Why EVERYONE Should Try Friction Shifters! 

The irony is that the more sprockets in a cassette, the better friction shifting works! and the faster you can sweep across multiple gears!

As they are older technology than index shifters, I’d rather call them „forward compatible”...

Lol, I was this old when I learned the proper term "friction shifters". When I was a kid, my 10-speed bike just had "gears".

Still using in 3031.

Love friction shifters, but I find them difficult to use in loud traffic. I need to hear if the chain is dragging.

Grew up with downtube friction shifters and still have them on a few bikes. They were a lifesaver on my touring bike when I tacoed a wheel and had to borrow a wheel from the support van. My wheel was a 7 and the support wheel was a 6. Adjusted the end stop and I was able to keep riding for the next day and a half until I was able to get my wheel back.

I run friction on my bike and I see no reason to use anything else for what I’m doing. 2x9 and loving it!

The main reason I ride my old 87 Raleigh more than my new Trek, even though it’s slower, is because of the friction shifters. Maybe I’m just biased because I’m more used to my old bike, but it just feels more smooth and intuitive. There’s this direct responsiveness that gives me the feeling that the bike is a direct extension of my body, rather than clicking a button and hoping the bike listens to me.

😂. I remember a time, like I am sure many of us do, when friction shifters were the only choice. Yeah for choices! 😊

I actually had never ridden with indexed shifters until 2021!

While I agree that friction shifters are an awesome option I feel like you should have touched on compatibility based on age. What I mean is that an old friction shifter from the 70's designed around 5-7 speed will not pull the cable far enough for 10 speed and up. You will run out of lever action before you hit the lowest cog on the cassette. It is worth mentioning because people might try using an old dia compe that they got at the local co-op only to find out that they get 8-9 of their 11 speed cassette. Just something I feel like you missed here but great video in all!

Fricters are the ultimate get out of jail free card when it comes to transmissions. The only thing less stressful is single speed.🤔🤗👍

Back in the ancient times of the 60’s and 70’s friction shifter world one mark of a good cyclist was the ability to jump out of the saddle and shift with a single “clunk” sound rather than a “grind”.

In a weird way, it really made me feel more connected to my bike, as the amount I needed to shift became muscle memory, it's not dictated by the shifter. It feels nice. Yes there are pros and cons. It has been about 12 years and many bikes since my 1983 mixte with stem mounted friction shifters but I just rode a VO Neutrino with a thumbie and it all came back and felt great and performed very well.

I just picked up an outdated mountain bike with outdated friction shifters, still shifts great after 35 years.

Friction shifters on the stem 40 yr ago as a kid with my first road bike. That’s how it was for most of us. I’ve got Dura Ace on a 1990 Miyata restoration and while the rear derailleur is connected to an indexed downtube shifter, the front is friction and works so well, no chain rub here - you have total control

Friction shifters: proven tech that will never be obsolete ✅. They're especially good as thumbies on flat or upright bars. 👍🏻

down tube friction shifting is on my main bike, still works same as it did back in the 80s

One understated advantage of friction shifters (frifters) is that you can see/feel in which gear you are by their position without looking at your casette.

For the past 9 years, I've been using friction down-tube shifters with a 2x9 system. They're lovely old Shimano 600, the last generation (I think) before Shimano introduced index shifting. Not fancy, but the curve of the levers is beautiful and they work perfectly. Unfortunately, because I recently switched to a more upright position (no more drop bars, for my neck's sake), I've had to install an index-shifting pod. It's OK, but it lacks the feel of direct engagement. Not to mention that DT shifters, whether index or friction, have much less cable to mess around with.

Everyone seems to be going old school these days, I never changed. Just because you can doesn't mean you have to, or, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

You didn't mention the setup where you would have indexed rear and friction front. Back in the day your MTB would have 3x8 thumbies in this setup, and it was pretty neat, because you could trim the front derailleur manually. Also the older Sram, Shimano and other non-name brand twist shifters would employ a kind of a semi-friction shifting for the front.

Very easy... I have 1982 bike with this Shifters and I changed rear DERAILIEURS , rear cassetes, and the shifters still working perfect! Greatings from Brasil !!

Up next: An electronic friction shifter :-)

Might be worth to mention that some of the modern derailleurs might need more cable than some of the friction shifters of older design can take up. For example I got a Diacompe friction shifter (manufacturer says it's 9 to 10 speed compatible) paired with a M5120 Deore rear derailleur and to fully shift across the entire cassette I need to twist the barrel adjuster to firmly get into the highest or lowest gear as it is otherwise just out of reach of the shifter. This is probably my fault since the bike is bodge hackery mess at this point and I originally didn't plan to use a 10 speed derailleur but an old 9 or 8 speed one from the parts bin instead but that didn't work out satisfactory. And when Diacompe said that the shifter is 10 speed compatible they probably meant 10 speed road not 10 speed MTB... Basically this is what happens when the cave of bad ideas doesn't work out quite so well lol

Another thing I love about friction shifters: they can last for years or almost decades without needing to be retuned or replaced, probably good to tune them every once in awhile though. I've gotten bikes from junkyards and bikes abandoned in bushes for years and they shift like they're almost brand new. Some may have rusty cables that get stuck, but if the cable moves, they're gonna work

Yep, after switching to bar ends I never want to run anything else.

As a longtime retrogrouch I agree 100%

Friction shifters are also a good idea for older bikes that have the shifter cables going under the downtube. That location can pick up a lot of dirt that can mess with indexed shifters.

They are also super easy to shift in winter when you need to wear big gloves. Especially the bar ends.

I bought a Raleigh technium in 1986. 2x6 sunrour friction shift. Still work, never needed any adjustment

Friction shifters are amazing. Half my bikes are friction. I’m also hoarding used bar end shifters to make sure I got em when needed.

Had friction shifters a while and loved them. Never had to adjust index as there is noneb parts pretty available and sometimes simplicity is a work of art. Waiting to use them again on another project.

Ironically 11 speed won me BACK over to downtube friction shifting. 8 and 9 speed worked for me in the past. 10 speed was always harder to trim, but when I tried 11 as a joke since I thought trimming would be even harder, it worked so dang well!! I guess there's just not enough space for the chain to 'miss' so wherever that lever is, it hits the target every time with little to no trimming ever. (Setup: Rivendell Silver DT shifters, 11 speed Ultegra 6800 mechs, 11-34 cassette, 11 speed chain)

Been there, done that. Ain’t going back. No reason to hamstring yourself while out on the trails.

I never used them before so was very pleased to see you put together a video explaining their benefit. I am looking to put together another bike and think this sounds like the cost effective solution I may be looking for. I imagine it to be like playing a guitar without individual frets on the neck. Thanks for the video.

I use an old down tube front shifter from the 80s to shift an Advent 9 speed. All kinds compatible (ish).

Well, for a few of us "old guys" the learning curve was getting the indexing, and questioning whether they were sure enough, compared to friction shifters. I just learned to use Campi indexing on a bike built last year, kind of feeling out a "cassette" of ten, with two up front. Everything I ever dreamed of, and lots more. I like them, but they do get cranky with weather and getting into rough roads, but I've not gone back yet, just trying the "fatter tire" thing that I've watched for a couple years, and am liking the smoother ride, knowing it's just as fast. Thanks for showing this, good to know there's ones built modern, for these long shifting derailleurs.

How about using a Shimano Altus rear derailleur with a set of vintage Suntour bar-end ratchet shifters with as Shimano Deore front derailleur with a nine speed 11-34 cassette on a Rivendell Clem Smith Jr. "L" bicycle ? YES ! ...it works absolutely.

For a long-distance touring set-up, friction shifters are great since the gear cables stretch but your shifting does not go out of whack.

I love my Surly LHT with friction shifters!

What was obsolete is now popular. the cycling world goes round and round. To each their own. when index shifting came out, I loved it. I still love it. Friction shifters are fine for those who like them. Any day now I expect that clipless pedals will be set by the wayside and rattrap pedals will make a comeback. A side note, how many of you got rid of your old bike or bikes years ago and now wish you still had it? Been there done that, I am now hesitant to get rid of any bike I own. They each have something about them that I like.

My commuter/winter bike is running a hilarious set-up, an ancient suntour friction shifter, bodged onto a SRAM rival lever (the double tap shifter mechanism died like they all do) operating a Rapid rise XT mech in a 1x9... It's completely user servicable and I'm only really limited by whatever chain/cassette I'd going cheap when the time to replace them rolls round. Gevenalle on my gravel bike has been run both friction and indexed and definitely benefits from the old "KISS" principle.

I converted my old 10 speed to a 12 speed index shift. I went from down tube tube shifter to stem tube first. You can change gear, take a quick look between your legs and then line up the chain perfectly if you need to. I've had the bike since new in 1987. I will be converting it back to friction shifting again.

i'm really interested to know how to drill the friction shifter onto the front of a brake lever?

I've been hesitating for a while but you have totally convinced me to try, Russ, thanks for this very useful breakdown:). And great to see you!

I love downtube/bar-end shifters, but mostly in index mode. My problem with friction shifter is gear slowly drifting sometimes, you can tighten the bolt a little to combat the problem, but it doesn’t solve the problem 100%. If not for this, I would fully embrace friction shifting.

The first bike I purchased as an adult had downtube shifters, and the next one, which I’ve been using since 2014 has bar-ends. Can definitely attest to all the benefits you mentioned. However, I’m actually switching to brifters this week. For me the need to take my hands off the brakes to shift has become a struggle in some circumstances. If you ride terrain that’s a bit more undulating and technical, it can often mean that you’re having to choose between shifting and braking, and you can get stuck really grinding for a few pedal strokes (possibly to a halt, or almost) when the grade changes suddenly. Super unpleasant even if you’re not trying to win a race. I looked at the Gevenalle shifters as a potential solution but I’m a sucker for hidden cables so I went the “fancy” route haha.

I love friction shifting, completely underrated in most bike people's eyes.

Really weird that you should upload this video today. I just spent about an hour this afternoon converting and old Shimano 10 speed bar end shifter to friction for my drop bar 26er build.

Less potential mechanical issues. Used them in this year's Seattle to Portland one day ride, worked brilliantly.

I came of age on a 10 speed with downtube friction shifting. Yes, index shifting is more convenient, especially for less experienced riders and it's more precise in off road usage. But there is nothing more satisfying than slicing through the straight cut rear cogs on a freewheel equipped bike using friction shifting and hearing that chain slide along like a hot knife through butter. Friction shifters work even better with rear cogs and chainrings for index shifting and slightly narrower chain. Like an 8 speed chain on a 6 or 7 speed rear freewheel or cassette. I converted one of my vintage road bikes to 3 X 9 with brifters. It was fun, for about a week. It hangs in the garage now and I pull out mu old Fuji Del Rey 12 speed with downtube friction shifters when i want to relax. The converted bike may go up for sale.

I recently got some thumbies from Paul’s components to put my bar end shifters on my surly LHT and I love them. So nice 👍

Love the bar end friction shifters on my Masi Giramondo. Very satisfying to use. One benefit not mentioned is the ability to go from you highest gear to lowest in one sweep. I recently converted my Cannondale Caad9 to a triple and finding the correct STI (new, not some abused thing) has been a chore. Had to eBay it from Taiwan. Almost impossible to find and setting up STI's is a chore.

Nice to see Gevenalle making another appearance. Great on a touring bike as they are compatible with MTB drivechains and MTB cable disc brakes. I love them.

Like an older rider told me back in 1995..."If it's was good enough for Coppi and Merckx, it's good enough for me". Of course that being said...I ride a single speed.

I love friction shifters! Another big benefit in my opinion is the ability to run whatever brakes you want. I don't love the shapes lot of the drop brakes I have ridden (apex ultegra etc.) Also you can throw them on the down tube and switch between bars very easily and not have the added resistance of the extra housing (and shape of the cable under the wrap in the drops)

I once had the seemingly bad idea to run a 3-speed internally geared hub with a friction shifter, and it worked better than I expected! Would I recommend this? No. Is it possible? Yes.

Friction levers and thumbies are my favorite if you cant learn to shift get a fixie

Not sure why "learning curve" is listed as a con, getting to learn a new cycling skill is more of a pro for me. Another advantage is that many friction shifters can be mounted on the downtube, eliminating problematic cable housing.

I'm doing some upgrades to my bike, I recently swapped the old Sunrace derailleurs with new Shimano Tourney A070 ones, but I still have Sunrace stem shifters, although they are indexex, they suck, I looking forward to install bar end friction shifters on my Caloi 10 road bike, turns out they are much more expensive than Shimano Tourney A070 levers. Forget about it, I'm definitely going with STI

I have Paul Thumbies on my gravel/touring bike and love them. 3x7,8,9,10,11? Shifts them all just fine with 9/10/11 speed derailleurs. Freaking awesome

Most of my bikes have friction shifters. All the ones I built up myself do. That's 6 out of 8. I prefer it.

Thank you for the video I’m gonna be working on changing a triathlon bike to down bar and I want to use the friction shifters because I love it so much on my older Cannondale it’s always like you said so easy to find a gear and fine-tune never have an issue being in the right gear

I use O.G. retroshift in my fargo. They are a keeper.

Now we just need Gevenalle to get stock in...

I like the old Simplex downtube shifters on my '87 Peugeot. Originally 6 speed I upgraded to 8 speed because of hubs and cassettes. Works awesome.

It’s nothing at all like the difference between manual and automatic cars. That’s like comparing a derailleur with a hub gear.

I've tried the bar-end shifters in friction mode ... and what I didn't like was the bar-end shifters. Friction mode was fine, and indeed for a flat handlebar bike it would be cool. I have 9-speed (x 2), 10 speed (x2) and 11-speed (only one) bikes at the moment, and they're all set up with Shimano indexing, which works great. The 10year old 105 on my cyclocross bike is dodo-dead, but generally speaking I find modern index setups to be reliable and suitable for me. Like most of your viewers (I suspect), I'm not riding the high-end latest anything. SLX on the mtb, 105 on the road, and cheap and cheerful on the around town e-bike.

Biking is about having the experience you want. I like indexed shifting on my current 1X8 bike. On the 3X bikes I have experience with indexed seems problematic. It seems that where you are on the cassette affects the right position for the front sprockets. Seems the friction shifters allow you to compensate while indexed do not. Maybe there are systems that handle it better. But I'm really enjoying my simple 1X8 now. I understand it's annoying when a new technology over shadows the previous and the thing that was commonplace becomes niche.

I've got a Surly Long Haul Trucker and I've been using friction shifting on the front derailleur since I got it. I changed my rear derailleur setting to friction this morning and went for a 40 km ride... it took me at least 30 seconds to master friction shifting! 🤣😜 Seriously, it was smoother, faster, and surprisingly accurate to shift without the indexing. I'm sold... not going back to index shifting, at least not on my touring bike. I've got bar-end shifters. I wish they were on the hoods. I don't go in the drop hardly ever, so it's an extra move that could/should be eliminated. I live in southern Thailand, so ordering from Oregon ain't easy... or cheap.

Hi Russ! love your content. I'm so tired of uncomfortable and impractical solutions, tired of adjusting my index shifters all the time. I'd like to start with my daily commuter. I'm using a 2 x 8 shimano altus set up. I prefer thumb levers, could I use the micro shift friction left lever upside down for the rear derailleur for 8 speeds? and maybe just use a smaller sunrace/shimano one for the front? any recommendations?

Gevenalle and bar end shifters just flat out work for me. Currently running 1x9 Microsoft Advent bar end shifter setup on my bike and not sure I'd ever go back to brifters.

Have bar end and down tube shifters on two of my bikes. Never have any problems. Use them on a 3x8 and on a 1x11. They just work!

This maybe late but I just wanna ask this. I found on an online market here an SRAM SL 1090 R2C TT 10SP Aero Bar End Shifter for sale, for only 30 dollars! And I wanna know if I can use it as an ordinary bar end shifter on a drop bar. I searched it on internet and it says it has a feature that it goes back to center sort of.... , so I dont know if it functions only as an index shifter or it also has a friction shifting capability..., or its only aero bar exclusive

Party pace as a component is the friction shifter.

I ride both di2 and downtube shifters and one big disadvantage of it is quick shifting when attacking and sprinting especially uphills. No chance of riding out of the saddle and shifting and braking at the same time. In bunch spirnts by the time ive reached down and found the right gear, they'd already have theirs and opened up a gap in the line

I installed my modern bike's rear wheel (11-speed) on my vintage bike with downtube friction shifters. It feels like I have CVT transmission lol

I have friction shift on 3 bikes, 2 were originally 2x5 drivetrains and both now work just fine in 3x10. My monster cross bike has the RetroShift (Gevenalle) setup with BS78 shifters. Those can switch between 10sp SIS and friction.

One of the benefits of downtube friction shifters is that they are much lighter in weight than other shifting systems. Apart from the light weight of the shifters themselves, you only need a very small length of housing for the rear derailleur cable and no housing for the front cable.

My 1983 Schwinn Le Tour mixte gravel bike still has its OG suntour friction shifters for its 12 speeds

Hi, me again. Do you or anyone here know of a bracket or some little doohickey that will allow us to use down tube frame mounted shifters into shifters to us on flat bars? I’m thinking of the salvage / recycling potential.

Love friction shifters but hate bar end ones😜

Ok, I think I have finally found the solution for my "bullhorn/track bike looking/ chinese carbon frame/ 1x 42-42/ MTB cassette and derailleur, thing, project", or would just a regular MTB shifter fit a bullhorn handlebars contrary to drop ones?

Actually, it's my first time hearing of them. And they sound super great

After years of f@#$ing around with indexing various systems, I went to friction on my Gevenalle set one day when the adjustment went out mid-ride. I started to fix it, and said, "Why bother?" I'm not racing; I don't need instant, perfect shifting. I probably ride a couple mph faster than "party pace", but these shifters work for me; I've got 'em on both bikes now. (I'm looking for an excuse to buy those ENE Wings...)

Has anyone had any experience "upgrading" an older bike frame. eg. Going from a 6-speed cassette to a 11 speed cassette. Using downtube shifters? I'm trying to upgrade an 80's road bike. (I know about the drop out widths as well, I'm just wondering concept wise) is it possible?

Simple and utilitarian I’m all for! That’s why I don’t want any Di2 or tubeless tires, ready for the apocalypse! But I have bad memories from my 1982 friction shifter, it sucked! Maybe crap gears or that I was only 15, who knows?! Got a dropbar bike with indexed gearing in 1990 and it was a dream in comparison. But I would be willing to try friction shifting again on my touring bike, if nothing else because I find them more attractive (yes I’m a nerd).

Good stuff. I’m 💯 onboard with friction shifting. However, forward compatible not backwards. Also the the friction shifter will not work with ALL derailleurs. How about a SRAM eTap derailleur?

I'm finding that because of the built-in cable stops on thumb shifters, they are easier to mount just about anywhere. You can find large 40 mm clamps with friction mounts on them for down tubes or top tubes. I working a 3-speed freewheel with a Shimano derailer on a BMX show bike. Since the BMX frame is single-speed speed it has no cable stops for shifting so want to use the shortest piece of cable, also the thumb shifters have cable stops that work bette. I want to turn the shifter mount on top so it's easy to use left or right-handed and hide the mount and cable under BMX top tube padding, one of the checkered handlebar donuts under the shifter lever to help cover and reinforce the hole I cut in the padding. It feels comfy about 2/3rds of the way up the top tube that is where I'll put it.

Love love love friction shifting and it's what the gods intended for us anyway

Just installed some leftover Shimano friction shifters from an ‘86 SS rebuild onto my moms 1990 Hard Rock frame and they shift great! Her plastic click shifters were totally busted. The front derailleur is a bit tricky w the friction. I may try running that one w brake housing vs index shift housing… I actually probably should run the rear w brake housing too. What’s your opinion there?

This is amazing, PRO FRICTION SHIFTERS, haha. I zwift with friction shifters on my vintage Peugeot, and definitely have the art down by now. Another pitfall with them is the inability to shift with a heavy load. Yeah you really shouldn't do that with even the best modern groupsets, but trying to shift when putting out some wattage running these old skools almost always makes me slip if I'm not jumping to the biggest or smallest cog.

Tis true. I made my neighbours. 1980s peogoet 2x6 road bike 3x10 with a good used set wheels, 30/40/50 triple chainset and mech and MTB mech combined with its original friction shifters.

Agree. Retro combo for a L'Eroica bike race. Campagnolo Nouvo Record RD/Sachs-Huret Simplex shifters. Smooth, quiet never an issue. :)

Index shifters are a classic example of an "upgrade" the vast majority of riders neither asked for or needed. Friction shifters are simpler and just as easy to use. You pick up the shift-and-adjust rhythm very quickly, after which it's as automatic as index. And the vastly quicker and easier adjustment drill, coupled with friction's much wider spectrum of effectiveness, means you spend significantly less time futzing with your bike and more time riding it. The wholesale abandonment of friction shifters for index is one of a list of "advances" in biking that confuses complexity with efficiency. Bottom line: ride what you want, but make informed decisions. Don't just grab whatever's supposed to be sexy. Thanks for this thorough video. This is the information people need to do that.

Tried, hate it

I wonder how friction shifting performs in more dynamic ride, I mean when I ride MTB and need to quickly drop gears to climb and then set harder gear for descent. I'm always for simple solution that's less complicated and easier to service, but haven't ever ridden friction one yet. Maye will try with my next touring bike.

Hi, Thanks to bring to me this brillant idea. I've been stolen 2 months ago my good Genesis Croix de Fer, and to replace it with my left money, I bought an old timer (70's) Peugeot with weird ancient brakes and down tube shifting. I'd like to upgrade it a little bit with the goods you show in your shooting. Sorry to say but I feel that in this video you talk too much repeating a lot yourself, you should have express all the 'pro' & 'cons' points very quicker in my opinion. I'd have appreciated much more if you should have shown and named the model of black combo (brakes plus shifters) mounted on the handlebar next to you during the entire shooting! Please, could you at least give me the reference of this very interesting model, which I've never seen in my life ? Tks

I do missed down-tube friction shifters, and oh, toe clips and straps (with cleat shoes!). However, I don't remember how friction shifters work on flat bar: maybe everything was indexed when MTB came along.