Growtac Equal Shifters Review
“Growtac Equal Shifters Review “Designed for riders who want complete control over their shifting and braking setup, these levers ditch the restrictions of indexed systems in favor of smooth, friction-based operation. That means they work seamlessly with nearly any drivetrain, whether it’s a modern road or mountain derailleur, a vintage setup, or a quirky mix of both. If it shifts, these levers can handle it. No more compatibility headaches, just clean, precise gear changes at your fingertips.” – Velo-Orange (importer of Growtac into the USA)
Growtac Equal Shifters Review Video
Alternative Video Link for those reading via email subscription
In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew presents a real-world review of the quirky, Growtac Equal Shifters.
Real-World Riding Experience Written Review (or see video above)
I’ll be straight up with you, I cannot stand friction shifting of the sense many of us are used to; on the downtube, or bar end, fishing for gears is a total pain in the arse. Sure, I understand the argument you can shift any cassette no matter the number of gears, any derailleur, etc. But modern index shifting of the mechanical or electronic variety, my favorite, just blow this technology out of the water, and most of these systems are bomb proof reliable.
But, there’s some folks out there who appreciate this technology, and that’s where my video above comes in, I keep an open mind versus pissing and moaning about the latest technology sucking and making dumb click bait videos about it.
The video above doesn’t cover installation, just the operation, and my thoughts of real-world usage of the shifters. How they work.
Right side, the thumb shifter, that shifts down the cassette, basically decreasing cable tension. The paddle shifter behind the brake, shifts up the cassette, increasing table tension. Likewise, the left side operates the front derailleur. Depress the thumb shifter to drop to the small chainring, paddle behind the brake lever blade, up to the big chainring.
You can shift more gears at a time on the rear derailleur by pushing the thumb lever, or paddle, further with the stroke… think multi shift.
If you’re used to Campagnolo 9 and 10 speed era brake and shifter levers, you will love the feel of the brake hoods. As for the shifting action, I found myself shifting relatively accurate one gear at a time with this 10 speed setup, utilizing some very cool retro Suntour derailleurs. However, it was easy to overshift into another gear, no matter the direction of shifting. Adding to that, if your shifting was off a smidge particularly on a downshift, the shifter would push the derailleur into the near gear without you doing a thing about it. That was annoying, and highlights the purpose of indexed shifting, where this just doesn’t happen when the system is well-adjusted.
Eventually, I got pretty decent at shifting on the system using just the right amount of force for upshifts and downshifts, and it may take you a little time to figure that out. I mentioned this may not be the easiest of systems to install, the shifters do arrive with a bunch of small parts, so keep that in mind.
Barring my misgivings with the friction shifting action, I noticed riding really dodgy terrain, borderline bush bashing, tall grass, weeds, and miscellaneous tree bits really disturbed the rear derailleur, causing it to jump around and skip on gears. I’ve never experienced this problem with an indexed system ever, thus something to be said about those benefits.
Undoubtedly, this is the neatest execution of friction shifting, but I feel it’s application is pretty niche, and these levers aren’t cheap at about $414 a pair from Velo Orange. Admittedly they are very cool and I was very stoked when I first saw these in person at the 2024 MADE show in Portland, Oregon, especially with their latest development.
Growtac has made available the “click plate”, which allows indexing of this shiter. I believe 11 speed may be the only offering at the time of this video. I’m hoping we see 10 speed and it’s spaced for Campagnolo. I’ve always wanted to see a Campagnolo 10 speed shifter due to spares of the OG Campagnolo 10 speed shifters rapidly going the way of the dinosaur.
A neat system if index shifting is your thing in 2025? Not for everyone.
Learn more at the Growtac Website or Velo-Orange Website
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Links of Interest:
- Growtac Japan Website
- Ritchey Montebello Review
- Growtac Equal Shifters available from Velo Orange
- 2016 L’Eroica – Vintage Road Bikes on the White Gravel Roads of Tuscany, Italy
- Velo-Orange Tech Video
- Velo-Orange Tour!
- North Florida Freeride Gravel Series
- How to Create Amazing & Fun Gravel Routes!
- Gravel Cyclist’s Route Library
- Gravel Bike Tire / Tyre Pressure Recommendations
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