by Talkie Toby • July 24, 2026
I don't need clicks in my shifting. I make the decisions about where the derailleur should be and I don't want to tinker with it when the cable stretches. It's a piece of mind thing when the only thing you have to set is the high and low limits. It's a steeper learning curve (an incline most riders would shy away from) but it's your machine; learn it until there's nothing more to learn about it. Yes, indexed shifting can give you a perfect shift every time and friction shifting can, at first, cause friction between you and the bike. But if you're on the bike, you become the bike. If you're in a tea pot, you become the tea pot. Be water my friend.
Friction shifting is being phased out and for an okay reason; it's easier to shift indexed. Why bother learning a new skill when you can just not learn it and click a button to achieve the same thing. Why learn how to tie your shoelace when we have velcro. If you're just borrowing a bike for the day, indexed would be nice because it will just work the same way on all bikes. But if you own the machine and you ride it all the time, friction shifting becomes the best part about riding that bike. I won't say it's the freedom you get when choosing gears and it's not about the satisfaction you get dumping the gears in one pull of the lever. It's the subtle Qi control that you must demonstrate every time you shift because if you fail, you dishonor your family. It's that pressure and responsibility that you have while you're on your bike that gets you to learn more about your bike. Once you've got it to be second nature and you've replaced your brown leather belt with a black one with two gold stripes, you have, in essence, become the bike and your ancestors will smile down upon you. That, and also, shifting becomes even easier than indexed shifting, which makes it easier to ride the bike the way you want to. The daunting task of shifting with no indexes becomes the easiest way to choose the pace of your ride and your ride is your mode de vie.
All this to say, "choose what you like". If you don't enjoy manual shifting in a car, it doesn't make you less of a "real driver" because you drive an automatic. And with a bike, it's even less of a concern for most because we all shift manually anyway. The only difference is whether the rider hears a click or hears nothing before and after a hill. If anything, I would recommend all new riders to start with indexed shifting. I learned to bowl with gutter bumpers. It's the easiest way to learn how to shift gears and it's damn good.
I would, however, urge cyclists to try friction shifting a couple times in their lives. Not because it's easy, but because it's hard. It's the perfect way to see the B-side of biking. "B" for best. "B" for brutal. "B" for "It feels so good". It's not for everyone, but the reasons that keep people from using friction levers is the same reason you would want to use it. It's the possibilities that open up to you, shifting-wise, which may overwhelm many, but excite you. You need fine control and precise movement like you would in Kung Fu and maybe you need a little martial arts in your life.
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