[John232629]

Your problem is the i-spec! Shimano's 10 speed clamp-on shifters came in the gear indicator flavor, but for whatever reason the i-spec ones didn't. There should be some clamp-on, indicator-having, 10-speed shifters on eBay right now, or at least in the near future. The i-spec ones come up more frequently, but the clamp ons do come.

Lose the ispec!

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

i'll be nice and shop for you:

Shimano Deore SL-M610 10 Spd Shifter - Rear - Bar Mount - OEM

Shimano Deore SL-M610 10Spd Rear Shifter - Bar Mount - OEM A lightweight and reliable road bike shifter which provides superb lever force across all 10 sprockets. Featuring a renowned 2-way release design, this model allows shifting from various riding positions for fast and easy gearing...

cambriabike.com

The description says "A lightweight and reliable road bike shifter". Are you sure it will work with a MTB derailleur?

 

[John232629]

i think it's a mistype in the ad, but call contes. Generally speaking tho Deore has been a mid level MTB product.

SHIMANO DEORE Right Shift Lever 10-speed | SHIMANO BIKE-EU

SHIMANO DEORE's SL-M610 shift lever offers light and responsive shifting for all riding styles. The SL-M610-R RAPIDFIRE PLUS lever is suited to quick shifting, giving riders the ability to downshift three gears in one stroke.

bike.shimano.com

 

[KobayashiMaru]

About starting out in the wrong gear... I just make it a habit to down shift when I get off my bikes. My garage is at the bottom of a long decline, so if I get on a bike and didn't downshift it's really annoying because I'm usually hauling butt when I go down the driveway. I get on expecting to spin up the driveway and then I realize I'm in too tall of a gear. Shifting isn't good when done under load, and I use SPD pedals so it's annoying to hop off and hand crank the gears, so I totally understand where the OP is coming from.

I know real mountain bikers think those optical displays are dumb, but I really miss the ones I had 20 years ago. There was this one climb that was steep and pretty tall... a lot of riders couldn't clear it, and if they did they were barely chugging it out at the top. I spent a day figuring out how to approach it and clear it, and the gear display really helped out with that. I knew what gear to be in and how hard to pedal leading up to it and precisely what gear to shift to so I could catch the momentum I had and blast over the top.

I wasn't very fast back then, but those gear indicators helped me figure out that climb to the point I would drop the faster guys I rode the trail with, and when they'd catch up to me, they always commented on how fast I cleared it.

I don't think it's as easy knowing which gear is the perfect one for certain hill sprints without those indicators. I do well enough now without them, but I think I could be faster in a lot of places knowing I was on the right cog. It's too difficult when you're pushing at threshold and blasting through the trees to count your cogs or know exactly which one you're using at a glance.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Exactly...the big need is just to let me know when I am going to run out of gears and need to shift the front. But you reminded me I also have certain hills where I force myself to shift to certain gears at certain points... like I need to pull 4th gear until I get to the tree, then 3rd until the fire hydrant, then start shifting back up at a certain point....if I don't follow the program on some of these gnarly hills I can easily run out of steam and not make it up them or else run out of energy later. I'm sure anyone who commuted the same route over and over knows what I'm talking about.

I ordered one of the shifters suggested above.

 

[786737]

Deore SL-M6000 with the indicator can be found on Ebay.

 

[006_007]

Grip shift?

 

[Amt0571]

Microshift / MicroNEW make 10sp shifters with indicator that are compatible with Shimano and have a great price.

Mechanically they may not be as good as Shimano, but they're good enough and are trouble free IMHO.

 

[flash4092]

This:

SL-M6000-R (shimano.com)