The alternative shifter ..

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Skippy

Skippy

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So in my humble opinion the best shifter of all time has to be the Shimano Thumbshifter either the Deore SL-MT60 or XT SL-M730/2/5 varients , however I’m interested to know how many of you out there use Sachs/Sram ESP grip shift shifters and accompanying derailleurs, and also for those not using them , have you ever tried them ? do you like or dislike them ? I’d love to hear your feedback 😉🫣

DSCN1181.jpeg
 
I've never actually had a bike with grip shift use sturmey archer 3 speed or single speed and if I use I nexus I usually tuck it under the seat
 
I could never get along with grip shifters. I hate hat the grip area is not a consistent diameter, it's never felt comfortable in my hands (XL glove size), especially on longer MTB rides. For mountain biking I also would sometimes accidentally mis-shift when pulling hard on the bars like lifting the front wheel over something or putting in a hard standing effort.

I have some on a city bike where I'm totally upright with very little hand pressure and even there they get annoying.

I think longer grips would help, so my whole hand could be somewhere without overlapping on the shifter. And the ones in your pic aren't terrible, some have a more pronounced bulge than others.
 
When I'm on my MTB, I ride too aggressively for grip shifters. I had them years ago and had way too many false shifts while bombing down a rough trail. Once I found rapid fire trigger shifters, I never went back to anything else. I also never had a pair that felt right in my hand.

I can't speak of the specific models you mentioned, but I had thumb shifters on a bike a long time ago as well and, while they functioned, they were a little awkward to position for comfortable use.

If I remember correctly, the thumb shifters were replaced by the grip shifters, which were replaced by rapid fire triggers.

That's my $0.08 (dang inflation) 😉
 
Shimano Rapid Fire rules.

I manage a bike coop where we get 500+ bikes a year. I'd estimate 40 to 50% of the twist shifters arrive broken. Another common junk part are the SRAM plastic derailleurs with riveted on jockey wheels and all worn out in 1 season. Yep, break the SRAM shifter and throw the bike away. The grippy part of some SRAM twist shifters will disentigrate and turn to a black gooey tar. Those go straight in to the trash bin.

The real reason twist shifters are oem on so many bikes is cost. Plastic mold injection is one of the cheapest manufacturing methods in large quantity. It costs pennies to make a grip shifter. 4 plastic molded parts,1 rubber molded part, 3 simple metal parts. Large scale oem cost is surely under $1.

I see many boxmart mountain bikes that have the "Shimano Equipped" decals on them. Most have just 1 Shimano component (rear derailleur) on them but the sellers see the advertising benefit of claiming the bike has any Shimano parts. You never see SRAM Equiped decals on cheap bikes as a selling feature.

Sram makes the Grip Shift MRX version shifters that are Shimano compatible. and Shimano makes certain shifters that are SRAM Compatible. Both companies have countless models at every price point.

The grip shifters that come with IGH hubs are on a different level from the derailleur bikes. Usually much better construction. My main complaint is most work backwards compared to derailler bikes. I find myself shifting the wrong direction nearly every time. If I only rode 1 bike with that I suppose I'd get used it but I ride different bikes all the time.
 

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