deraileurs, which besides having the strongest spring of any derailleur I've seen, also has a very practical low-profile design reducing the risk of bending your derailleur. The XT Shadow is the nicest I've ever used.

To me, more speeds are an unnecessary cross country and road racing trickle down. Racers like to meet an exact cadence so more gear ratios may make sense. The rest of us don't give a shit and just want our favorite few combinations as quickly as possible. More gears are pretty easy to ignore though and don't bug me as much as the wider cassettes that came with the jump to 8 speed. The wider cassette standard reduces how much width is between spoke spindles, which reduces lateral strength of the wheel.

Trail bike again. Note my 1.5 grip setup for those of us with less dainty hands.

Anyway, this rant is inspired by my latest shifting configuration. My increasing distaste for my SRAM set up has given me a new appreciation for a setup that can sweep the entire range of gears with one motion in either direction. I've installed a set of Suntour Accu-shift Expert 7/8 speed shifters mated to and XT Shadow derailleur and XT 8 speed cassette.

All My Bikes

How did I get here?

It started with a Big-Wheel. The Christmas morning I got it, the fat kid next door took it and broke the fork off before I ever rode it. I cried to my parents who said "that's the way it goes". I passed this important lesson on to my little brother and commandeered his Big-Wheel.

Next up was a mid-70's, Special Edition Denver Broncos "Orange Crush" Schwinn Scrambler. It was orange with a purple banana-seat and grips and super-fun.

When I was 14 I excavated my dad's old bike from the tool shed and started riding everywhere. It was a huge, heavy, yellow, Schwinn 10-speed beast. I was always standing up and cranking hard. My thighs stopped fitting in my jeans.

At 15 my parents gave me a Univega touring bike. It was great while it lasted but was stolen at a store where I was contemplating which model airplane would be the coolest to blow up with fire-crackers. A year later I had a drivers license and didn't care when the police recovered the Univega from a field.

When I was 22ish I bought an '88 Specialized Stumpjumper on a whim. Just as I was realizing how fun trail riding was I crashed and ripped my arm out of it's socket. By the time I had recovered I had moved to Park City where I began to explore the alpine trails.

I bought a newer ('92?) Stumpjumper with a 1.5 inch suspension fork. I went on my first trip to Moab, where biking became part of who I am. It was a revelation. The landscapes, challenge, and exhilaration were a combined experience I will never stop pursuing. A year later I moved to Salt Lake, parked my car, and spent a six months riding for my primary transportation and recreation.

My Cannondale Super V 1000 was stable, light, responsive, and strong. Coming from a cross-country riding background it seemed very plush with 3" full suspension. It got stolen from the back of my truck after a few years or good riding.

The Cannondale 2000 Jekyll was my least favorite bike. I was too big and riding too hard to keep being a weight-weenie. It was 28 pounds with about 4 inches of travel. Once I fitted it with higher rise stem and got out of the face-first cross-country position, it was much easier to ride bigger obstacles. I broke 3 wheels, the frame, and the swing arm while I owned it. I sold it.

My Cannondale Gemini 900 was a used rental. It had 6" travel and weighed 35 pounds. I never worried about breaking it and I could still pedal up anything I wanted. The suspension design was primitive so it tended to buck on jumps and was hard to balance, but I had a great time on it. I rode it for 3 seasons before it was stolen from the back of my truck.

I bought a BMX bike with a banana seat at a garage sale and kept it at my office. It was similar to my Scrambler, and a pretty comical ride for a 6'4" adult. I'd ride it around campus to meetings and classes, and even rolled downtown for lunch. (I work at University of Utah which is uphill from downtown Salt Lake. I never locked it and it was never stolen. Hopping the train back to my office was mandatory because "Scooty Puff Jr" was too small to actually pedal. I gave it to a friend who wanted a Burning-Man bike.

My little BMX cruiser was so much fun I decided to get a real cruiser I could ride to work. I ended up with an Electra Townie 24. With a few upgrades I had a fun, relaxed bike, faster than most mountain bikes on my commute. I keep it on hand now as a 'breakfast bike' to roll down the cafe late weekend mornings.

My current trail bike is Trek Session 77, another used rental. The suspension design is more advanced that my previous swing-arm bikes, and the difference is huge. For the first time I can do transition jumps and balance obstacles are much easier. It has 7" travel and weighs over 41 pounds. I can still do all the major climbs around Park City, but it is work.

Having a third bike certifies one as a bike nut. I bought a hardtail (another rental) in Park City for $250 and commuted it for about two weeks before it disappeared from a coffee shop. I missed it. A friend pointed out the Nashbar Signature frame, an inexpensive, high-end material/construction hardtail. I put a ridged fork on it and discovered ridged hurts, even on the street, so I'm running some bigger slicks that can soak up about an inch of impact. My fave feature is the 1x8 drive train with an old-school lever shifter. For the intended task this bike is simple, fast, fun, light, strong, and I love it.