BikeyGuy said:
I've been a road bike rider for 25+ years.
I'm looking to get into long distance touring. Panniers...etc.
I never understood why tour bike riders prefer bar end shifters.
What's the deal?
Shimano's bar end shifters ARE certainly more reliable than the 8-speed Shimano STI shifters which could be jammed if you were either hamfisted or unlucky (I never had a problem with the 8-speed Shimano shifters, but I know one person who lent his bike to someone & it came back with a jammed 8-speed Shimano shifter and I have read about others having had problems, too) ... by my reckoniing, the 9-speed Shimano shifters were less likely to jam up but the stigma of the 8-speed STI shifters failing certainly hangs over them. The reliability of Shimano's 10-speed shifters is at least as good as that of their 9-speed shifters (whatever THAT may be!?!).
FWIW. One of the reasons bar end shifters were/are preferred for touring is because the rider does not have to significantly change his/her position on the bike to shift vs. shifting when using downtube shifters -- that is, there is minimum change in the riding position -- particularly if your hands are already on the drops -- to reach the shifters since you don't have to reach down to the downtube to shift a bar end shifter.
An alternative shifter (which was looked down upon by experienced riders) would be the shifters which mounted to the stem BECAUSE there was the small chance that you could potentially impale yourself on the levers.
BTW. The combined weight of Shimano's bar ends + brake levers is pretty close to the weight of a pair of 9-speed Ultegra STI shifters; so, there is no weight saving in using bar ends ... and, Shimano's indexed bar end shifters seem to introduce a sizeable weight penalty when compared with downtube OR vintage (friction-only) SunTour Barcon shifters.
While I have found that the Shimano STI shifter balks when downshifting under load (i.e., going uphill) to a larger cog, you can easily 'muscle' a downshift with a bar end shifter.
BTW2. Personally, FWIW, if you are not keen on bar end shifters then I would recommend you consider 10-speed Campagnolo shifters for your touring bike ... BECAUSE I have found that Campagnolo shifters can downshift smoothly when under load ...
AND BECAUSE the 10-speed Campagnolo shifters can be readily mated to EITHER 9-speed or 8-speed Shimano drivetrain components OR to 10-speed SRAM derailleurs with a 10-speed Shimano/SRAM-compatible cassette. While the 10-speed Campagnolo shifters can obviously be mated to a 10-speed Campagnolo drivetrain, the largest cog on their
woosiest cassette is only a 29t; so, if you want/need a cassette with a broader range, a Shimano(-compatible) rear wheel is a better consideration for touring.
I use Campagnolo shifters with Shimano MTB-and-road rear derailleurs + wheels which have Shimano 9-speed & 8-speed cassettes.
If a Campagnolo shifter jams up, it can be disassembled & reassembled and/or rebuilt with new parts (
kids, don't try this at home!) ...
Supposedly, you can disassemble & reassemble a SRAM shifter, but apparently there aren't any spare parts short of cannibalizing another SRAM shifter.