Grip shift - enlighten me

[2manyoranges]

Ah an interesting set up I had whilst racing was Shitshift sorry Gripshift (600s) on the front mech, and Shimano XTR for the rear mech. Ritchey grips, normal on RH, cut down on the LH. Looked very hardcore and Terminator. Worked a treat. Excellent combination. Allowed precise mindless shifting at the rear and nice fine tuning at the front.

 

[CassidyAce]

If you are going to dip your toes/fingers into the Gripshift pool and are going the Shimano compatible route (pre esp) then SRT 600's are a good robust shifter, steer clear of X-rays as the housing are fragile.

al.

Completely agree. I don't think the X-Rays even shift any better than the SRT 600s—pretty much the same in operation. The clear/smokey plastic just seems like a gimmick.

I did try a set of recent 3x8 MRX Comp Gripshift (Shimano compatible) but I couldn't get the right-hand shifter to index through the middle of cassette. The spaces between clicks on the shifter were narrower on the MRX Comp than on the old SRT 600 and that made indexing tougher. SRAM's 1:1 actuation would, presumably, have the opposite effect.

 

[ishaw]

If I do dip my toes into the grip shift water, it's SRAM X0 with matching mechs so no worries about compatibility.

Feedback sounds encouraging enough for me to give it a go I think. May find its way on to my GT lightning, though was also toying with either red x9 10x2 or black x0 10x2.

 

[al]

I can't help with XO stuff, 9.0 is where I tap out.

al.

 

[splotch]

I like Gripshift. My '97 Rockhopper came with them and I'm still using them. My bike has SRT-400i. The brake levers are Dia-Compe DP-7.

As for grips...I cut the ends off my original grips many years ago when I wanted to try bar ends. Recently I was trying a few different grips (no more bar ends). I tried ESI Chunky (my favorite grips on my single speed street cruisers) and Lizard Skins Charger Evos. The ESIs didn't seem right; the Lizard Skins felt nice but at 140mm length they were way too long. In the end I found Sram Racing grips. They come in 60mm, 110mm, and 130mm lengths. I went with 110mm and I'm really happy with them. Really comfy, they look great, and are dirt cheap for some reason.

ESI Chunky...130mm length (with a bontrager bar plug )


Lizard Skins...way too long at 140mm, plus the blue didn't look right.


Sram Racing...110mm is great. I think 60mm would be too short.