Need Help With Combined Gear Shifters

[kaizerchief]

hey guys im new to the road cycling scene and i got my first urata road bike with drop bars recently. however i was getting the cheaper bike due to budget constraints so it came with thumbshifters. ill be looking to upgrade it to combined shifters in the future something like ergopower (just an example). my bike has 2x7 gear system and i was wondering if it was possible to jus get the gear shifters or i would need to replace my gear system to 2x8 or something that would suit the new levers. im open to recomendations preferably in the cheaper range

 

[PanjoJames]

It depends. Some of the brifters can do or 7,8 but most are specific; new soras do 9 gears (older ones do 8), new Tiagra do 10 (older ones do 9). Left shifters are locked into 2 or 3 again depending on the model.

Model name often equates to amount of gears.

It is also important to think about your Hub. My hub can do 8, 9, or 10 but some are limited. So that is more $$.

You could also always do what Lance used to do; brifter for the back, thumb shifter for the crank.