First Road Bike: Wrist Injury Dilema

[MagicEightBall]

I have had ganglion cyst in my left wrist that aggrevates when riding. Its drained, so only expensive surgery would cure it.

My problem is that the motion needed for shifters is the exact one that causes weakness and pain (fortunately other normal movement is no problem at all).

I've been trying to find a road bike with some other shifter option (DT, bar-end), but have only found DTs on steel touring bikes, and bar ends on triathalon bikes.

Anyone have a suggestion for a bike or a way to swap out the shifters. Looking for entry level or close to it.

Thanks for any ideas you've got!

 

[kdelong]

You can get your road bike retro-fitted with bar end shifters. If you are going to buy your bike at your LBS, ask him to retrofit the bike with bar ends on it and standard brake levers. He may not charge extra for it if he is making a sale, but even if it costs a bit more, its all about what makes it comfortable for you to ride.

You probably won't be able to use DT shifters on anything but a steel bike because the down tubes on aluminum and CF bikes are all oversized these days.

If you wanted to get a bike somewhere other than your LBS, look on eBay for Bar End Shifters and then install them yourself. Its fairly easy and if you get NOS, they will come with installation instructions. At the same time you can get some standard brake levers. Search for the brand and specific model first. If you get the same brand but a similar model, that usually will work too. Then you can sell your brifters on eBay and probably make back what you paid for the bar ends and brake levers.