How to Choose Bicycle Shifters

Bicycle shifters all do the same thing, but how they do it with regard to what the rider does is slightly different. It can make a small difference or big difference depending on your needs and or preferences. Some of the major manufacturers have very similar across their range and others have wide differences. There are also differences in road and mountain bikes.This article will discuss the differences and show you the differences of the three primary manufacturers of shifters: Shimano, Capagnolo and SRAM.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. The left and right shifters control different dérailleurs. The left controls the front dérailleur and the right controls the rear. All of the shifters have controls that move the chain up or down the gears.

2. 
    
   Left side Campagnolo shifter: Notice the paddle behind the brake lever and the thumb switch.

   Let's look at Campagnolo first. They have the same shifter technology across their entire range. There is a paddle behind the brake lever and a thumb switch on the inside of the shifter. The left shifter paddle move the chain from the smaller to larger chain ring and the thumb switch returns the chain to the small chain ring. The right paddle moves the chain from larger to smaller rings on the cassette, while the thumb switch reverses that. It's also important to note that Campagnolo components will not work with anything other than other Campagnolo components.

3. 
    
   SRAM Red shifter: The paddle behind the brake controls both directions of shifting

   The next company is SRAM and like Campagnolo, they have paddles behind the brake levers, but the paddles control both directions of the gears. The SRAM technology is called "DoubleTap," which means that moving the shifters to one point moves them in one direction and moving the more will move them in the opposite direction.

4. 
    
   Diagram of DoubleTap technology.

   The DoubleTap system is the only single lever shifter.

5. 
    
   Shimano Dura Ace STI shifter: The shifter use the brake lever as part of the shifter.

   The third major manufacturer of is Shimano and they have different technologies across their range of shifters. The Dura Ace, Ultegra SL, Ultegra, 105,and Tiagra use a dual shifter technology called STI which integrates the shifter and the brake lever. Shimano's Sora series has paddle and thumb shifter technology very similar to the Campagnolo shifters. In the case of the STI shifters the paddles move the chain in the same manner as Campagnolo but twisting the brake lever to the inside is what moves the chain in the opposite direction. The complication with this set up is that it's possible to inadvertently brake while shifting, which can disrupt a rider's pace.

Tips & Warnings

• *Ride bicycles with each of the technologies to decide which one your personal favorite. It is a rider preference issue.
• *There are bicycles in every price range with each of the shifter ranges listed above.
• *It is possible to have your local bike shop install a new shifter system on your existing bicycle, but it would likely come with a complete component switch.
• *It is possible to ask a local bicycle shop to switch shifter or component technology on a new bike if you like one better than the other.
• *Campagnolo components are not compatible with any other system.
• *SRAM and Shimano chains and cassettes are compatible, but may not work as efficiently as with their homogeneous system.
• *Asking your local bike shop to switch components will likely come at a cost especially if you are upgrading within a range or into a higher level range of a different component group. They will also likely charge you labor.

Resources

• Campagnolo
• SRAM
• Shimano

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