thumbshifter & brake – which way around?

i am just reassembling my bike after a trip abroad and i have put the thumb/gear shifter to the left of the brake lever
the brake lever is in the correct postion to suit my right hand braking finger but the gear shifter does nt feel right

should the thumb/gear shifter go to the right?

if it makes any difference it is a Shimano XT M770 9 Speed Rapid Fire on easton bars with hope M4 brakes

thanks

its a d/h bike with a single chainring so i can’t use the other shifter to check!

I put my brake lever closest to the grip with the shifter between the brake lever and the stem if that helps?
You can do it either way with the removeable clamps on the M770s IIRC.

put it where it feels right. both my bikes have brake nearest grip.

put them where it feels right.

im a one finger braker, right at the end of the lever, but can still reach the shifter paddles with my thumb with the shifter inboard of the brake lever.
ive got gangley fingers though, so hand size shouold be considered too

IIRC, they dont fit especially well the other way around, due to the bulk of the shifter body under the lever blade…

I am always surprised that the gear shifters aren’t designed to sit more outboard of their clamp. I try to set my brake levers up for 1-finger braking and it pushes my gear shifters too far inboard for comfortable shifting. But setting the shifters outboard of the brake lever is no good because they are then too close to my hand and I constantly bang my fingers against the shift paddles. Bloody annoying really.

Hopefully the X9 shifters I’ve got on the way should enable me to put the shifters on the outside of the brakes for easier shifting and one finger braking.

Just experiment till you find what works for you. I think its also worth trying one finger braking – much more control once you get used to it.

I am always surprised that the gear shifters aren’t designed to sit more outboard of their clamp. I try to set my brake levers up for 1-finger braking and it pushes my gear shifters too far inboard for comfortable shifting. But setting the shifters outboard of the brake lever is no good because they are then too close to my hand and I constantly bang my fingers against the shift paddles. Bloody annoying really.

the xtr shifters have movable pods on the clamps, so you could set them gripside of the brake mounts, and then put them as far inwards as they’d go, sounds like it get em where you want.

My XT pods have that too, but it is a fairly small amount of adjustment, and not enough adjustment for me unfortunately.

I actually find I can get better positioning with my old SRAM Rocket shifters and XT brake levers than I can with XT shifters and brake levers.

I have toyed with the idea of Dual Control but I slapped myself out of it 😉

ah right – i didn’t realise the xt had it, it’s on the xtr set i just got and saw the adjustment, though it’s a bit pointless for me as they’re already at the limit of the only direction i’d want them to go!

It depends on your shifter/brake lever combination. I run adjustable mount X9 shifters outboard of my Louise BAT’s on my DH bike and its just works with careful positioning. Not quite ideal though. Doesn’t work with Gustavs.

I like the idea and simplicity of SRAMS lever bracket – shifter mount which would appear to solve all the problems.. except that you have to use SRAM and Avid.. which doesn’t work for me 😉 (i’m a Shimano only guy for pedalling and I’ll now go to saint rather than X9 for DH)