[lextek]

I'm getting back into Mtnbiking after a few years off. How does the Dual Control work? Is the shifting integrated into the brake lever? If so, what do you do? Push down and pull up?
My old Merlin has Gripshift X-Rays w/XTR r.der. I am getting a Blur and was trying to decide between the 04 XT or Sram X.0.

 

[Carbon Fetish]

The 2004 XT shifting is intergrated into the brake lever just like the 2003 XTR and Shimano's road levers. By pushing down with the left shifter shifts the front derailleur like normal. The 04 XT rear derailleur and the 03-04 XTR rear derailleur is rapid rise so as you press down on the lever you shift into harder gears. That is why Specialized and other companies use the 2002 XTR rear derailleur on their production bikes. The XT levers can only be used with Shimano disc calipers and the levers themselves are not as round as the XTR so they are uncomfortable. The bright side is they do make a V brake model as well.

I personally use the X.0 product because of the faster shifting 1:1 cable pull ratio and the ablity to use either SRAM "triger"style shifters or SRAM twist style shifters. And this allows you to run which ever brake system you want.

 

[lextek]

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. I had thought "integrated" was shifters and brake lever combined. I think I'm switching back to Sram. Thanks.

 

[blue]

Another soul saved :devil:

 

[lextek]

Well my Blur shipped w/the 04 XT kit. The shop suggested I give it a try. We'll see. Should pick it up tomorrow.

 

[MikeOK]

Originally posted by Carbon Fetish
...The 04 XT rear derailleur and the 03-04 XTR rear derailleur is rapid rise so as you press down on the lever you shift into harder gears.

I have the '04 XTR's and they are just the opposite. Pushing down on the lever takes you to a lower (easier) gear. I heard or read somewhere that the '04 XT only worked on a low normal rear der, anybody have any scoop? Mine is high normal and the XTR's work fine...

 

[Carbon Fetish]

Originally posted by MikeOK
I have the '04 XTR's and they are just the opposite. Pushing down on the lever takes you to a lower (easier) gear. I heard or read somewhere that the '04 XT only worked on a low normal rear der, anybody have any scoop? Mine is high normal and the XTR's work fine...

Do you have a rapid rise rear derailluer? If you do not then the shifting would be "normal."

 

[MikeOK]

This all gets confusing to me, kinda like changing to daylight savings time

The only thing I know for sure is my rear der is high normal, meaning when no cable is on it the spring pulls it to the highest gear. This also means that when I push down (the "long" stroke) of my right lever it pushes the rear der to a bigger cog (or lower, or easier gear). I either read or heard somewhere that the '04 XT lever shifters were the opposite of this, or used with a "low normal" rear der. Seems this would be more natural to me, since it would match ALL the front der's.

But, I forgot to actually reply to the original question. I have the XTR lever shifters and love them. I was worried that I might get false shifts when riding in cruddy technical stuff, but I actually have fewer false shifts now than I did with rapid fire's or grip shifters. And it's much easier to shift ahead of time while you are holding a handful of brake with these once you get used to them...

 

[oldfart]

Its in the derailleur not the shifter. The spring in a low normal runs the derailleur to low gear position at rest. High normal is the oposite. The shifter simply moves cable in a 2:1 ratio so any derailleur with the same throw will work.

Personally I agree that the SRAM grip shift shifts faster. I like it a lot for its function. Unfortunately, the ergonomics for my small hands is crappy. My second finger is my longest by 5/8 of an inch over the index finger so I can't really use the index finger only for braking. Grip shift is too wide so that even with the brake lever slammed up beside the shifter the reach is not optimal. Plus I find it harder to if not immpossible to brake and shift at the same time.

Shimano triggers for me were better but not perfect. The reach to the two triggers was right for one trigger or the other. The new SRAM triggers might be better but I haven't seen any set up yet so I don't know.

The integrated shifters are awesome ergonomically for me. I shift far more often because its so easy and the low normal is also better at shifting to lower gear under power albeit a bit slower than gripshift.

Thumb shifters never worked very well for short fingered people. To get low gear the thumb had to reach too far requiring the wrist rotate to make the reach. On the other hand when I sprianed my thumb, I could still shift a thumby like a water faucet.

But you won't know until you try it. You might like it. You might not. I think a lot of people dismmissed it out of hand without really riding it. Like when road sti came out. Old roadies were dead against it. It's too heavy. I'll apply the brakes when I shift and shift when I brake. In reallity road sti and campy ergo works so much better than downtube shifters that its getting pretty hard to get the old style shifters.