Author Topic: Left-handed, shifting  (Read 105 times)

E-wan

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Left-handed, shifting
« on: November 05, 2024, 05:04:47 PM »
Left-handed, shifting

I've developed an injury to my index finger on my right hand, which may take several weeks to resolve and make shifting rather problematic.

Has anyone tried swapping the Rholoff twist grip shifter to the left side of the handlebars so you can operate it with your left hand.

Apart from having to retrain my brain to get used to this and twist it in the opposite direction to shift
can you foresee any complications with doing this?

Thanks

Ewan

WorldTourer

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2024, 05:58:01 PM »
Rohloff produces, and SJS stocks, a left-handed shifter.

mickeg

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2024, 08:09:05 PM »
I see no problem with that.  Numbers will be harder to read, but you already know how to shift it so you probably almost never look at the numbers unless you are stopped.

Mike Ayling

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2024, 03:37:20 AM »
Rohloff produces, and SJS stocks, a left-handed shifter.

Blimey, 110 squids plus an eye watering freight charge!

WorldTourer

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2024, 07:17:47 AM »
Blimey, 110 squids plus an eye watering freight charge!

My initial assumption is that people here are in the UK, since it’s Thorn/SJS’s main market, and sure, shipping is quite expensive for customers elsewhere. For people on the continent, for example, Starbike has it for 73€. That is actually cheaper than the standard, right-handed version from many EU online shops nowadays! I’m shocked at how much the price of this component has increased in the last decade, considering that it is just a piece of metal and rubber.

UKTony

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2024, 08:23:40 AM »
Starbike don’t ship this item to the UK, according to the website. Has that always been the case or is it a Brexit thing, I wonder.
The price is €12 more if the shipping country is France or Austria for examp,e. What’s that all about?!

WorldTourer

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2024, 08:51:03 AM »
The price is €12 more if the shipping country is France or Austria for examp,e. What’s that all about?!

EU shops have to apply VAT based on the rate set in the country of delivery. That causes some changes in prices depending on the customer’s country. And Starbike (and bike-components, and Rose Bike, and Bike24) are based in Germany, so shipping outside of Germany costs more than orders delivered locally.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2024, 08:54:49 AM by WorldTourer »

mickeg

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2024, 10:20:02 AM »
... Has that always been the case or is it a Brexit thing, I wonder.
The price is €12 more if the shipping country is France or Austria for examp,e. What’s that all about?!

I bought my Nomad Mk II frame, fork, and lots of parts in 2013, at that time I thought shipping costs to USA were pretty high from SJS.  But other UK suppliers seemed to have pretty good rates. 

Over time, SJS found ways to cut the shipping costs to the point that when I built up my titanium light touring bike frame, I bought the parts to build it up in three batches, one from SJS, one from Germany, and then a bunch of other parts here in USA, mostly from Amazon.  SJS at that time was a low cost supplier to the USA.

Then Brexit happened.  Suddenly shipping costs to USA went crazy, probably the same with other countries that UK wanted to export too. 

Before Brexit, I bought stuff from several UK companies to export to USA, but I think I have only bought a couple items from SJS since Brexit, none from other UK companies. 

Sorry if I am treading on political ground here, it is not my intent to take a political side.  I am only making comments as an external observer that lost the ability to buy a lot of stuff from UK.  I have never been in the UK.

WorldTourer

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Re: Left-handed, shifting
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2024, 10:32:40 AM »
My experience as a customer on the continent has been similar: I bought a Nomad Mk3 frame + fork from Thorn/SJS post-Brexit because the frameset plus the optimized cost of oversize shipping was competitive with anything on the continent (though shortly afterward SJS significantly raised Thorn frame prices). But Brexit put an end to me buying small parts from SJS, even though it had been my go-to shop before, because shipping costs of those small packages is just too much.