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reversed shifters

Mar 31, 2010
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Hi,

My wife has had an accident which means she has very much reduced strength in her left hand/wrist. Amongst other issues she now finds it very difficult to use the left hand gear shifter (either flat bar or road). As this shifter changes the front chainrings you need much more strength to change gears inthe left hand than you do in the right. We have even looked at the rotating shifters (as a last resort) but she can't use those either and let's just say that electronic changers aren't an option (cost and reliability)!

Does anyone know of a company that manufacture reversed shifters (right hand front derailleur, left hand rear)? Neither Campy nor Shimano do.

Cheers

Colin
 
Mar 19, 2009
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Nothing like that exists that I'm aware of. You could set up everything on the right with the lever changing the rear derailleur like normal, and use a barcon (bar end shifter) also on the right side for the front derailleur. That's the best solution I can come up with if she wants to keep all the gearing.

Good luck!
 
Aug 4, 2009
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i saw a mountain bike trigger shifter mounted on the right side, upside down, next to the rear shifter, on a the bike of a downhiller who broke his wrist. i believe the pic was in mountain bike action a few years ago. both shifters could be operated with the right hand.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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icebreaker said:
Use a downtube shifter for the front rings.

Or a bar end,

in conjunction with a straight brake lever on the left side.

You're right, a dt shifter could also work, assuming that her frame has dt shifter bosses. Most modern frames don't have those bosses anymore. Even If it did, I would still go with the barcon, less of a reach, and less pressure on her bad hand. The old Campy dt shift levers make nice keychain toys though.;)

L1020323.JPG
 
Mar 19, 2009
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icebreaker said:
If she doesn't have dt bosses - there are still lots of clamp on mounts floating around - I probably have one or two of them here.

They came in both single and double sided if I remember right.

Would depend on the frame though - wouldn't work for an OS tube.

Bar-con may end up being the only workable choice.

I like bar-cons, use them on my MTB.

You have to consider the entire reason for the OP. Her left hand/wrist is bad, unless she has monkey arms it's further of a reach for a dt shifter which would put pressure on the injury. Bar end shifter is much less of a reach.
 
Aug 13, 2009
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For a bunch of money, this sounds like an ideal situation for "electronic shifting". Put the buttons where they are needed. The assumption being the OP has/can spend the money
 
I ride with a guy who had a stroke (still a very strong rider!) and has limited function in his right hand. His solution is to use a bar end shifter on the left side in combination with the regular shifter on that side. His right hand is only used for holding the bar. Works great for him. I think that this is the simplest and best solution.
 
Aug 13, 2009
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icebreaker said:
You can probably solve the issue with a dead reliable and dirt cheap solution, that will never break, or you can spend the price of a small car on a complicated system that really is out there on the gee-whiz factor.

So you opt for the price of a small car??

Even though the OP says "electronic shifting is not an option for cost and reliability reasons".

Really?

Lighten up Francis. I misread the OP, skipped the part about "not an option..."

If you actually stopped to think about it, it's an ideal application of the technology. Rider with limited hand strength or mobility, grabbing brake levers is a gross motor skill, shifting requires more fine motor control. Pressing a button to perform the action would be easier.

But as you so kindly pointed out, it's not an option for the OP.

Hopefully the following idea does not offend anyone's sense of propriety.

This manual suggestion is going back a ways, but around the time Campy and Shimano were coming out with the integrated controls, someone, may have been Modolo had a set of paddles that clamped in position right at the brake levers. They looked like big wingnuts, shifter cables ran to them. They worked great with old SunTour Superbe. If someone could dig up a pair they may work. They sat on the inside of the brakelevers, they were big enough that you had good leverage and you could reach them from the drops.
Of course they may be difficult if not impossible to find, but I can't see that they'd cost much more than a barcon shifter.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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Thank you all for all of the ideas - I have been off line for a few days.

I had thought about dt shifters - I used to have a set that clamped on to the tube rather that being bolted on - if only I kept them - it was only 25 years ago!! Drillin a hole in a carbon frame doesn't seem like a good idea! A similar idea would be to use the shifters that mounted on the headstem - tacky but it could work.

If I win the lottery I'll consider electronic shifters - maybe!!

Hope you all had a good Easter (or holiday or whatever!)

Cheers
SCR