MTB 2 x 10 gear shifters - trigger vs twist??
Discussion
I just wanted some opinions on the 2 please:
I have trigger shifters on 2 of my bikes but they vary greatly in terms of ease of use.
I have Sram 2 x 10 Double Tap flar bar shifters on my MiniVelo and they are a total dream, they are effortless to use. I have SRAM X9 2 x 10 trigger on my MTB and I find it a real faff, especially after a long ride when your fingers start to ache and you really have to work hard to change up.
I was thinking of going down the SRAM XO 2x10 twist shifter route, so was wondering if many others had changed and what the general consensus was before I fork out £129 for a pair? The rest of my bike is XO, hence wanting the XO shifter.
I have trigger shifters on 2 of my bikes but they vary greatly in terms of ease of use.
I have Sram 2 x 10 Double Tap flar bar shifters on my MiniVelo and they are a total dream, they are effortless to use. I have SRAM X9 2 x 10 trigger on my MTB and I find it a real faff, especially after a long ride when your fingers start to ache and you really have to work hard to change up.
I was thinking of going down the SRAM XO 2x10 twist shifter route, so was wondering if many others had changed and what the general consensus was before I fork out £129 for a pair? The rest of my bike is XO, hence wanting the XO shifter.
Grip shift is distinctly 'old school' I know, or have spoken to a small number of people who use them and all for different reasons, but there's always a 'reason'. One guy had an injury which meant a thumb shifter was out and if I recall the other was a serious XC whippet who liked the fact that they weren’t rigidly indexed so he could add or take away a single click to make each gear super smooth.
I had them years ago, if you were just going along cruising they were fine, but if you were attacking a fast bit of trail it was easy to over/under-shift and worse than that you had to shift and then reposition your hand on the bar, plus you're limited with grip choice etc.
I think SRAM are the only company that makes them (or ever did) and they didn’t change the design other than to make them astatically like the current thumb shifters for years, but have recently refreshed the whole range.
I had them years ago, if you were just going along cruising they were fine, but if you were attacking a fast bit of trail it was easy to over/under-shift and worse than that you had to shift and then reposition your hand on the bar, plus you're limited with grip choice etc.
I think SRAM are the only company that makes them (or ever did) and they didn’t change the design other than to make them astatically like the current thumb shifters for years, but have recently refreshed the whole range.
The owner of an LBS is a big twist shift fan.
You have to bear in mind that most twist shifts are on cheap bikes, so are very low end kit. I'd imagine an X-0 will be leaps and bounds ahead of what we're used to.
I can see the attraction, but having never used them I can't really comment.
You have to bear in mind that most twist shifts are on cheap bikes, so are very low end kit. I'd imagine an X-0 will be leaps and bounds ahead of what we're used to.
I can see the attraction, but having never used them I can't really comment.
if your fingers ache (?!) then the chances are you will also have weakening grip over your whole hand and fatiguing wrists. Being committed and then changing your grip and twisting up and down will impact your riding more than clicking triggers in my opinion. I tried grip shift on 2 bikes and hated it. However far they have come on it is the act of changing gear like that that I hated, not the action or the aesthetics or anything.
Shimano triggers for me, always. The XT and above with the dual release for the spring assisted shifts (down block or chainring) are a dream to use.
Gripshift fails for the reason stated above - every jump, drop or set of stairs results in an unintended 'watch this' moment! Usually followed by a 'where's the local A&E?' moment...
Gripshift fails for the reason stated above - every jump, drop or set of stairs results in an unintended 'watch this' moment! Usually followed by a 'where's the local A&E?' moment...
Love my X0 trigger shifters (whole groupset and brakes). Real satisfying clunk. Especially like the up and down push action all with your thumb - means 1 finger braking is much easier than with my old XTs.
Grip shifts are all new though - changed a lot from the old unreliable SRAM ones and have heard lots of good things about them. Make a mess of your handlebars though unless you're running X0 brakes (or any Avids?) as they take up a lot of space inboard of the grips.
From what I can gather the prices are about the same as are the weights. If I was you I'd see if I could try some.
Forum 'review' here : http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?thread...
Grip shifts are all new though - changed a lot from the old unreliable SRAM ones and have heard lots of good things about them. Make a mess of your handlebars though unless you're running X0 brakes (or any Avids?) as they take up a lot of space inboard of the grips.
From what I can gather the prices are about the same as are the weights. If I was you I'd see if I could try some.
Forum 'review' here : http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?thread...
Edited by Gren on Wednesday 9th January 18:11
You can't compare cheap gripshift to X0. The quality is a world apart, as you would expect with the price difference.
Gripshift isn't for everyone, but there are some real advantages.
Simpler internals, very durable and little to go wrong.
Ability to move through the whole cassette in one movement
Trim the front mech to stop it rubbing at the extremes
Negatives, well if your hands are really muddy they can be harder to shift. But I mean REALLY muddy.
It takes practice to brake and shift at the same time, but it is possible.
I used 9sp x0 gripshift for ages and loved it. When 10sp came out there was no gripshift so I had to go back to triggers.
With new 10sp gripshift I'd love to try it out again. Shame it isn't the bargain it used to be.
Gripshift isn't for everyone, but there are some real advantages.
Simpler internals, very durable and little to go wrong.
Ability to move through the whole cassette in one movement
Trim the front mech to stop it rubbing at the extremes
Negatives, well if your hands are really muddy they can be harder to shift. But I mean REALLY muddy.
It takes practice to brake and shift at the same time, but it is possible.
I used 9sp x0 gripshift for ages and loved it. When 10sp came out there was no gripshift so I had to go back to triggers.
With new 10sp gripshift I'd love to try it out again. Shame it isn't the bargain it used to be.
I happily run gripshift have done for years, never had a problem landing jumps etc. Started using them when the x-ray srt800's first come out and have carried on using that style of shifting on my mountain bikes ever since. I use sram double tap on my cross bike and love that as well. I have ridden with trigger shifters and don't have a problem with them either. The extra tweak you can give to the cable to help a shift is only possible on a gripshifter, it's not always needed but it is nice to have, but then i was brought up with thumbshifters which had the great option of being able to switch off the indexing if it was all getting messy and wrong. The SRAM option with sram mechs works lovely as the different cable actuation ratios means spot on shifting for the entire lengths of races/rides no matter how messy it gets.
Great thanks all. I did have twist on my folder, X5 ones I think and I quite liked it but am going to have a bit more of a think about it.
In response to an earlier post I have Avid brakes (Elixir 7) and they dont take up a lot of room on the bars, they join neatly next to/over the trigger shifter. Although I love my Double Taps on my Minivelo I might prefer the XO twist for my MTB usage. I wont be doing any DH, just some XC stuff, nothing intense.
I will think a bit more on it before I fork out £129 :-). Thanks for the views.
In response to an earlier post I have Avid brakes (Elixir 7) and they dont take up a lot of room on the bars, they join neatly next to/over the trigger shifter. Although I love my Double Taps on my Minivelo I might prefer the XO twist for my MTB usage. I wont be doing any DH, just some XC stuff, nothing intense.
I will think a bit more on it before I fork out £129 :-). Thanks for the views.
Edited by seadragon on Wednesday 9th January 23:21
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