Grip shift vs rapid fire

Mr_Kingkillaha

i think his question was- did he just get a crappy shifter on his bike.
and the answer is no. as far as i know, grip shift generally sucks all the time, you werent just unlucky this time.

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NO! They're all gonna laugh at you!
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dan0512

Rapid fire all the way, the grip shift on my older bike fell apart, I love my Shimano Alivio rapid fires...

Dan

Serbian_SPIRIT

Rapid fire

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guppie

I went from Rapid Fire to SRAM x.9 trigger (had to change RDR). The SRAM setup is freaking awesome. However my new bike has XTR RDR and LX RF's. Its hard to go back to rapid fire and I don't want to buy another RDR to get back with SRAM. I know SRAM has the rocket triggers but its my understandig that they don't work as good as the Shimano sifters.

If you can, go with SRAM, better quality that Shimano. Gripshift is not my style so I stay away from them.

hophead

I switched over to grip shifters last year on the advice of one of my riding buddies. I replace my Shimano LX rear derailluer with a Sram XO and my triggers with 9.0 grip shifters. As long as the drivetrain is well maintained and the cables are properly adjusted, shifting is flawless. I've had no durability issues yet and neither has my friend who has been using them for several years. I'm also running a solid pin Sram PC-99 chain, XT casette, & XT crank & chainrings with no compatability issues.

JimShorts

After using both grip shifts on my old bike and rapid fires on my new Trek I won't go back to the grip shifts. They would change gears on me sometimes when I was adjusting my grip. I have yet to have any problems with my rapid fires.

Also, if you like the rapid fires better, why don't you just go with them?

gclark8

I can now add a 7 speed 14-28 spin on and a CO30 Rapid Rise rear deralieur to the shifters/levers, $75 the lot, AUS only.

I went for Alivio RD and a 11-30 (8), next, 9, 10, ?? who knows..

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Cheers,
George.

Woofer

I use thumbshifters, and one of them is ten years old. The other one is a replacement for one that was broken in a head on collision with a tree.

Conniebiker

They both have merrits, but I think that while the rapids are more decicive on shifts, the grips do work well. Don't get me wrong, I thought all grips were junky until recently. I got a set of x.9 deraileurs and grips and the effort to shift is so minimal. Plus the levers aren;t hitting my hands now.
The Sram stuff, in my estimation has stayed in adustment longer due to the more tolerant 1:1 cable pull ratio. The shimano stuff uses 1:2 ratio which amplifies any cable imperfection(such as 'stretch' or slip). As a trail racer and light freerider, that is a very big deal to me since the shimanos tend to stray adjustments relatively easily in the course of a race.

mds2076

I've ridden with rapid fires for the last 4 years; when I got my Trek about 3 months ago it had gripshift. It took about 200km before the gripshift gears became second nature. I like them for the simple fact that cable stretch; worn chain; worn chain rings are much less of an issue...the gripshifts are just expensive friction shift gears when it comes down to it. However, I do find gear changing is a bit slower than with the rapid fires because you have to find the correct index point. And yes, the gears can appear to change by themselves if you rest your hands too close to the shifter. But I'm not into racing so the negatives aren't an issue. If the shifters on the Trek do fail, I will replace them with gripshifts again.
Likewise if the rapid fires die on my other bike, I'll replace with rapid fires.

willtsmith

Haha,

Well, if the goal is rapid, the Grip shifters has it. You can go from any gear to another in one wrist motion. YOU STI shifter guys will still be shifting long after the X.0 guy got his gear and is hauling.

gclark8

I sold my spare Rapid Fire Shifters (EF-29) to a gripper last weekend...

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Cheers,
George.

Airwreck..

grip for the front derauiler and rapid fire for the rear..

et..

twilightzone

I know this is an old thread and a topic that will be debated forever, but I had to put in my two cents. I have a 95' rigid I use for street riding with 7-speed STX-RC rapid fire, which has never let me down and has not needed adjustment in 10 years, believe it or not. In '97 I bought a full suspension 8-speed Jamis Dakar which was spec'd with the first generation of gripshift ESP 9.0. I finally got it out of storage after 8 years and swapped out the shifters for the newer 9.0s with the SRS spring. After riding with them for a while, I have determined that RF is far more ergonomic. The grip of the gripshifters is thicker than a normal handlebar grip and becomes uncomfortable after a while. You have to move your whole hand to twist the gripshift--only thumb and forefinger for RF, while your other fingers can be operating the brakes. Clearly Shimano did think this out. I have tried the SRAM triggers on bikes at the LBS and the release lever requires an odd upward movement of the forefinger that just seemed uncomfortable and unnatural. I don't know what they were thinking.

What's more, I coordinate my front and rear shifting so as to reduce chain strain and keep the drivetrain running smoothly. To do this with gripshift, your rear shifter has to be twisted forward while the front has to be twisted in the reverse direction to maintain high with high and low with low. With RF and traditional derailleur, the gear indicators both move left for high and right for low. Much easier to visualize while riding. Again, SRAM didn't think of this.

And when it comes to changing shifters--although each manufacturer hopes you'll keep its shifters on--things break, or you might want to upgrade. With Shimano (at least with these older shifters), you can remove the shifter and leave the cable intact. Gripshift forces you to disconnect the cable from the derailleur and pull it all the way back through the shifter. Bad design--simple designs aren't always the best.