Retrobuild - STI or Thumbies?

Mavic Y-shaped Thumbies for "under the bar usage" anyone?
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And then there were the suntour... what were they called? Wishbones?
 
Thumbies or Gripshift for me. I always seem to get on really well with Gripshift, many others hate them but I grew to like them as the only alternative to Thumbies, in my opinion. These two shifting solutions are the simplest and easiest to use, they also have less working components and are easy to service. They also tend not to explode into a million pieces when you drop your bike on a rock, which is good.

So: Thumbies first, Gripshift second. Try getting some Shimano Deore DX Thumbies or better still the Deore XT ones:

DX: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-DEOR ... SwjhJeNbyh

XT: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retro-Heaven ... SwHP1eEVtg

Gripshift: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gripshift-SR ... Sw3yNdqdgW
 
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Trebz is right of course.

If you haven't tried thumbies I can attest that they are slightly less intuitive than modern STIs or Gripshift, but, its a small price to pay for the perfect retro looks and the uber satisfying 'clunk' as each indexed gear drops into place.
If you ride retro all the time and value lightning changes then perhaps look elsewhere but I've never got on with early STIs, they just never felt reliable enough to me.
Gripshift are lovely once you get used to them. Super intuitive, just a bit of a noisy 'click' when shifting.

Only thing I'd recommend over Trebz comments are Suntour XC thumbies over Shimano, they work perfectly and are beautifully machined. Highly underrated IMO, I wasnt convinced until I bought a bike with them fitted and now I switch out Shimano thumbies for them every time.
 
Mr Steel has a point, I have two pairs of the Suntour XC Pro shifters and they look outstanding. Iv'e never used them personally but they look and feel brilliant, maybe give them a try. They have been sat in my parts bin for about nine years I think hehe.
 
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