# Trigger shift vs Grip shift for DH



## Northstar rider (Sep 21, 2013)

I know that there has probably been a previous thread about this but wanted to see what people think now. In my experience trigger or rapid fire shifters are more common for almost all mountain biking including DH. Is this because of preference or superior shifting? I have used triggers a lot more than grip is there anyone out there that uses grip and thinks that they are better for downhill? I have an 07 brodie dissident with sram x-9 components and grip shift. Should I consider replacing with triggers? So far it works pretty well but just wanted some opinions for downhill and freeriding.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

neither works any better than the other in my experience, but i've never dumped most of the gears and broke my chain from an accidental shift with a trigger shifter when things got hairy...


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

There were problems back in the day landing drops/jumps and getting mis-shifts due to your grip/hand position slipping. This varied between the length of the rotating part and grips on the part. "Halfpipe" shifters were longer, making for easier shifts, especially with heavy gloves, but then they were more prone to moving due to outside influences when you landed something big.

There was also the issue that back in the day SRAM derailleurs were trash. Not like somewhat-reliable mtb parts that may have a few disadvantages, but there were these sram ESP derailleurs with what seemed to be plastic (composite, but not carbon fiber) elbows, and they broke left and right. Another issue was the ring that the b-tension screw fixed against, it also constantly broke, in fact, I found a few in my toolbox just a couple days ago. This was a part to "stock up on" back in the day. So due to this, you rarely saw any SRAM gripshifters on DH bikes. Shimano derailleurs, even road ones, worked far better. Yes, they made the "attack" series that had shimano cable-pull, but those were ultra rare.

The other issue why you don't see them is that the first versions, and even subsequent ones, were just designed like crap. They relied on a little metal band shaped into a little hill, which would fit in the plastic indents in the shifter body. The problem was that these wore out like crazy and made for some extremely sloppy shifting. Rather than really fix the problem by using precision parts, they simply increased the cable pull ratio, effectively allowing it to be less precise at the shifter without affecting shifts as much. The damage was done at this point though as far as gripshifters were concerned IMO. The system itself is actually extremely simple and with a few very simple "upgrades" (like a little metal part that has the "teeth" indentations for the gears) and a better mechanism that fits in those teeth, it could be great. They may have made those changes on the latest versions, I don't know, but the issue was the initial perception and execution of these ruined it. You opened up a shimano shifter and you had precision metal parts everywhere that didn't give up. Grease might get gummy and stop the rachets if it sat for months with no use (the shimano shifters), but that was easy to fix without even taking them apart. 

They used to tout that the grip shifters allowed you to keep braking while changing gears, but neither system has an advantage here. You can't really move the gear shifter much while on a brake-deathgrip down a mountain, thumb "push-push" shifters have also kind of negated this. On the worst descents though I find that you have to give maximum concentration for braking. Shifting comes when braking isn't so critical.

Gripshifters are making somewhat of a comeback with fat-bikes. With heavy gloves on there isn't any other easy way to change gears. I may switch over this winter on mine.

I don't think the gripshifters are bad, the newer SRAM (rapid fire type) setups are actually quite good. I'm liking my 1x10 x9 derailleur setup and I think they are finally a viable alternative to shimano, although shimano has leapt ahead in areas such as "saint" and focused components. The gripshifters never really had a great chance due to the horrible initial execution and poor ESP 9.0/9.0SL and the "alien" series derailleurs. I think SRAM often put out stuff without the R&D capability of shimano, which kept shooting themselves in the foot for a long time. They also formed out of the original Gripshift company and bought Sachs, a german company. For years on end they didn't actually design anything, but re-badged the Sachs products, like the SRAM "alien" deraileurs, which were actually designed by Sachs, and the Sachs chains (which were even stamped as Sachs long after they were bought by SRAM). These initial chains were better than the shimano of the era, which was a positive factor for SRAM's repulation, vs negatives like the derailleurs. SRAM is finally big enough now that they can likely do pretty good R&D...at least I hope, otherwise this carbon crank experiment of mine will be short.

If you have it on a bike, I wouldn't change it unless it's malfunctioning. If you like it, stay with it.


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## motochick (Jun 22, 2010)

I use twisties on all of my bikes, but I am rad. I like hairy stuff and have never had an accidental shift. My opinion, real riders use twisties, with that said, I am just too stupid to figure out all the levers on the triggers...LOL!


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

motochick said:


> ...I like hairy stuff...


lets keep it clean and on topic B, we are talking about bikes here...


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## man w/ one hand (Dec 29, 2003)

Personally I like a trigger for the front & a grip for th back....but that's just me. 
hope that's clean enough ta make th cut.


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## Lindahl (Aug 9, 2011)

When things get really rocky and rooty at speed, I get accidental shifts with grip shifters. If your DH is mostly smooth, flowy and freeridey, use what you like. It's triggers for me though. Never looked back. Sick of the accidental shifting.


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## motochick (Jun 22, 2010)

man w/ one hand said:


> Personally I like a trigger for the front & a grip for th back....but that's just me.
> hope that's clean enough ta make th cut.


I just blew soda out my nose...thanks.


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## smilinsteve (Jul 21, 2009)

Index finger works best for the hairy stuff.


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## man w/ one hand (Dec 29, 2003)

motochick said:


> I just blew soda out my nose...thanks.


Your welcome.


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## NWS (Jun 30, 2010)

I had grip-shifters on my bike for a few years. Gave them a fair chance but never felt happy with them. With thumb shifters I can keep a solid grip with my fingers when I shift, with grip shifters I was loosening up to shift, and if the bike pitched it could screw up the shift. They seemed like a good idea back when I bought that bike, but I don't miss them one bit.


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## DHRracer (Feb 14, 2004)

I used grip-shifters for years and I still do on trail bikes, for DH where you find yourself pulling on the bars while excelerating it is almost impossible to roll your wrist forward to up shift ( picture yourself coming out of a corner and getting on the pedals hard)other than that they are more natural for me. I never completely grip the barrel more just the edge of it. I also wish there were more clamp on grips available in the shorter version.


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## smilinsteve (Jul 21, 2009)

DHRracer said:


> I also wish there were more clamp on grips available in the shorter version.


You can cut them down. ODI grips work fine with only one clamp. And I prefer not to have the metal clamp between the grip and the gripshifter anyway.


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## matt4x4 (Dec 21, 2013)

Grip Shifts are for children


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## DHRracer (Feb 14, 2004)

I take it they work well for you then.


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