Forge M.T.B Thumbshifters

[Andy Wilson]

Looking for "reviews" or opinions on forge's new 9sp thumbshifters Has anyone used them?? and if so
what are they like??, and what do you think of them.?? Are they as good or better than the suntour
xc pro's were??, or as easy to maintain as the shimano xt's??. I use xt at the moment but would like
to upgrade to 9sp now there are thumb shifters to accomodate the upgrade.

 

[B. Sanders]

"Andy wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Looking for "reviews" or opinions on forge's new 9sp thumbshifters Has anyone used them?? and if
> so what are they like??, and what do you think of them.?? Are they as good or better than the
> suntour xc pro's were??, or as easy to maintain as the shimano xt's??. I use xt at the moment but
> would like to upgrade to 9sp now there are thumb shifters to accomodate the upgrade.

Wow! This is the first I had heard of them. According to the Forge website
(http://www.forge-mtb.com/) they are just standard 9-speed Shimano bar-end shifters (Dura Ace?) with
custom Forge CNC-machined mounts for MTB style handlebars.

I've used Shimano 9-speed Dura Ace bar end shifters on my M5 Low Racer recumbent. They're the best
shifters on the planet Earth, IMO. Once you try thumbshifters or bar-ends, you begin to wonder why
we're messing around with all that other pushbutton STI **** that doesn't shift well, is fragile,
unreliable, etc. I hate pushbutton shifters; and twist shifters aren't much better, IMO.

Bravo, Forge. I hope these materialize in the USA very soon.

Barry

 

[Max Watt]

"B. Sanders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Wow! This is the first I had heard of them. According to the Forge website
> (http://www.forge-mtb.com/) they are just standard 9-speed Shimano bar-end shifters (Dura Ace?)
> with custom Forge CNC-machined mounts for MTB style handlebars.
>
> I've used Shimano 9-speed Dura Ace bar end shifters on my M5 Low Racer recumbent. They're the best
> shifters on the planet Earth, IMO. Once you try thumbshifters or bar-ends, you begin to wonder why
> we're messing around with all that other pushbutton STI **** that doesn't shift well, is fragile,
> unreliable, etc. I hate pushbutton shifters; and twist shifters aren't much better, IMO.

From the picture, it looks like you could mount them on drop bars next to and inboard of the brake
lever, and shift almost as well as with Suntour Command Shifters. should be lighter than STI, and a
lot cheaper.

 

[Jeff Wills]

[email protected] (Max Watt) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "B. Sanders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> >
> > Wow! This is the first I had heard of them. According to the Forge website
> > (http://www.forge-mtb.com/) they are just standard 9-speed Shimano bar-end shifters (Dura Ace?)
> > with custom Forge CNC-machined mounts for MTB style handlebars.
<snip>
> From the picture, it looks like you could mount them on drop bars next to and inboard of the brake
> lever, and shift almost as well as with Suntour Command Shifters. should be lighter than STI, and
> a lot cheaper.

Barry: Shimano's indexing bar-cons are only available in one "grade"- they work with Dura-Ace down
to Alivio. I agree that they're the best arrangement made by Shimano.

Max: You're close to correct- but road handlebars are a large in diameter than ATB handlebars. The
clamps would need to be larger. A similar device would be the Kelly Take-Offs:
http://www.kellybike.com/2nd_xtra_takeoff.html .

Long ago, I mounted a Suntour shift lever to the sides of my brake levers. It worked remarkably
well. They levers nestled in the palms of my hands- upshifts were simple, but downshifting was a
little tricky, requiring an odd twist of the wrist to get to the lowest gears.

Jeff

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

Nice. Pity they don't have them for seven cog clusters as well. In addition to Mr Sanders contempt
for pushbutton shifters, I feel the same way about the overabundance of cogs on modern wheels.

Five was good Six was great Seven, perfect Eight, a little overboard Nine, ridiculous Ten, a crime!

Blast me if you must. But I like having a no dish wheel!

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 19:53:49 -0400 (EDT), [email protected] (Chris Zacho "The Wheelman") wrote:

>Nice. Pity they don't have them for seven cog clusters as well. In addition to Mr Sanders contempt
>for pushbutton shifters, I feel the same way about the overabundance of cogs on modern wheels.

You know, 7 speed above the bar indexed shifters are available stock, and for a lot less money than
this solution. This is very particularly designed to solve the lack of such shifters in 8 and 9 --
you don't need to solve any lack in 7, because it doesn't exist.

Jasper

 

[Andy Wilson]

Jasper Janssen <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 19:53:49 -0400 (EDT), [email protected] (Chris Zacho "The
> Wheelman") wrote:
>
> >Nice. Pity they don't have them for seven cog clusters as well. In addition to Mr Sanders
> >contempt for pushbutton shifters, I feel the same way about the overabundance of cogs on modern
> >wheels.
>
> You know, 7 speed above the bar indexed shifters are available stock, and for a lot less money
> than this solution. This is very particularly designed to solve the lack of such shifters in 8 and
> 9 -- you don't need to solve any lack in 7, because it doesn't exist.
>
> Jasper

Yes, but to my knowledge, only the shimano black plastic ones fitted to lower specced and grade
bikes are available new. Ive ridden a mates bike with these on and apart from feeling very fragile,
the whole mounting flexes every time you shift.(but i still prefer them to gripshift) You only have
to look at the price older dx, xt and xc pro shifters are reaching secondhand at the moment. It may
be peoples rose tinted view to some extent at how good these shifters were, but im sure there must
be some reason for these outpricing original 7sp sti units on ebay by double the price!!

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On 1 Jul 2003 10:49:11 -0700, [email protected] (Andy wilson) wrote:
>Jasper Janssen <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:<[email protected]>...

>> You know, 7 speed above the bar indexed shifters are available stock, and for a lot less money
>> than this solution. This is very particularly designed to solve the lack of such shifters in 8
>> and 9 -- you don't need to solve any lack in 7, because it doesn't exist.

>Yes, but to my knowledge, only the shimano black plastic ones fitted to lower specced and grade
>bikes are available new. Ive ridden a mates bike with these on and apart from feeling very fragile,
>the whole mounting flexes every time you shift.(but i still prefer them to gripshift)

Yeah, I think that's the case. Wouldn't have much problems with it myself, if it's the same kind of
levers that were on my old Tourney equipped bike. They took a lickin' and kept on tickin', as the
saying goes.

Aren't Shimano barcons of the 8/9 variety available as 7s as well? in that case you can just use
those on the adapters.

Jasper