My (DA) bar end shifters came from the shop with the adjustment knob on the outside, thus as I pull the chain ring (left hand) shifter toward me, I go onto the big ring. Lately I’ve noticed most photos of time trialist have the opposite position, pushing the lever away engages the big ring. Is there a correct position or is it personal preference?
The way they’re mounted on Lance’s bike is the correct one. You’re supposed to pull on the lever to get into the bigger cog.
Now that being said, mounted that way the lever points frontwards. Which is no issue in North America, but AFAIK in Europe they have rules that stipulate that the levers may not point frontwards as they could injure somebody. That’s why some probably mount them the other way around.
I guess it’s a relative position; I mean, when I pop onto the big ring, my shifter is at least pointing straight up, small ring is slightly forward of straight up; the time trialist simply have this position further down, in other words, their big ring is with the shifter straight ahead, and the small ring would have to be lower than this? Is this more aero position simply a matter of shortening the cable?
There is no “right way” The trend has changed back to the way it was in the 80’s with them facing forwards. For most of the 90’s it was facing toward the rider. Both shift equally as well and the cable routing on most bars have holes drilled for both applications.
In the box with the shifters there are instructions that indicate the appropriate configuration is with the adjuster controls facing outward and the shift lever being moved forward to shift to a large gear in the rear, and the front derailleur control pulled toward you to hoist the chain from the small ring to the big.
I spoke with a Shimano tech fella on the phone and this is what he told me:
-The lever should be set up this way to route the cable under the aerobar. Aerobars that have internal routing have the routing slots under the aerobar, so you have to use it this way to route the dables theough the aerobar.
-Since most of the shifting is done with the right (rear derailleur) control it seems more intuitive to advance the lever forward to go faster (harder gear) and pull it backward to go to an easier gear. It is like a gas pedal or airplane/boat throttle: Press forward to speed up, pull back to slow down in rudimentary terms. When instructing customers on how to use bar end shifters this analogy seems to stick in their heads.
-Locating the adjuster/index selector in the inboard position (i.e., shifter mounted upside down) means it is difficult to reach these controls since they are now between the insides of the aerobars. This is especially true of mounting/dismounting them since you need to use a medium sized, flat bladed screw driver for this operation. It is a trifle awkward when mounted upside down.
-Historically, these shifters were not designed for aerobars. They started life as touring shifters for the tips of drop handlebars years and years before 10-speed drivetrains and aerobars were even thought of. At that time, even on the drops for touring, the correct control configuration as specified buy the manufacturer was with the cable routed on the bottom of the bar- pressing lever downward to advance to a harder gear in the rear.
not only that, but mounted this way, the shifting pattern is the same as it is for DT shifters. This is useful for those of us who are still running DT and bar-ends on the drop bars…