I’ve a notion to try out some Dual Control levers – primarily to resolve a cable routing conundrum – and just wondered how previous/current users found them.

How is the reach compared to a normal brake lever?
Is braking and gear changing at the same time OK?
How reliable are they?
Why did you get rid of them/why have you not got rid of them?

TIA

I know a lot of people hate them, but I’ve had mine on my Blur for 8 years and love them. A bit rattly now and really need replacing, but they’ve never let me down.
Find no problem with braking and changing gear at the same time.Reach is fine, I have tiny hands 🙂

It’s been a while since I used Duals but if I remember correctly

a) The reach was a touch more than current Shimano levers
b) braking and changing was tricky, almost impossible to drop into a smaller cog whilst braking (though thats less of an issue than trying to get a lower gear). It is a bit of a skill to keep pulling the lever consistently and moving it down (quite a distance) to click into the next gear
c) Never had any problems, though they did seem to be a bit more plasticky around the shifter pod bit and a bit more bulky so might get clipped more
d) Actually I’m not sure why. They were great on my commuter as could flick up a gear from the bar ends. Think ultimately I fancied a change but I did drop to 1×9 as I was using it for the winter commute and not as flexible for stuff like that with the gears/brakes not being seperate.

I loved my old XTR ones – How well do they work now with out rapid rise rear mechs?

What’s the cable routing conundrum?

I’m sure LBS workers can help!

I loved my XTR m960 dual controls, put them on three or four bikes and with rapid rise mech it seemed so easy and intuitive to use. I kept the thumb levers to help change into lower gears and so braking and changing into lower gears was never an issue- never needed to brake and change into higher gear. I have now changed them as I wanted more power from the callipers, but have still got them just in case….

I should add that I never had any issue with reliability and they are certainly very light in use- because of the long levers I guess

I love mine! I demo’ed a bike with them about 7 years ago and found them so intuitive that after riding the things for about 2 hours I kept trying to change gear with the brake/clutch levers on my motorbike…

I have them on all 4 of my MTB’s. No reliability issues, never damaged them in a crash and very easy to change cables. Reach is adjustable but you do need to spend some time getting them set up right for reach and the right angle on the bars.

No issues with changing gear and braking at the same time – but then again I’ve exclusively used them for 7 years. I don’t remember having issues when I first used them though.

I use standard rear mechs, not rapid rise. Just gutted Shimano don’t do a 10 speed version (or a 9 speed clutch rear mech).

Ah now – I forgot about the Rapid Rise thing. I take it they just don’t work with a standard rear mech?
Edit: boriselbrus – just saw your reply. Thanks!

Al – the hoses on the hydraulic brake levers I currently own (XTR and XT) both exit quite far from the bar and in a generally “forward” direction. I’ll be using a handlebar roll bag (Revelation Designs Sweet Roll) and it would be less strain on the hoses if they ran more parallel to the bars. The options are to use longer hoses (maybe even running over the Sweet Roll) or change to a different braking system. The Hope Tech X2 would appear to be OK, but then that’s me having to run Hope brakes. The hose exit on the XTR Dual Controls I saw is actually beneath the bar so is well out of the way.

I really loved mine. Very intuitive I found.

I think they are fine without rapid rise, they just shift the other way (move up to shift down)

loved mine, thought they worked really well. I also was told that they had to be used with rapid rise mech.
Don’t recall reach being an issue, they were standard, don’t recall if you can adjust them.
Braking and gear changing worked, altho difficult if braking hard
they were very reliable
got rid of them out of vanity, 1st gen ones looked scruffy very quickly.

Would older gen shimano levers work?

I love mine (last xtr incarnation) on my hummer.

So much in fact that I never rode my yeti 575 which was running standard shifters and grabby hope M4’s as I just hated it after the intuitive feel of the dual control. You can brake so much later into corners and techy downhills as you don’t have to let off the brake to shift.

There are some for sale in the classifieds. If I hadn’t sold the yeti I would have snapped them up

MM

I still run them on my hardtail.Very intuitive or at least they were until I got my full susser with rapidfire! Now I have temporary brain fade until I reaclimatise. They will work with a normal mech,but having rapid rise means that both left and right shifters operate the same.

Mine have worked flwalessly for 6 years.

I used to like the rear shifter/front brake, but there was too much throw on the front shifter. Meant changing your hand position too much to shift. So I replaced that one and kept the front brake for a few years. The Xtr had nice snappy shifting.
New set of Xt brakes from Rose was the reason they went.

I like them, no issues

Second generation ones are the best

jimw – Member
I loved my XTR m960 dual controls, put them on three or four bikes and with rapid rise mech it seemed so easy and intuitive to use. I kept the thumb levers to help change into lower gears and so braking and changing into lower gears was never an issue- never needed to brake and change into higher gear. I have now changed them as I wanted more power from the callipers, but have still got them just in case….

I should add that I never had any issue with reliability and they are certainly very light in use- because of the long levers I guess

This.

With rapid rise rear mechs they just work and work well.

I put them on all 3 of my mtbs as liked them so much – never noticed any problems in use.

I love mine. (got a Pair of new LX from the bay complete with hoses, oil and bleed kit for 25 quid!)

I have taken the thumb part off as I dont need it and I like having loads of room around the grips to play with. Have been using with conventional mech fine but I have just torn that off so I am giving a RR a go. (bought one off here..waiting for postie 🙂 )

I use my bike for Commuting as well as playing in the woods and it works well for both. I cant comment on simutanious shifting/braking as I dont really ride that way

What I would say is the lever movement can feel a bit offputting and odd on steeper technical stuff where you are fiddling with the brake and negotiating your way down

Another fan here. I have had XT’s levers, which I still have on my hardtail and XTR currently on my main bike. I just use XT for everything else though. You will need rapid rise I think. The alternative would just be ‘weird’ if it did work. Oh, the irony of it all.

The alternative would just be ‘weird’ if it did work.

I think it i jsut depends on what you are used to- with my conventional shifters and mech, I ‘push’ to go up the cassette (and a big push goes up more spockets) and pull to click down the casette. With a conventional mech on a dual control it feels exactly the same to me…

The push is pushing the lever down and the pull is lifting your fingers up. When I swap to rapid rise, I will lose the ability to jump quickly to that 34T in that ‘oops there is a big hill’ situation like with conventional shifters/ mech!

I have a set for sale – email is in profile

Wouldn’t something like a banjo / junction tube that went on the end of your hoses solve your hose routing problem?

Not sure if they’re available but I remember getting all sorts of stuff with a set of Goodridge hoses – shirley there must be some line of investigation here rather than buying a whole new brake system / levers?

druidh, I’ve got a set of XTR ones (2nd gen) somewhere which I’ll sell you – email me if interested. Only ditched them cos I sold the frame.

Still use XT ones on my Cove, they’re brilliant. I’ve always run them with a normal mech, IMO they actually work better that way than with rapid rise.

Obviously they only work with 9sp. Shimano were just ahead of the game a bit, it’s a fantastic way of shifting but coming from a roadie background I was already familiar with the roadie STIs so these were very intuitive. Shame they didn’t catch on.

How is the reach compared to a normal brake lever?
Is braking and gear changing at the same time OK?
How reliable are they?

Reach = adjustable
Fine although it’s easier pressing the lever down while pulling it to the bar – on my way with a top-normal mech it shifts to a lower gear which is what you want when slowing down
Very – never had any problems with mine.

Druidh – I’ve got a set in the garage you are welcome to. They could do with a bleed, but if they are any use to you, ping me an email.

A nice idea – and one I briefly investigated. However, I couldn’t find a suitable joining piece. I already have a set of XTR calipers I could use if I got the levers, so perhaps not a completely new system. Plus – I think it’s sometimes important to try things out. Othjerwise, you’ll never know what you’re missing (see 29ers and Fatbikes).

crazy-legs – thanks for that. I might just take you up on it depending on the results of….

geoffj – I’m very interested what model number are they?

I bought a set of LX from CRC when they were in sale.
Wasnt sure what they would be like … but really like them.
Got them on the fully rigid. I removed the small plastic thumb shifters, so just use brake levers.

Never had a problem with them. Really was one of the few good buys.

They work well for what you want them for. They’re fine on for XC riding but I wouldn’t want them on technical stuff…you can accidently change gears while braking.
Here’s my bikepacking bar set-up:

Used mine happily for years and they have worked brilliantly. Still got them although I only have singlespeed bikes now

Jez http://www.followingthechainline.blogspot.com

I love mine, never had a problem with accidental changing or the need to change gear whilst braking. I have a rapid rise mech with no issues, the only thing is it confuses the he’ll out of some people if they have a shot on my bike.

loved mine (xtr ones in an amazing deal from merlin a few years ago) went all single speed and rebuilt then using modified straitline levers (removed all the shift gubbins down to just the reservoir) and they’ve been brilliant disc brakes as well.

They’re fine on for XC riding but I wouldn’t want them on technical stuff…you can accidently change gears while braking.

I’ve never accidently changed gear while braking. There’s a very definite ‘gate’ on them to stop that. One big advantage of them is that the lever move inwards but also up and down so if you stack, it actually minimises the chance of you bending a lever – it just changes gear instead!

Druidh – just let me know.

crazy-legs – want to contact me via email (you don’t have one in your profile….)?

Ta.