Why are thumb shifters so prized in the retrobike community?

[Black_puma]

I love thumbshifters because they are simple and they just work! I have rapid fire shifters on three of my GT's and they are later ones which work fine too, but the good old thumb shifters are just great and look the part too. I currently have a pair of DX shifters on my '92 GT Pantera AL, just like the original Pantera I owned in 1993. I have a set of XT thumbshifters waiting to be fitted to my '92 GT Bravado.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Choice components for 'make do and mend' type cyclists.

For example, I recently needed to renew a chain & cassette on an old 7 speed bike, and decided to use up some 'NOS' spares from the parts bin. Could only find an 8 speed cassette to replace the previous 7 speed. No problem, just flick the thumbie to friction and 8 speed is go.

I've also crashed on mine a couple of times and they are easy to bend back into shape

 

[retrobiker273891]

Choice components for 'make do and mend' type cyclists.

For example, I recently needed to renew a chain & cassette on an old 7 speed bike, and decided to use up some 'NOS' spares from the parts bin. Could only find an 8 speed cassette to replace the previous 7 speed. No problem, just flick the thumbie to friction and 8 speed is go.

I've also crashed on mine a couple of times and they are easy to bend back into shape

How do you 'bend' metal back to shape?

 

[Black_puma]

Choice components for 'make do and mend' type cyclists.

For example, I recently needed to renew a chain & cassette on an old 7 speed bike, and decided to use up some 'NOS' spares from the parts bin. Could only find an 8 speed cassette to replace the previous 7 speed. No problem, just flick the thumbie to friction and 8 speed is go.

I've also crashed on mine a couple of times and they are easy to bend back into shape

The left thumbshifter clamp of mine needed straightening up a bit, took shifter off it's mount and a large adjustable spanner and after some gentle persuasion it's now where it should be, job done.

 

[Once A Hero]

Under bar shifters weren't great until XTR M900 came along, but even then they needed/need far more tlc than thumbies ever will. My personal fave under bar shifters for feel were actually the LX M560 shifters which had a very light and crisp action.

 

[brocklanders023]

All has been said really, the Deore and XT thumbies especially were bomb proof and the pinnacle of development. The first STI were not great so plenty stuck with thumb shifter. By the time they were fazed out (1994ish?) STI was becoming decent although IMO it took another 10 years before it was the obvious default option.

Are they expensive? Only VGC examples go much over £50 (Shimano) and that's comparable to the DX/XT STI of the time in the same condition. Have a look for how much M900 shifters go for! Suntour thumbies can be more expensive but that's more down to rarity.

 

[nstarmore]

How do you 'bend' metal back to shape?

The same way you bend it into shape

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Beyond the basic "still works after all these years" vs "unnecessary complexity" is a bit of nuance. I prefer the look of a thumb shifter, but there's a place for both on my rides.
Rapidfire shifting is great for really rough riding. When you are bouncing around at high speed, it's tough to tell if you've found the gear accurately without it. When properly tuned, bang the button and get the appropriate gear. I use it on my more "modern" aluminum bike (2007). The older steel steeds get classic thumbies. Thumb shifters are great for obsessive fiddling on quiet rides where you can hear the ticking and make proper adjustments to get it straight.

 

[legrandefromage]

Until the 1990 model year, a thumbshifter was the only option available, initially developed from the downtube shiftet

Sachs, DNP, Suntour, Campagnolo and even Mavic all had a thumbshifter or variation. 1990 saw the earliest iteration of the grip shifter and STI, swiftly sweeping aside the thumbie.

34 years on, the rapid fire shifter has now been around far longer than the thumbie ever existed

 

[Wyndbrook]

I kept with thumbshifters for several years after sti became available for a number of reasons.
I bought a new Offroad in 91 that was specced with sti, but came with thumbies, probably availability shortages.
Soon after I picked up a second hand Saracen with sti that had obviously been knocked around and I had numerous problems with it, including a kitchen floor of bits and trying to rebuild them.
Also there seemed to be numerous racers, all better than me, still using thumbies.