Explain to me index and friction? My last bike was a Raleigh road bike I had all through my teens and 20s until it was stolen. The shifters were on the frame like the red Bianchi above.
Explain to me index and friction? My last bike was a Raleigh road bike I had all through my teens and 20s until it was stolen. The shifters were on the frame like the red Bianchi above.
Index: move the thumb lever to the next "click" or index. When it clicks, you are in the new gear.
Friction: no clicks, just move the lever far enough until the derailer does its job and moves to next gear.
Pros, cons: when index is working right, the next gear is easy to find by just moving to the next click. The friction offers unlimited adjustability/flexibility but less precision.
On this particular thumbie, you have SIS (Shimano Index System) or F for friction. Move the smaller black lever to select.
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_shifting#Index_shifting
Ahhhh! Gotcha, thanks! 
Downtube shifters look oh so clean.. but I had to dump them on my old LUGGED frame.... A 65cm frame puts them MILES from being usable lol... Installed the barcons and loved em... If/when I build another road bike I'll use em again.
Check out Retroshift for brake/friction shifter combos.
I think they look cool.
Lesley wrote: Here's a pic. Apparently the bike is a 93.
Those are exactly what is on my old Supergo build that I refurbished for my wife 6 or 7 years ago (and hasn't had a mile put on it).
The best thing about thumbies is how dead-nuts they are.
Good thumbies are a nice thing... The prob was the junk on big box bikes...
PHeller wrote: Check out Retroshift for brake/friction shifter combos. I think they look cool.
Pretty sweet... Makes a lot of sence for cx riders... But I think Paula thimbies are a better answer for most people... I still loved my barcons on my old roadie build though... Biggest issue was getting the bars to the correct height
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