Has anyone ever managed to bodge trigger shifters onto bull horn bars?

My Easton delta force bars just turned up but I hadn’t appreciated they had moulded grips, so there’s no way in hell that I can get trigger shifters onto them. Anyone tried to do this before or am I barking up the wrong tree? Can you get Shimano compatible trigger shifters that have a two piece clamp?!

Think it’s going to be flats and bar ends, but then I can’t get the nice smooth bar-tape look I was going for. If only I could bring myself to accept function over looks…

Your other problem is that road bars are usually 23.8mm (apart from the middle bit).

MTB bars and brake/shifter clamps are 22.2mmm, so they still won’t fit even with a two piece clamp.

Bad news, sorry 🙁

Yeah I’ve just had that thought too – so I think have completely messed up my choice of levers / shifters / bars!

Doh!

After two days of searching this is turning out to be a pretty niche request, so for the benefit of future Forum searchers the options appear as follows:

File out your shifters then hope that you can get them around the bend in the bull bars

Buy some Paul’s Thumbies from SJS cycles, then convert some bar end shifters (and hope they are compatible with all the bits you’ve already purchased)

You used to be able to buy two piece drops that fitted into a big ugly stem, which would allow you to fit shifters, but these seem rarer than rocking horse…

You may also strike it lucky and find some really retro 22.2 dia. racing drops which you can convert to bull bars.

Me, I’m going with short flats and bar ends, and saving for the inevitable Thumbie’s conversion when I’m no longer bankrupt from the rest of the build…