9 speed shifter alternatives

It seems like in the 90's every man and his dog has 7-8 speed shifters. There seems very little at 9 speed besides Shimano, SRAM. Others options would be Sunrace or Shimano bar end shifter mounted as thumbies.

anything else? Preferably shimano compatible? I'm assuming all the SRAM stuff had a different pull ratio?

Re:

*whispers*

Modern stuff.
I have dura ace TT bar end shifters on Paul thumbie mounts on one of my bikes, and whilst they do work and are nice and clicky etc etc....... they really aren't in any way ergonomic. The extra arc that the right shifter turns through to get 9 speeds is just too much to make them properly usable. You pretty much have to take your grip off the bars to get to the top/bottom gear. Unless you have unfeasibly long thumbs, that is !

That said - I do like 9 speed setups. I'm in the middle of another build - a real bastard. '94 KHS montana team, with Orange F7 forks and modern Sram X0 1x9 setup. I'm not expecting any botm awards... 'cos most people will hate it But it will work properly so I'm happy

Re:

Bearing in mind 9 speed stuff didn't really arrive until late 1998, it would be classed as more modern, at least in terms of Retrobike.

As such I'll move this thread over into the post 98 section...

the 8 speed suntour thumbies can run 9 speed's fine in friction mode. sturmey archer do a modern 9 speed thumbie for sensible money now aswell.

gripshifts "dura ace 8 " pulled the same amount of cable as everything 9 speed they made later , if you were prepared to lose 1 cog it would work

Re: Re:

paddy311":7p3oit7w said:

*whispers*

I'm in the middle of another build - a real bastard. '94 KHS montana team, with Orange F7 forks and modern Sram X0 1x9 setup. I'm not expecting any botm awards... 'cos most people will hate it But it will work properly so I'm happy

Click to expand...

:shock: Orange F7 forks on a '94 KHS Montana Team?

Wow, that's a bold move – look out for the pointy hats...

That's a nice bike and a top choice of fork (for me) – hopefully they're the nice shiny nickel plated F7s.

Re: Re:

groovyblueshed":2ogr2ine said:

paddy311":2ogr2ine said:

*whispers*

I'm in the middle of another build - a real bastard. '94 KHS montana team, with Orange F7 forks and modern Sram X0 1x9 setup. I'm not expecting any botm awards... 'cos most people will hate it But it will work properly so I'm happy

Click to expand...

:shock: Orange F7 forks on a '94 KHS Montana Team?

Wow, that's a bold move – look out for the pointy hats...

That's a nice bike and a top choice of fork (for me) – hopefully they're the nice shiny nickel plated F7s.

Click to expand...

Cheers - hoping it will work out OK. I'd been looking for the proper spinner fork for a while, and eventually turned one up (cheers Wadsy). Sadly the fork is attached to another montana team frame - so I can't bring myself to split it up :facepalm:
Hence.... dug the F7 out of the stash, and remembered how good they look / work.

Sorry for the hijack Secret_Squirel

Re:

Remember seeing a good review of these (in Singletrack I think) – IRD XC-Pro 9speed Thumbshifters:

http://store.interlocracing.com/irdxcth.html

Nice, bit pricey though – Christmas isn't far off...

Am thinking of these with a mega range 9speed cassette and one big ring.

Re:

Microshift sell 9 and 10speed shifters thumbie style.

Further to this. Did Sram ever make a medium to high end 9sp Gripshift with Shimano pull ratios?

Or is a full Sram set up needed to get a 9 Speed Gripshift? Note I mean Gripshift style not necessarily Gripshift branded.