1994 Bear Valley SE and XT Thumbies

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This topic has 37 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by busseynova.

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1994 Bear Valley SE and XT Thumbies
bodgy
Free Member

Well, I bought a 2nd hand 1994 Marin Bear Valley SE as a holiday/pub bike – good overall condition, hardly used . . . the rims weren’t even worn in. Light as a feather too.

Mavics and smoke grey STX throughout apart from the SRAM Gripshifters UGH!

Gonna go full retro, so have found some lovely XT Thumbies to replace them with. Weirdly, can’t wait to be riding with friction shifters again – 25 years on and I never did really like indexed gears.

In fact, I’m so impressed with the Bear Valley that I’m gonna sell my 2016 Pine Mountain 1.

27.5+ can do one, along with 10 speed.

Posted 6 years ago

zippykona
Full Member

And them colour tellies.

Posted 6 years ago

molgrips
Free Member

Rose tinted glasses eh.

Friction was crap. So were early 90s rigid bikes and cantilever brakes. I was there.

Posted 6 years ago

bodgy
Free Member

Not at all – and I was there too; this thing is light and tight – perhaps that’s the Tange triple butted tubing or something. It totally wants to go fast.

But, yes, canti’s are crap – V-brakes are on order.

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

Index gearing was pretty mainstream by the late 80s so mid-90s would be indexed for sure.

Although iirc XT thumbies (like many at the time) had a friction setting.

Posted 6 years ago

bodgy
Free Member

It was friction mode for me – I liked being able to adjust it to be totally quiet!

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

Fair enough.

I like thumbies. I have them on my fatbike. Although they are 10 speed Microshift ones.

Posted 6 years ago

amedias
Free Member

I liked being able to adjust it to be totally quiet!

ah, so you’re one of those people who does your adjusting on every shift to keep it quiet instead of just adjusting the indexing once, properly in the workstand 😉

80s and 90s bikes? Love em*, they’re fun and keep tame trails interesting, but don;t kid yourself they’re more (or even as) capable as a modern bike.

*And I love a good friction shifter too, but only on an old road bike, where it belongs!

Posted 6 years ago

onewheelgood
Full Member

Yeah, my 92 Eldridge Grade was indexed, first year of RapidFire Plus, I think. In fact those shifters still work. Lovely sandcast aluminium things.

So thumbies would be very inauthentic.

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

1990 was the start of underbar shifters. Unless you count those that fitted there thumbies upside before that.

Posted 6 years ago

finbar
Free Member

I’ve got 8-speed Gripshift (ESP 7.0) on the Sunn I ride every day to work. Can’t understand the hate – it’s reliable and light.

Posted 6 years ago

matt_outandabout
Full Member

Pics!

Posted 6 years ago

teethgrinder
Full Member

Upside down XT thumb shifters on the wrong side… Happy memories!

Posted 6 years ago

newrobdob
Free Member

1990 was the start of underbar shifters. Unless you count those that fitted there thumbies upside before that.

A lot of people, myself included, swapped early STI’s for thumbies as the early ones weren’t very good at all. Best was chopping off the shifters off XT Servowave STI’s so you got the best brake levers but adding the now legendary XT thumbies.

Posted 6 years ago

newrobdob
Free Member

I have 9sp Dura Ace bar end shifters converted to thumbies using Paul Components shifter mounts on my tourer. I absolutely love them to bits!

Posted 6 years ago

munrobiker
Free Member

Surely there’s nothing to stop you fitting old thumbies with friction to a modern bike, since all it does is pull a cable until it stops, rather than meeting certain indexed points? They certainly worked with 9 speed just fine. Not that they were any good, mind…

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

@newrobdob

The STI units on my 1990 Fisher didn’t stay long. Replaced by original style Gripshift and S5(iirc) levers.

Posted 6 years ago

molgrips
Free Member

I have 9sp Dura Ace bar end shifters converted to thumbies using Paul Components shifter mounts

I bought those for my bling Heihei build in 2007 cos they were both significantly lighter and much cheaper than RFP. Still using them on my Trek XC bike.

Might be tempted to swap, but they are still only 9sp.

Posted 6 years ago

lustyd
Free Member

@newrobdob they look like my sun tour xc pro shifters! Love them still but modern Shimano are nicer I’ve had to reluctantly admit. Same goes for bigger wheels, wider bars, shorter stems and 1×11. Still love riding my old Kilauea but more for the reminiscing now than because it’s better than my new bikes

Posted 6 years ago

wzzzz
Free Member

Fear not, decent 10spd thumbies are available.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MicroShift-Flat-Bar-Double-Triple-2-3-X-10-Speed-Thumb-Shifters-Bike-Berailleur-Compatible-for/32755764669.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.Yz1I8S

You just need to use a 9spd MTB or road 10 spd mech as they are road pull.

Posted 6 years ago

redmex
Free Member

Index gearing to me was highlight ivention of the 80’s. Set up properly it was like driving a race car with sequencial gearbox and with close ratios at the rear short xt mech it made the bike great.
Friction shifting is like going back to old scratchy records and dust on the needle

Posted 6 years ago

fatmax
Full Member

Had Deore XT thumbies on my ’93 Orange Clockwork. Shifters and bike were both superb.
And if they were upside down you must have been hardcore (not me)!

Posted 6 years ago

andykirk
Free Member

God I loved thumbies….. I wish someone would bring out a new MTB 10 speed indexed system. You could also hold onto them and use them as relief from normal hand position on the bars…..

Posted 6 years ago

murf
Free Member

I’ve got a Deore DX thumby on my 96 Cinder Cone. Set to friction mode as I’m running 1×10.

Works well, looks cool 🙂

Posted 6 years ago

molgrips
Free Member

I think you can still get Pauls Components adapters, and you can get Dura Ace 10sp bar end shifters.

Posted 6 years ago

tommid
Free Member

I run friction shifters on all of my bikes. I have 90s Deore Thumbies on my Kona Ute running 8sp, Paul’s and Dura ace on my Singular running 10sp and Gevenalle shifting 10sp on my CX bike.

I can’t fault them, amazing and so easy to look after. Faultless shifting in all conditions is the best, I’d never go back to STIs (well I may have to for hydro discs on a future CX bike, but I’ll do it begrudgingly)…

Posted 6 years ago

RustySpanner
Full Member

molgrips – Member
Rose tinted glasses eh.
Friction was crap. So were early 90s rigid bikes and cantilever brakes. I was there.

I quite like friction shifters on the road, purely for the feel of it, the simplicity and directness.
Something very satisfying about the process, somehow.

Old rigid mtb’s are great at just being bikes.
So adaptable and good bikes are still good bikes.
I picked up my old Rockhopper from an lbs and the staff were raving about how much fun it was.

I’ve toured on it, raced on it,
(once 🙂 ) and it’s still a nicely made, fine handling, versatile, simple bike.

You’re right about cantis though.

Posted 6 years ago

bodgy
Free Member

I have 9sp Dura Ace bar end shifters converted to thumbies using Paul Components shifter mounts on my tourer.

@newrobdob – Oooh . . . . they’re nice. Didn’t even know that was an option.

Posted 6 years ago

newrobdob
Free Member

lustyd – Member

@newrobdob they look like my sun tour xc pro shifters! Love them still but modern Shimano are nicer I’ve had to reluctantly admit. Same goes for bigger wheels, wider bars, shorter stems and 1×11. Still love riding my old Kilauea but more for the reminiscing now than because it’s better than my new bikes

I ride with my hands on top of the bars a lot when touring so thumbies make so much sense. The “click” when shifting on the Dura Ace units is almost addictive……

I also have some thumbies on my Kilauea……

And my Dave Lloyd…

And my GT…….

😳 😀

Posted 6 years ago

molgrips
Free Member

Old rigid mtb’s are great at just being bikes.

New rigid bikes are better though.

Mine has a carbon fork, swept back bars, discs and 29″ wheels with tubeless tyres. All are improvements to essentially the same thing, with no drawbacks.

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

What have you got molgrips?

Posted 6 years ago

RustySpanner
Full Member

New rigid bikes are better though.

Depends, Molgrips.
On a do it all bike I’d rather have a steel fork and tubed tyres.

And also not what you said, which was that 90’s rigid bikes were rubbish.
They weren’t.

Posted 6 years ago

zippykona
Full Member

And fatties are even better.

Posted 6 years ago

NormalMan
Full Member

zippykona – Member
And fatties are even better

I was on my rigid fatbike with thumbies this very morning 8)

Posted 6 years ago

bodgy
Free Member

@newrobdob –

Awesome! What is the collective noun for retro rigid bikes?

The GT Tequesta is particularly rad.

Posted 6 years ago

molgrips
Free Member

On a do it all bike I’d rather have a steel fork and tubed tyres.

Why?

I had a 92 Kona Fire Mountain and a 94 Orange P7.

Do people not remember having to work like hell to stop the front washing out on fast corners? Trying all sorts of tyre combos? It was a feature of every bike I rode (more than just those two). My current Salsa is perfectly balanced.

I’ll say that the P7 was brilliant for road and off-road, riding 15 miles to the trails was satisfying unlike a modern FS; but so it is on the Salsa. And the Salsa is miles better off-road.

Posted 6 years ago

bodgy
Free Member

Admittedly I bought the Bear Valley as it was in good nick, and I wanted a ‘do everything’ bike that I could have strapped to the van on holiday/ ride to the pub and not have to be too precious about. It’s mostly used for towing my son’s Trailerbike about, as the chubby Pine Mountain with that and a five year old on the back was just too much of a slog for my ageing legs!

I’m not a retro purist (might even stick some Jones H Bars on it), but just need it to be simple and work. Hence, thumbies, 30° stem to avoid neck and back ache, semi slicks and tubes.

Posted 6 years ago

busseynova
Free Member

Late to the party, but no one mentioned, you can get a dyna-sys pull version of those microshift shifters so you can run your fancy clutch mech with bar ends or thumbies. I think Surly and Genesis use this setup.

http://www.microshift.com.tw/en/product/sl-m11/

Posted 6 years ago