switched to twist shifters

whtbread

whtbread

New Member
Last week I was going around a corner/tree and slid the bike out on the tree root and I was on the ground. I felt severe pain in my thumb right away. I have big hands and when the bike went down, my thumb was stuck in the shifters and it dislocated my thumb. I decided to switch to twist shifters to try and stop this from happening again. Anybody else ever have this happen? Sram X.9 Twist Shift a good fix?
 
Fortunately haven't had a similar experience, but use X0 twist shifter and wouldn't switch back....love 'em.
 
I was thinking about going back to 1996 and trying them too.
 
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stb222 said:
I was thinking about going back 1996 and trying them too.
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I rode a bike with twist shifters once,,,, once.....

Every time I pulled up on the bars during hard accelerations, I'd spin the shifters. Not a good combo. I didnt like it at all. Thats just my 2 cents...
 
if your thumb gets stuck between the shifters in a fall again, i'll buy you a beer. i have never heard of anyone doing this. of course this will probably happen to me on my next ride, but i would doubt that it would happen again.
 
i switched to twist shifters - sram x.0 were super cheap compared to teh trigger kind, lighter (i think?) and also in case of crashing one less part to snap off - ever try shifting a trigger shifter sans trigger?

edit - i do a lot of crashing
 
Wobbegong said:
I rode a bike with twist shifters once,,,, once.....

Every time I pulled up on the bars during hard accelerations, I'd spin the shifters. Not a good combo. I didnt like it at all. Thats just my 2 cents...
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My mother hung me on a hook once, once. Ha

I'm going to give them a try. I just have to wait for my thumb to get so I can install them. If I find I don't like them my plan is to put the trigger shifters back on, but move them in on the bars. I think that would decrease the chances of this happening again.
 
Yes, I broke and sprained my thumb once and it took 6 months to heal. I built my first single-speed then plus put twist shifters on another bike. It seemed to work until my thumb got stronger. Since then I have gone to sram trigger and they seem so much quicker.
 
I have broken my thumb in a crash but not due to the shifter, I would like to go back to 1996, I have never tried thumbshifters and on another occasion broke off the shifter lever in a crash and had to use my finger nail to get through the race and it was a drag. Somehow I am still not interested in grip shifters though.
 
handyman said:
And if using grip shifters you can make motorbike noises as well
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LMAO that was funny.
On another note how many of you saps who crashed and and whacked your hitch hiking finger had clip pedals vs platforms ??? :hmmm::popcorn: Not to jack the topic but jussssssst wondering.
 
Triple-B said:
LMAO that was funny.
On another note how many of you saps who crashed and and whacked your hitch hiking finger had clip pedals vs platforms ??? :hmmm::popcorn: Not to jack the topic but jussssssst wondering.
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When this happened I was using clipless, however they didn't factor in to the crash or injury. I use the easy out cleat for that reason.
 
My first bike had twist shifters and I had the same problem as Wobbegong -- I'd slip them whenever I'd start to really push. For a long time, I had a Fuel EX as my primary race bike that I built up with the 2005 XTR reverse pull dual control levers. I know these didn't catch on, but I loved them. First, I am 100% convinced that reverse pull is a much better alternative than the standard pull for mountainbiking. When I want to accelerate, I want to do it quickly, but as I approach hills, I can shift my stack one gear at a time quickly. I don't necessarily think this is true for road, but for MTB, the "rapid rise" just always felt so much better to me. It's hte one thing I don't like about my current geared hardtail (I built it up XT to save money, so it's standard pull, but since I don't ride it all that much, I'm cool with that.)
 
1speed said:
My first bike had twist shifters and I had the same problem as Wobbegong -- I'd slip them whenever I'd start to really push. For a long time, I had a Fuel EX as my primary race bike that I built up with the 2005 XTR reverse pull dual control levers. I know these didn't catch on, but I loved them. First, I am 100% convinced that reverse pull is a much better alternative than the standard pull for mountainbiking. When I want to accelerate, I want to do it quickly, but as I approach hills, I can shift my stack one gear at a time quickly. I don't necessarily think this is true for road, but for MTB, the "rapid rise" just always felt so much better to me. It's hte one thing I don't like about my current geared hardtail (I built it up XT to save money, so it's standard pull, but since I don't ride it all that much, I'm cool with that.)
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rode on XTR Rapid Rise for almost 10 years and loved it, when I got my new bikes went back to standard, it definately took me some time to get used to it.
 
whtbread said:
Last week I was going around a corner/tree and slid the bike out on the tree root and I was on the ground. I felt severe pain in my thumb right away. I have big hands and when the bike went down, my thumb was stuck in the shifters and it dislocated my thumb. I decided to switch to twist shifters to try and stop this from happening again. Anybody else ever have this happen? Sram X.9 Twist Shift a good fix?
Click to expand...

rebuilt my wife's old steel Trek 930 frame with x.0 gripshift and X7 drivetrain. my daughter has been riding with me alot (she's 11) and it's much easier for her to understand what gear she should be in with gripshift.
 
I like the twist shifters better than triggers on my main bike now. They shift so much more precise than triggers. Both are sequential but I feel more in control to find the right gear with the twist shifters as the grade changes
 
whtbread said:
Last week I was going around a corner/tree and slid the bike out on the tree root and I was on the ground. I felt severe pain in my thumb right away. I have big hands and when the bike went down, my thumb was stuck in the shifters and it dislocated my thumb. I decided to switch to twist shifters to try and stop this from happening again. Anybody else ever have this happen? Sram X.9 Twist Shift a good fix?
Click to expand...

i went form that kind of shifter to twist shifters and i hate it. when i need to shift in a tight situation as in doing up a difficult hill or section of a trail i find it take more effort to twist and i usually screw it up the hill or whatever monument i have
 
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