Bar Cons and New Chopper Bars?

stratrider said:

My SRAM 9.0 shifters are shot. After 7 years years of solid service on
my Stratus, they are done. I am thinking about replacing my rather
heavy Calhoun Evo-Pro Sport Bar and RANS telescoping stem/riser with
the new RANS adjustable chopper bars and Bar Con Shifters. Everything
I have read about the bar cons suggests they are bullet-proof! Any
thoughts?

Jim Reilly
Reading, PA

A couple issues: there's no bar-con shifters compatible with the SRAM
9.0 derailleur. You'll have to convert to a Shimano (or
Shimano-compatible) rear derailleur in order to make the indexing work.

Also, many handlebars are too thick to accept bar-cons easily. This can
be handled by reaming the handlebar and/or reducing the diameter of the
wedges that hold the shifter in place. I did this on my Tour Easy and
it worked fine.

The bar-con shifters are my favorites. I have a set that's 15 years
old. They don't get used often nowadays, but they still work perfectly
after many thousands of miles.

Jeff

Good to know about the compatibility issue. Thanks.

stratrider said:

Good to know about the compatibility issue. Thanks.

Here is another (expensive) way to mount bar-end shifters:
<http://www.paulcomp.com/thumbmtn.html>.

Barcons [TM] is a registered trademark of Sun Tour, so the Shimano
versions [1] should be referred to as bar-end shifters.

[1] E.g.
<http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/catalog/cycle/products/component.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441763091&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302040768&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181426&bmUID=1138928792030>.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley

Tom, I have seen shifters refered to as bar-end and barcon but never
realized the difference was in the manufacturer. The paulcomp.com
mounting looks particularly interesting for use on a recumbent. In
fact, it makes me wonder if the bar-end shifter is a good choice for
recumbents given that most recumbent handlebars will require the
shifter to be upside down and ultimately shiftable with the rider's
palm rather than the rider's thumb?

Jim

stratrider said:

In
fact, it makes me wonder if the bar-end shifter is a good choice for
recumbents given that most recumbent handlebars will require the
shifter to be upside down and ultimately shiftable with the rider's
palm rather than the rider's thumb?

That's rather dependent on which way up the bars are. I have bar ends
on my underseat steering model and they work /very/ well on it, shifting
with my thumb.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Diatech makes bar end shifters that are friction so should work with
tne 1:1 pull Sram derailleurs. Ain't indexed though.

Good to know. I was curious so I found your web site. Have you
thought about becoming a RANS dealer? It seems that their
crank-forward bikes would be a nice addition to your line of bikes.

Jim Reilly
Reading PA