Mixed shifters :)

[Catrin]

I've been planning this for some time and finally did it once my thumb arthritis got my attention. Thankfully this was a quite inexpensive conversion. My LBS did a great job with it, I understand it was quite a challenge to get the X0 grip and X9 trigger to work together, but they work well. Indeed, my mountain bike now shifts better than it ever has and I can't tell that the shifters are in a different location. The trigger is a bit further in than it was, or so I was told, I can't tell.

I tested the new setup this afternoon at a local trail. I think this is going to rock when I get it to my favorite trails in southern Indiana My hands were much happier with me after my test ride today!

[Owlie]

Do explain further! I don't understand mountain bike shifters (yet). But yay for happy hands!

[zoom-zoom]

This makes a lot of sense to me. It's the left side that is sometimes a struggle for me with triggers. This is interesting...

[Catrin]

Do explain further! I don't understand mountain bike shifters (yet). But yay for happy hands!

Triggers require use of the thumb to shift, sometimes only the thumb, sometimes a combo of thumb and forefinger depending on system. I run SRAM, and their triggers are thumb/thumb. Of course the front is a bit harder to shift than the rear for obvious reasons. I had a pretty bad flare of arthritis in my thumb a month or two ago and that made matters worse.

Because I rarely shifted the front last year some corrosion set in which really made it HARD to shift the front - even a very large mechanic at my LBS noted how hard it was to shift - I needed new cable/housing, and it really needed doing now.

Thankfully the SRAM X0 (race level) grip shifter for a triple is dirt cheap right now, the new 10-speed cassettes that are meant to work with a double have apparently affected the price. That is my assumption, but my LBS was able to get the new grip shift for next to nothing.

The LBS guy said it wasn't as straightforward a process as he had initially thought, the challenge was to get the two to work together. My Ergon grips also weren't meant for grip shifters, but I had faith they could make it work and they did. They did a good job cutting it to make it fit, I couldn't/didn't want to buy a whole new set and I REALLY LIKE these grips. I don't use the bar-ends for my hands, but they give me confidence when I am riding between trees on the trail My mountain bike now shifts better than it ever has!

[Tri Girl]

excellent set-up! I had to do a double-take to even see the different shifters.