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Advice Please! Grip shift or Trigger shift?


Kevlouw

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Posted

Good morning hubbers,

 

So I bought a bike in Dec 2015 from the classifieds section, and I couldn't be more happy with the bike I bought.

 

I went to my local shop a week ago to find out about servicing/replacing the grip shift with a new one. To my understanding, they don't service them at all. This is due to the difficulty of getting parts for the service or replacement. Not sure if this might be because they are a small shop.

 

I was advised by my local shop that changing to a decent SRAM X9 trigger shifter ( speaking under correction ) would cost about R800, which is not too bad in the long run as parts are available almost everywhere.

 

Would it be better just to change from grip shift to trigger shift?

 

Suggestions? 

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Posted

I have used both and am currently running trigger shift - if I had to choose I would say grip shifts are better but that doesn't mean the trigger is bad. Comes down to preference at the end of the day

Posted

I hated gripshift, kept on changing gears at the worst times when doing technical things as your hand is trying to get extra grip on the bars.. this was first gen though, not sure if new ones have large enough area for whole hand to go of the shifting part.

Posted

Gripshift for sure ! Well that's my preference anyway.

I stand to be corrected but I'm sure parts and service kits are available.

I've had the rubber sleeves replaced on one of my sets. 

Posted

Grip shift was a revelation for me. I'll never go back to trigger. I run Sram XO.

 

I find it to be more precise and more intuitive. I find I can pick up or drop a lot of gears very quickly. My XO requires a positive shift and I have never had a problem with shifting inadvertently. 

 

Its easy to take the cowling (the bit covering the mechanism) off to get at the internals to clean and lube. I have only had to do this once in two years. The cowling does a good job of keeping the rain and muck out.

 

I also find not having to use my thumb to change means I can keep my grip on the handle bars.

 

It also gives the handlebar a nice uncluttered look.

Posted

There's not much in a grip shift to service. Replacement grips and barrel are available but it's such a simple device that if something should fail, just replace the unit.

I've used every shifter type of shifter available over the years but I always seem to come back to a gripshift.

 

I prefer them over the sram triggers because the release lever on the trigger is very short and hard to actuate

You have to be very deliberate in depressing the lever.

For triggers I prefer shimano but I prefer the overall hassle free set up and lower maintenance of sram. So gripshift it is

Posted

Strange that the LBS cannot service the Gripshifter? Is this a specialist thing?

As I said, my LBS is very small, and it's more like an outdoor shop than a bike shop. They sell hunting gear, camping gear etc. The bike section is very small.

 

We support this shop, because they have been there for over 50 years, but it's difficult to find what you really need.

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