Question: Using brifter on a 1x setup?

General
1

Hi all,

Eyeballing a use gravel bike that’s a bit of a mix of parts. Most noticeably it pairs Shimano Ultegra 685 levers and brakes with a 1x setup, which means that the left hand shifter does nothing. I have two questions:

  1. Can you mechanically lock the left hand lever so it doesn’t rotate since there’s nothing for it to shift?
  2. If you can’t, how annoying/floppy is it going to be as a result?

I do not have a bike with brifters to compare with, so any advice/suggestions would be appreciated!

2

I have this setup on my gravel/cross bike.

You can’t lock it (to my knowledge). I just shift it up and down for something to do on the boring bits of road. Feelsgoodman.

2 Likes
3

Use the left shifter to activate a dropper post.

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4

Noted! As long as it isn’t flopping about too loosely then I don’t consider it to be particularly problematic.

5

Ahh, so the actuation is the same? Not sure I’d be riding anything gnarly enough to justify it, but good to know the option is there. I think the frame has external dropper post routing (Jamis Renegade in steel).

6

no idea how it all works, but I’ve seen left shifters hooked up to the dropper. I’m sure someone in internet-land can advise. @AL9000 might know a thing or two.

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7

Im running 1x with Ultegra 8020 brifters and can confirm no flopping.

but damn, HM got me thinking about how to set up a dropper with the left hand (assuming the pull is sufficient)

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8

Sorry for delayed replies! Thanks for this info. The bike sold anyway, since I was slow to move. Probably would have been a good buy, but I will wait for the next opportunity.