Shimano

ST-R500 8-Speed STI Lever Set

Nice affordable shifter set to upgrade my worn out XR1000's. Good of TFB to stock an 8-speed shifter set, and best price I found anywhere! Haven't ridden too far on them yet, but so far they seem real crisp and straight-shifting. The only reason they didn't get 5 stars is because I know they don't stack up to the high end stuff... but that's also kind of an unfair comparison. Happy camper for sure!

I was happy to find 8 speed STI shifters still made, and these are pretty darn good. Not as cheap as other 8 speed parts relatively speaking, but these are made well and should last a while. I'm running them in a 1x8 configuration, so I don't really know how the front shifts. The rear has been great so far.

Upgraded from Shimano 2203 to be able to shift from the drops. The brake levers are stiffer giving better braking. The front shifter can't quite shift from the small to middle chainring in one push. This is mentioned in the tech sheet & they give a lame workaround. They work fine if you remember to shift to the small chainring's trim position, then in a separate motion upshift to the middle ring. If I could do it over I would have just changed everything to Tiagra 4503. The rear shifter lacks a clear click to indicate upshifts have occurred & I have to push on the levers fairly hard. Tree Fort has the best price.

I upraded the 2300 STI's on my Giant OCR 3. Good move (not that there's anything wrong with the 2300's). Easy to install. Paired with a 105 FD and (yes) Deore LX RD (what I had in my parts bin for the bike upgrade/build). Crisp shifts. Works great!