Gevenalle GX Shifters: At The Finish


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Gevenalle GX
Turns out those Gevenalle GX shifters do have a friction option!

 With a few months in the bag on the Gevenalle GX shifters, (See my last posting on them HERE), I can now state my opinion on whether or not these are a good pathway to lower your gearing range with a Shimano DynaSys 10 rear derailleur and wide range 10 speed cassette. However; I have to clear up a misunderstanding and tell you about something else that Gevenalle has done along the way since that last update.

The statement I made in my last update about these not having a friction option was not true. They do, and I simply overlooked it. So, there is that redundancy that could bail you out of an otherwise ride ending situation. The other thing has to do with the less than precise shifting I was experiencing.

Gevenalle was very pro-active in reaching out and giving me a few pointers on ways I could tune the shifter by adjusting the cover with the 4mm Allen fitting which controls the amount of effort it takes to make a shift. This was helpful, but it didn’t erase my issues 100% So, instead of having to wait to go back and forth with Gevenalle, they simply went ahead and sent out another lever right off, without waiting to hear if the fixes they suggested worked or not. This is the sort of “quick on your feet” type of customer service that can be the hallmark of smaller sized companies like Gevenalle, and I am happy to report that they succeeded in solving the issue with this action.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWith the new lever and the tips from the Goats at Gevenalle, I was able to experience crisp, accurate shifting at all times. I have several rides in all sorts of conditions since the lever swap and I cannot say that the GX shifter has been anything other than spot on. The wider gearing range that I have on tap now with the Shimano DynaSys rear derailleur and 11-36T cassette has kept me in the large chain ring longer, so front shifts have been almost non-existent since the review began. I can now strongly consider a 1X set up. By the way, Gevenalle offers the GX shifter in a set with a rear only shifter.

At The Finish: In the beginning the shifter was a perfect match to the SLX Shadow Plus Clutch type derailleur that I installed to run for this review. The shifter clicked off the gear changes well all the way up to the big 36T ring. However;  an “over-shift” condition, not uncommon to Microshift levers, arose .  Gevenalle was quick to respond and sent out a different lever which solved the issue 100%. Perhaps it was a one time thing, but even if it was not, Gevenalle has to be commended for being proactive and striving to make things right. Either way, the end result for my review was very positive and the shifter does what it is advertised to do very well. If you are looking to do a 1X set up with a wide range cassette, you could either wait for the company with a four letter name starting in “S” or just put together one now with a DynaSys mountain bike rear derailluer and a 10 speed cassette that likely will cost far less.

NOTE: Gevenalle sent these levers to RidingGravel.com at no charge and we are not being bribed nor paid for this review. I will strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.



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Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

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18 thoughts on “Gevenalle GX Shifters: At The Finish

  1. How did you like the actual act of shifting? Were there times or positions that it was awkward or difficult?

    1. Josh, the act of shifting a Gevenalle shifter is so varied and can be personalized to a great degree. I was thinking about this the other day when I found myself using a hand position which draped the hand over the shifter and wrist movement was used to shift gears.

      When starting out using these, It’s odd at first, because you tend to want to use the tips of your fingers, and it seems awkward, but if you allow yourself to simply move the shifter with the whole finger, inner parts of your hand, etc- then you find shifting to become natural and not weird at all.

      That said, and I’ve always stressed this point, you simply cannot shift with your hand resting in the drops. I have found this to be less and less of an issue for me, but some folks may find that unacceptable. For them, these shifters are not a good choice then.

      Finally, these shifters actually become an extra hand position, a place to wrap your index and middle finger around during climbs, or for other positions, that with normal hoods you don’t have. A small side bonus, if you will, but it is there if you want it.

      1. How do you feel about them vs. bar ends. I really prefer the STI stuff but am struggling to put stuff together with shims I drivetrain, disc brakes, and drop bars with STI shifting. I feel like I shift too much to be happy with bar ends, although u would probably get used to them. This seemed like maybe a happy medium, where I could continue with my frequent shifts, without having to leave the bars.

          1. Josh, I have a bike set up with a 9spd Shimano bar end shifted drive train. I definitely feel that the Gevenalle shifters are something that promotes shifting more so than bar ends, but as you say- you can get used to anything. Still, your hands are more apt to be on the hoods than at the back of the extensions, Something to consider.

  2. Hi Ted, I’m glad I found your series of articles on theses shifter because what I really want to do is put together a 1x system using the shifters and a shimano RD and cassette like you mention. However, I can’t seem to find a shimano 1x crank set with enough teeth, i.e. 44 or 46. Can you think of anything I could use? Side note, I would be doing this set up on your same frame, the Salsa Vaya and riding a lot of hills and dirt roads. Thanks for the thoughtful reviews and explanations.

    1. @Patrick: It could be difficult to find a true, chainline correct 1X solution that is Shimano branded. However, you might try a CX-70 crank, which comes with a 46T outer ring. You could then move the outer ring to the inner side of the crank and utilize a cross guard in the big ring’s place. Or perhaps you could look at a Wolf Tooth CX Drop Stop ring: http://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/cyclocross-road/products/130-bcd-cyclocross-chainrings

      Hope that helps.

  3. I love ratcheting friction shifters; I’ve got a set of bar-end Dia-Compes on a Midge bar & am really happy with the setup (thanks to your advice, & the fact that I bought my frame from On-One as well).

    Pro tip for making a “poor-man’s Wolf Tooth”:

    9 speed CS-HG61 12-36 cassettes cost all of $20 online. Thanks to the Oracle of Sheldon Brown we know that (unlike 10sp cassettes that use a spider) the 36T sprocket on these things is just held on with some rivets. Nothing a bit of drilling won’t take care of:

    https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IeRKSA50R2g/VQr59aa7C7I/AAAAAAAAAW4/VSOh5-ZZOOY/s1280-Ic42/IMG_20150308_140530.jpg

    Again, thanks to Sheldon we know that a single 9sp Shimano sprocket is 0.18mm wider than a 10sp sprocket. If you’re pedantic you could remove that much from a 10sp spacer with a block of wood & some sandpaper, but given that it’s about the width of two human hairs & it’s the last sprocket so you set the derailleur position with the limit stop screw I didn’t bother.

    In this case my cassette started as an 11-28 Ultegra. Get a larger locking for a few bucks, drop the top gear (in my case the 11t, which I don’t ever recall actually needing anyway), & you’re all set. Here’s the finished setup mounted on my WTB Frequency i19s with Deore XT hubs:

    https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tozGOWEnkLU/VQr53_38y-I/AAAAAAAAAWw/gvYbjlBTTps/s912-Ic42/IMG_20150308_144755.jpg

    Total cost for the lockring, spacer, & CS-HG61 needed to convert my Ultegra 11-28 to a 12-36 (with much less gappy ratios than a MTB cassette!) was about $30.

    Hope that helps…

  4. Ted, you said Gevenalle had to ship you 3 different levers to fight various problems you were having. Is this common or have they got all the bugs worked out? I am seriously considering buying these levers for a 1×10.

    1. I’d say that after 100’s of severe race miles in 2015 and more miles of casual use that the “bugs are worked out”. I haven’t had anymore issues with the final rear shifter sent to me.

      1. I guess what I meant was if you were to order a brand new set today, are the bugs worked out of everything they are selling or do you need to take one of their shifters and tinker with it to get “your own bugs” worked out?

  5. Sorry that sounded weird how I put that. I researched microshift shifters and people don’t normally say very good things about them. And that’s what Gevenalle is using right?

    1. My understanding is that Gevenalle is modifying Microshift product to work in the case of DynaSys rear derailleurs. That said, give them a ring, or hit them with an e-mail. They are very responsive and helpful. I cannot imagine that they wouldn’t be glad to walk you through the set up and answer any questions you may have better than I could.

    1. I have not tried it on an 11 spd yet. That’s coming for me, but not for a while yet. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with a Shimano cassette and derailleur. SRAM is not recommended by Gevenalle yet, but I cannot see them holding out with just Shimano stuff for very long. Especially with 1X road and CX stuff coming.

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