Living With Bar End Shifters

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Permalink Reply by mpapet on November 1, 2009 at 2:54pm

I still run bar-end shifters just because they are cheaper and I don't run the risk of breaking them like STI levers.

If you aren't racing or just don't care that much, they are dead simple to operate and very reliable in all conditions. Go for it! If you are race-oriented and particularly sensitive to being different, then stick with the STI's.

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Permalink Reply by Jason on November 1, 2009 at 4:01pm

I used to use bar end shifters.

I even recently contemplated putting them on a bike that was a single speed but that I want as a B bike now.

I also just watched an elite rider with bar-cons, desperately fiddle with his bar-con shifter while trying to stay upright in the sand at a local race. That cinched it for me and I ordered a single STI lever even though I am using SRAM on my A bike.

They work but improvements in technology are just that--improvements.

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