SunRaceM96 Thumb Shifter

Was a little worried after reading a couple negative reviews, but this shifts perfectly with an XTR derailleur and Shimano 9 speed cassette. Precise and accurate. Solidly-built. Excellent value.

I purchased the Sunrace SML96 R9 (right, 9 speed) shifter for a Resto-Mod 1x9 project bike. The shifter itself is a simple thing of beauty. The shifting is crisp and moves through the 9 gears easily. Setup with an older Shimano STX-RC rear derailleur, it functions great and makes the cockpit of the bike clean. It's simple to install and setup the cable.The one issue (making it 4 star) that needs to be addressed is the fact that the shifter is designed to fit on a 22.2mm MTB handlebar; however, the clamp bolt is slightly too long (15mm). Attempting to tighten mounting bracket 15mm bolt, it bottomed out and didn't allow a snug fit on the handlebar. This was remedied by replacing the bolt with a 12mm that didn't bottom out. Once tight, the bracket and shifter felt solid on the handlebar.

I've owned a few of these before. They are a great value, and looks worth a lot more. On this particular unit it was difficult to shift. I tried lubing it using tri-flow, but it did not smooth it out.

For a while initially I couldn't to get good shifting; I thought it was junk and a failed experiment. My thinking was heavily influenced by the negative reviews here. But now it's working perfectly in every gear and I realized I had just been misadjusting it.I believe the adjustment pitfall is the 'slop' in each index stop. I think the slop is by deaign, to allow for good shifting so the cable 'overshoots' slightly on shift to get a positive shift. The trouble is the cable tension has to pull the lever towards the slack end (left) of the slop, and this is where you must adjust to. I'm pretty sure in my initial adjusting I adjusted to the middle or tight end of the slop and shifting was *really bad*.The best shifting practice has to be to finish with a light leftward pressure to ensure it seats to that point, though I'm not consciously doing this but still getting positive shifts (perhaps I'm unconsciously doing it).It looks very handsome, and a very satisfying feel to it - nice machined Al, rubber, positive indexing (i.e. easy to avoid overshooting, at least after the first ride. I'm *so* happy to be able to know the gear I'm in by feel of the lever position, especially in traffic in the dark, getting into the right gear for setting off as I approach a stop.Thumbies are the business, so intuitive, I don't know why they fell out of favor. Perhaps there is more potential for an optimal, shaped, cable-movement profile on triggers, but whatever, my shifts are now every bit as positive as they were with the triggers. Highly recommended.(For reference, this is on inexpensive HG300 cassette, recent Alvio derailleur, so the lower end but not bad)My first ordered unit had a defect, but SDBikes took it back with no issue - Thank you SDBikes! I'm probably going to be picking up a left/front SunRace thumbie too.

Works like a charm on my 9-speed Shimano drivetrain. Super smooth. Great for converting to a 1x9. My only complaint is that there is no cable tensioning on the shifter itself, so if your derailleur doesn't have that pick up an Avid or Jagwire tensioner to be able to adjust your shifter.

Pro mechanic here, have installed several of these with no satisfying results. The main issue is the internal friction of the mechanism. I have noticed that the shifter hangs up in the spaces between the detents, so when the rider is done downshifting (up into lower gears/bigger cogs) the cable doesn't pull the lever back down to the "click", preventing the rear derailleur from centering under your cog of choice. Can work if you fiddle with the shifter after you make a shift. The "tension" bolt on top serves only to introduce play into the stiff mechanism. This negates the simplicity of the above-bar thumb shifter. For slightly improved performance, try the Microshift or IRD versions. For excellent performance, put Shimano bar ends on Paul thumbies.

I can't get the indexing to work well despite trying several different variables including chain/cassette/derailleur/housing and cables. there's too much slop in the lever using the two smallest cogs, and top two cogs of the cassettes.I should have used microshifts for the friction option instead.this thing is terrible on two different bikes. shame

This is actually a Sturmey Archer shifter. I am blown away by the quality of this inexpensive unit. It indexes well, but not perfectly. Wonderful retro nostalgia at a fraction of the cost of the Paul offerings. If you're the type of person still riding 9 speed gear in the age of 10 and 11 speed cassettes, then I suspect this will be adequate for your needs, as it was for mine.