Hi all, I’m having trouble setting up my bar end shifters. They state that they are compatible with 8 or 9 speed cassettes, and I have a 9-speed 105 setup.
Is there an adjustment to specify which number of indexed shifts there should be, and what is it? I seem to have 7 distinct clicks which suggests it is set for 8 speed. How would I change this.
Thanks,
J.
I don’t know how you change it. But I know that it is definitely possible because my training bike has an older version 8 speed cassette and a Dura Ace 9 speed end bar shifters. The LBS where I bought the bike from told me that it is not possible and I will need a new everything 9 speed and it will cost me so many $$$. I went to another shop and the guy said “yes I can do it come tomorrow to collect the bike” – he also tuned everything and charged me for 30 minutes labour. If nobody here knows (I am sure Dr Demerley would) I can ask the guy in this shop.
can’t you just turn the indexing function off and use it as a friction shifter?
I’d like to keep the indexing, it’s very handy. The shifters are supposed to index for 9 speed according to the web site. I tried it in friction mode and it works fine, but I’d like the indexing if possible.
J.
Did you get any instructions with them? I run my 8/9 bar-ends in a 9-speed drivetrain. But I’m pretty sure they came set up for 9-speed so I didn’t have to do anything to change it. I still have the instructions at home so I’ll look tonite.
It might be just a simple rotation of a ring. I have a pair of Suntour shift levers on my touring bike that can run 6-speed, 7-speed, or friction just by loosening the D-ring, rotating a ring on the shifter body, and re-tightening the D-ring. Takes all of 10 seconds to change.
How are you testing the index clicks? If you are testing with the system already on the bike, it could be that the limit screws on either the high end or the low end are set so as to not allow the rear der. to go far enough for the last click.
I mix 7 speed, 8 speed and 9 speed parts all the time without a problem. You just need to be good at adjusting them all. I really didn’t know the barend shifters could be used for either 8 or 9 speed. In fact I don’t think they can. I beleive that they are either 8 speed or 9 speed, but not both. This is the one part that is specific to the number of cassette cogs. I use my 8 speed barends to run 7 or 8 speed (with adjustments to the rear der. limit screws). I’ve never switched to 9 speed, I think its a waste being in Florida where I only use 2-3 cogs anyway.
Rocketman is correct, the same set of bar end shifters cannot do both 8 speed and 9 speed indexing.
that states compatible with both 8 and 9 speed, and the shimano website shows the same thing, as do all the tri shops
You can see the sticker in this photo
http://harriscyclery.net/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=718
http://www.trisports.com/shimbarendsh.html
I’m testing with the unit on the bike. The limit screws are set so that the chain goes onto both the top and bottom cog, if I adjust further I think I’m likely to have problems going off the cassette. I could try it and see, but as it goes up and down ok, it just seems to be the number of clicks. I’ll experiment and get back to you.
J.
I’ve just moved out to Brunei and the instructions are in a file that’s either missing or chucked out. If you can look at your instructions and get back to me I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks,
J.
“…and the shimano website shows the same thing, as do all the tri shops”
I can’t read the sticker on the Harris site, nor can I find that information on the Shimano website, so I will take your word for it.
Come to think of it, maybe they are referring to the old Dura Ace 8 speed. I believe the cog spacing on the old Dura Ace 8 speed cassettes is the same as on the current 9 speed stuff.
You can get the 8/9 speed derailleur / shifters to work with an 8 speed cassette by clamping the derailleur cable on the wrong (ie front) side of the cable bolt. There is no adjustment in the lever,
I don’t remember exactly how to fix it, but one of the parts is rotated wrong. There’s a big jump between a couple of the clicks, right? Either try messing around with the position when you bolt the lever onto the other part, or rotate around the square fitting to a different position. I had this problem when I was switching out levers awhile ago and i just kept futzing with it until I was getting 9 indexes.
I don’t remember exactly how to fix it, but one of the parts is rotated wrong. There’s a big jump between a couple of the clicks, right? Either try messing around with the position when you bolt the lever onto the other part, or rotate around the square fitting to a different position. I had this problem when I was switching out levers awhile ago and i just kept futzing with it until I was getting 9 indexes.
Yep, that sounds like what’s happening. Thanks, I’ll mess with it tomorrow and see what I can make happen,
J.
I run an 8spd DA bar shifter that was made before 9spd came out. You have to do friction mode.
First, a 9-speed bar end shifter should work with an 8-speed cassette but an 8-speed bar end shifter will not work with a 9-speed cassette. Also, although 8 and 9 speed cassettes will fit onto the same free hub body, the spacing is somewhat different for an 8-speed versus 9-speed drivetrain! As a result, I think a 9-speed bar end shifter can only be used in friction “mode” when used with an 8-speed cassette - otherwise you may well drive yourself bonkers trying to get all of the shifts to align! Finally, in order to limit the 9-speed bar end shifter to only 8-speeds, you simply depend on the proper adjustment of the rear deraileurs limit screw to prevent the shift “throw” from pushing your rear deraileur into the spokes.
Michael
these shifters will work on 8spd, but only with an 8spd DuraAce derailleur. 8spd DuraAce had the same cable throw per shift as current 9spd. The shifter doc. does say this, but not very clearly. The doc used to be available online, but it’s not there now, only a little exploded diagram which may be useful:
http://bike.shimano.com/services/tech_info_b.asp?cat=Road&pg=Dura-Ace
I was having some difficulties when I installed mine, herewith a question/response from Sheldon on rec.bikes.tech:
attempting to install these shifters. In index (SIS) mode, the RH
shifter has 10 distinct positions, of which 8 are ‘clean’, that is,
the ‘click’ is sharp and precise. The first and tenth positions are
sloppy, feels like the lever is hitting the housing and not completing
the shift correctly. I don’t seem to be able to get decent shifting
whether I start the adjustments from the first (sloppy) position, or
the second (first ‘clean’) position. Using 9-speed ultegra rear der
and cassette.Anyone have any experience with these ? is the shifter defective or is
this something built in to deal with the 8-speed compatibility ?
tia, Doug
On the low (large sprocket) end, Shimano lever-type shifters generally
have a bit of ovrtravel, and this often permits them to work with one
more gear than they’re marked for, though the indexing is not perfect.
Back in the day, mountain bikers used to get 7 speeds from 6-speed
top-mount thumb shifters, and 8 speeds from 7-speed units.
Indexing for the top gear (smallest sprocket) is provided by the
high-gear limit screw in the rear derailer, so the high-gear position on
the shifter is better off without a crisp detent. The first “sharp”
notch corresponds to the second smallest sprocket.
Make sure your B-tension screw isn’t too tight. check: http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html
** end of sheldon’s comment
I put mine in with 8spd but a non-DuraAce der, and it did not work very well. For 8spd, buy a Sora 8spd downtube shifter and bolt it on to the shifter body in place of the DuraAce lever. This works fine, been racing with this for several years. Someday I’ll upgrade to 9spd…
I have a 9 speed setup, with 9 cogs on the cassette and the 8/9 speed compatible shifters.
I currently have 7 clicks giving 8 gears, but I’m trying to set this up to get the full 9 shifts correct.
Note: I’m NOT trying to get a the shifters to work with an 8 speed setup.
Thanks,
J.
I had the same problem you describe and after much frustration I realized that the washer-type piece (the one that’s about 1/8" thick) that fits between the shifter lever and the shifter body was in backwards (you can see the tongue-and-groove type fitting has a single, deeper tongue that lines up with a single, deeper groove, but it’s extremely subtle and you have to look very closely). I’ll bet $10 that if you flip the washer-type piece around you’ll solve your problem.
Thanks for all the replies. I now have a working system, but not the way I thought it would work, but perhaps the way shimano intended it.
I still have the same number of clicks (7) but what I have now done is make the final jump down to the end of the shifters range (which used to be very small) a bit larger (by adjusting the tension) and now that jump (from the final click to the end of the shifter travel) happily shifts me into top gear.
I don’t know if that’s what shimano meant by ‘compatible’, but it seems to work fine and it shifts smoothly so I think I’m in business.
jhendric: I took the shifter apart, and saw what you were talking about, but mine did seem to be assembled correctly. If it wasn’t ( I tried changing it) I got a slightly larger gap between the components. With it in the ‘correct’ place (I’m assuming it’s correct) it all fitted very flushly.
thanks again for the help, I’m always learning new things here.
J.
It’s tricky, and you have to look very closely. I thought more about it last night and it might not be the 1/8" piece that’s in backwards, but some piece that fits inside the 1/8" piece (it’s been a few months since I had this problem) and that it’s not so much backward as it is that you’ve got the peice from the left shifter in the right shifter. Pull 'em both apart and look really closely. If you’re getting distinct clicks as you shift through, but there’s one shift that doesn’t click when it should and seems to take the place of 2 clicks, this is the problem. If it still doesn’t make sense shoot me a PM and I’ll go into more detail.
Anyway, glad to hear you’re at least shifting all gears now.