Levo Gen 3 A shifting opinion...?

[RobG]

I love my new Turbo Levo Alloy. But I _hate_ the shifter. My other bike is a three-year-old Giant Talon (hardtail) which has Shimano shifters. I LOVE its shifters (it's a 3x8). The difference is that on the Giant, I upshift with my index finger, from above the bar. The shifter on the new bike requires using my right thumb to upshift, same as for downshifting. This is confusing and I find myself hitting the wrong shifter at times.

I discovered this past weekend that the latest Shimano shifters still do this... in fact, the upshift can be done either way -- thumb from below, or index finger from above. This is awesome. I want this.

So... near as I can tell, SRAM does not have a shifter that operates like this. If that's true, then my only option is to order up a new Shimano drivetrain -- shifter, derailleur, and cassette. Looks to be about $350 in parts.

The reason for this post is this... are there any other options? Does SRAM have a shifter that works this way, so I can save some trouble and some money? I'm just getting back into riding after a twenty-year absence, so a lot has changed and I have a lot to re-learn.

Thanks!!

Rob

 

[steve_sordy]

@RobG Bear with the Sram for a while.

It just happened that all the bikes I had from the late 90's had Shimano shifters. I didn't choose the shifters, they just came with the bike. I used finger and thumb to shift, like you. Then I bought a bike that had Sram shifters and brakes. I had no idea that Sram shifters were thumb only and I had a few problems in the first few weeks as I had to reprogram my muscle memory. It was made worse by the fact that my other bike remained Shimano so when I switched from bike to bike, I was cocking up shifting on both!

But I soon learned, and to my surprise I discovered that I preferred the Sram thumb only. So much so that I decided to set up my Shimano shifters for thumb only. But they didn't work in that orientation as well as Sram's do; the shifter mounts and how they interacted with the brakes meant that I could not get the perfect positions. The set up worked OK, but it was a little uncomfortable. The Shimano thumb shifter was quite small and not well shaped. But that was 2014 and Shimano may have altered their detail design since then.

What was it that I liked about Sram vs Shimano? The shifting was just as good, but I could keep my index finger on the brake lever all the time and not have to remove it to shift gear. This was not only marginally safer, but it meant that I could change gear and brake at the same time, if necessary. Oh, and the Sram Matchmaker clamp system is a thing of beauty! It is streets ahead of the clunky Shimano I-spec system (in my opinion).

My current and previous emtb are both Shimano and I don't mind at all. The spell of using both at the same time made a permanent shift in my skill set, so now I can easily move from one system to the other. For me it was a bit like the first time I encountered an automatic gearbox in my car that caused a few awkward moments, but I soon got used to it. Then I went back to a manual box and once again things were awkward for a short while. But after that, switching no longer caused me any problems.

Give it time @RobG and you will be better for it.

 

[RebornRider]

I agree with Steve. Your thumb will (probably) train itself quickly. My right thumb was severed and surgically reattached many years ago. Decades, actually. It has limited range of motion and strength. I bought the SRAM shifter model with the adjustable lever to accomodate my range of motion. Shifting for me is 100% autopilot, even with the defective thumb.

 

[RobG]

Hmm... very interesting point regarding being able to brake and shift at the same time. Okay... I'll give it a while longer and see how it goes.

BTW while I have you guys here, how are you with derailleur adjustments? My LBS is three hours away so I'd rather fix this myself if possible. The bike shifted flawlessly at first. Now that it has a few miles on it, it's not quite right when the chain is in the middle of the cassette (6th gear). An upshift doesn't always do anything; a downshift is similar, but at least the downshift lever allows me to fiddle with it a little and make it work. So something is a little out of adjustment. I just never did figure out derailleurs.

Thanks again!

Rob

 

[RebornRider]

Here's the way I think about it. The shifter moves the cable a set amount per click. That set amount per click matches the distance the derailleur moves to get from one sprocket to the next sprocket. You can't (shouldn't!) mess with that.

The two limit screws determine how far the derailleur can move towards the hub or away from the hub. They do not affect normal shifting between sprockets. They only prevent the derailleur from trying to move the chain completely off the cassette.

Remember that the shifter controls how far the deraiileur moves per shifter click. You can't adjust that. However, the barrel adjuster, which is on the end of the shifter cable where it attaches to the shifter, controls the alignment of the derailleur jockey wheels with the cassette sprockets. Turning the barrel adjuster moves the derailleur a tiny bit closer to the hub, or a tiny bit further away. In my experience, if the barrel adjuster is not set properly, I will have trouble with upshifts or downshifts, but not both up and down.

Then there is the "B screw". That moves the derailleur jockey wheels closer to the rear axle, or farther away. It is not an "in and out" adjustment. Rather, it is an "up and down" adjustment. If you shift to the largest sprocket, the B screww will move the jockey wheels closer to, or farther away from that sprocket. In my experience, B screw adjustment has to be correct or the bike won't shift up or down properly.

SRAM makes a plastic guage that makes properly adjusting the B screw easy. SRAM also has a tutorial video on YouTube showing how to use the tool.

 

[steve_sordy]

The typical thing that happens with new bikes is that the outer hose settles into the ferrules after a few dozen shifts. The effect of this is that the outer hose becomes shorter, reducing the tension in the inner wire. This alters your shifting because the movement of the shifting lever is not 100% transmitted to the rear mech. This means that shifting is no longer nice and crisp. In my opinion, this was the principal benefit of the six-week service offered by bike shops. The effect is less marked now that many bikes have through cables. But not that many years ago the gear cables had interrupted outers and consequently 3-4 times as many ferrules.

The way to prevent this from happening in the future is (during set up) to tap the ferrules onto the outer cable to make sure that no further movement is possible.

To fix your current problem you need to take up the slack with a few turns of the knurled knob of the barrel adjuster. Screw it in towards the shifter; this will lengthen the outer hose and restore the inner wire tension. If you have a work stand you can do this while turning the pedals and shifting the gears, otherwise do the adjustment in stages and check afterwards.

YouTube has loads of "how to" videos. Search "indexing gears".

 

[Mikerb]

As a bove, your index finger should be on the brake lever most of the time and certainly when descending or on a fast singletrack.

ps @steve_sordy ..........if the outer cable settles further into the ferrule(s) .....which as you say is typical afer a couple of rides......I UNSCREW the barrel adjuster a couple of clicks which returns tension to where it was originally.

 

[steve_sordy]

.............

ps @steve_sordy ..........if the outer cable settles further into the ferrule(s) .....which as you say is typical afer a couple of rides......I UNSCREW the barrel adjuster a couple of clicks which returns tension to where it was originally.

Whatever works, I never could remember which way around it was.

 

[Gary]

You only need a new shimano mech and shifter.
Sram and shimano cassette spacing and chain widths are the same so will work with either brands derailleur and shifter.

Ignore the folk telling you to percevere. You clearly prefer Shimano.

 

[RebornRider]

Loooook into my eeeeeyyyyyeeeees! Repeat after meeeeeeee, Shimaaaaaaano is better!

 

[Gary]

As you can also choose to use your thumb for each levers with a shimano shifter there's nothing stopping you shifting while braking if you so wish.

 

[Gary]

Loooook into my eeeeeyyyyyeeeees! Repeat after meeeeeeee, Shimaaaaaaano is better!

If its 12speed they're both shit

 

[Manitunc]

Here's the way I think about it. The shifter moves the cable a set amount per click. That set amount per click matches the distance the derailleur moves to get from one sprocket to the next sprocket. You can't (shouldn't!) mess with that.

The two limit screws determine how far the derailleur can move towards the hub or away from the hub. They do not affect normal shifting between sprockets. They only prevent the derailleur from trying to move the chain completely off the cassette.

Remember that the shifter controls how far the deraiileur moves per shifter click. You can't adjust that. However, the barrel adjuster, which is on the end of the shifter cable where it attaches to the shifter, controls the alignment of the derailleur jockey wheels with the cassette sprockets. Turning the barrel adjuster moves the derailleur a tiny bit closer to the hub, or a tiny bit further away. In my experience, if the barrel adjuster is not set properly, I will have trouble with upshifts or downshifts, but not both up and down.

Then there is the "B screw". That moves the derailleur jockey wheels closer to the rear axle, or farther away. It is not an "in and out" adjustment. Rather, it is an "up and down" adjustment. If you shift to the largest sprocket, the B screww will move the jockey wheels closer to, or farther away from that sprocket. In my experience, B screw adjustment has to be correct or the bike won't shift up or down properly.

SRAM makes a plastic guage that makes properly adjusting the B screw easy. SRAM also has a tutorial video on YouTube showing how to use the tool.

You might have bent the derailleur hanger even if it looks straight. Get a new one (they’re cheap). You should carry an extra anyway