[Closed] shimano thumbies

I'd have some, with friction option.

I would...
Mind, I got a set of Microshift ones, and they are spotty dog IMHO..
Nowhere near as beautiful as the old DX ones from back in the day™

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I wouldn't, and I only gave mine up in around 2002.

I'd love some so would happily email the big Mr S

I'll stick my levers that work better and are in the right place, I think.

I would. Used to run mine upside down on the opposite side.

Used DX thumbies for years. Handy for tweaking for a quiet chainline but a bit tricksy off road on a rigid bike. Moved to 8 speed XT in the 90s; Click and forget. Half of indexing trouble nowadays is down to 9 & 10 speed cassettes crammed into the same space. Not much tolerance to dirt or wear but marketed as more = better.

You can use bar end/dt shifters and Paul thumbies mounts which are nice. I have a bike set up with them, very tidy.

8 speed XT - best gears ever.

Ah yes, thumb shifters....

All those happy memories if those heady times 23 years ago...

Back when indexing was shiny, brave, new and rapidfire was viewed as being akin to witchcraft. 😉

Never saw the problem myself and nearly got burned at the stake for my heretical views.

I think I still have a pair of XT thumbies in the cellar. Wouldn't touch them with a bargepole now. Awkward and clunky compared to the smooth, clicky beauty of the 'modern' shifters on my elderly sub5.

prettygreenparrot - Member
I think I still have a pair of XT thumbies in the cellar

Will you sell them to me?

If I was building a zero maintaianance bike for riding in grim winter conditions (which I have been getting round to for years) then I would def put thumbies on it - But then it would probably have a hubgear instead of a mech so it would have its own shifter.....

for my nice bikes I like rapidfire too much to get rid of - I guess servicing cables is something you just have to do in this country.

What about a rapid fire shifter that somehow switched to non indexed when you wanted it.......?

why do you need shimano to do them? The Microshift ones are light, work well and look good.

+ theres always the Pauls mounts or SJS [forge] & duraace combo as well

Yes. Old school Deore XT thumbies are probably my favourite things of all time.

I still have the original DX thumbies on my 1993 commuter. Sure, they're not as ergonomic but they index beautifully and never go wrong - I wonder how many pairs of rapidfires folks have got through in 20 years?

ransos - Member

I wonder how many pairs of rapidfires folks have got through in 20 years?

Til last year my commuter still had its original Altus rapidfires from about 1991... Little bit baggy mind. Only replaced them as they were combined shifter/brake and I wanted to switch from cantis to vs.

Never had one fail in the modern era, only replaced to upgrade. Compared with my early SIS thumbies (friction on the front naturally) which acted like they were broken when they were new, I call it progress.

My first ever MTB in the late '80's had 400LX rapidfire STIs and have used variations on rapidfire ever since. Never had the slightlest inclination to get thumbies.

I have a set of XT thumbies, 1992 vintage. Probably the most valuable bit of the whole bike now (unless you count the Flexstem 😉 ) 🙂

Who stocks the microshift ones?

wouldn't touch thumbies, if mavic reintroduced their wishbone shifters then i could be tempted. But for a tour bike not a race bike.

I'm STILL USING Suntour CX Pro thumbies on my full-rigid Global. I've got a collection of thumbies including some XTs in my box of bits.

Thumbies are light, simple, aesthetic and reliable.

I picked up an '86 Courier Mixte last year (bike recyclers, 50 quid). It's got Suntour 6spd indexed thumbies - most positive shifting I've experienced in ages. Not crisp... nor light... but definitely positive 😉

Like globalti, I'm still using a Suntour XC Pro Thumbie - only for the front mech though (I like to be able to easily 'trim' the mech so it doesn't make a noise).

hmmm, those microshift ones look pretty good, do they work well? and crucially how much are they?
for my hardtail, which is 9 speed triple.

Those microshift thumbies would be ace on a expedition/bikepacking bike.

Ooops

Til last year my commuter still had its original Altus rapidfires from about 1991... Little bit baggy mind. Only replaced them as they were combined shifter/brake and I wanted to switch from cantis to vs.

I had a set of LX rapidfires in 1992 that lasted about 3 months. I switched to DX thumbies after that.

Yes and No...I love thumbies and a few years ago I went a bit of a way to encourage Forge-MTB (I believe an offshoot of some car part maker) to get involved and make some - in the sense I went on a fair few forums and shouted about them.

I got a set and they were very good...but they went on my 'second' bike so got used rarely...RF+ is a better system in my opinion - it's been at least 15 years since I needed friction (not to say I won't ever need it) and RF+ seems to be a much easier/comfier set up.

So overall I'm a No, apart from 1 thing...I've got a temptation to resurrect my Pace, and I reckon thumbies would work very well with it so if I did get round to rebuilding the Pace, then I'd be happy to have thumbies on it.

I have a set of 7spd XT on the tandem, probably 1994 vintage, plus a grip shifter for drag brake. Still work fine.

I would. On my bike-packer I have SJS thumbie mounts with 9-spd Dura-Ace bar-ends. Triggers are better ergonomically but I love the simple clunkiness of thumbies plus it keeps the shifters away from the bar-roll on trips. Shimano are heading into electronics tho so I can't see them reviving thumbies, they don't really get the KIS mentality.

I've used them as an under-bar on another bike, works ok with the 90 deg adjustability of the mounts -
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DickBarton, I used to know Ian B there. Still got a few bits of Forge-ry in a box here, ideas we had that he machined up in his lunchtime. But no thumbie mounts, been looking out for some for a while.

They were very good and worked very well with the Dura-Ace bar-end shifters...

No, I had a set of XT's years ago and liked them a lot over early STI but don't have any issues with current STI units.

Could see the use of them if you was touring though with the option of friction shift.