yes you can easily install thumb shifters on drop bars of your bike, these are mostly installed for smooth and flat trails, like for road and gravel biking, but it would be a bad idea to install thumb shifters on drop bars of mountain bikes. the main issue behind installing thumb shifters on drop bars is that it is hard to handle your bike and place both of your elbows on the drops bars for shifting gears and you have to straighten your hands in the forward direction in shifting gears if your hands are enough strong and powerful and you can easily survive with the current setup then it is a better step and you will learn an extra skill by mounting thumb shifters with the drop bars.
Thumb shifters are not installed on drop bars of females’ and kids’ bikes because the reach of the shifters will increase and this setup is mostly done by regular riders who cannot tire from riding on longer mileages in a single day. and the other main thing is that the clamp of the thumb shifters sometimes is not compatible with the width and diameter of the drop bars, it is the main issue which almost 50% of riders face with the same problem, you can check the diameter of the clap hole and the width of the drop bar, if it’s compatible with each other, then mount the shifters for a few days and weeks for gaining skills and new feelings when you ride your bike on the trails.
Longer Hands And Wider SHoulders:
You can check the length of your both hands and then measure the distance of the thumb shifters on drop bars, your hands are easily reached without any issue and you are confident so that you can ride on longer mileages with the same setup without any difficulty than it would be better to install the thumb shifters on drop bars of your bike.
Also, measure the length and width of your shoulders, if the shoulders are in parallel position and in the same direction as both the shifters of the drop bars and your shoulders are easy and comfortable for longer mileages, then you can easily survive with the same setup on flat terrains.
Straight Vs Drop Bars For Mouting Thumb Shifters:
There are two types of bars straight and drop bars, drop bars are bent in shape and straight bars are straightforward in shape, if you are shifting from straight to drop bars for mounting thumb shifters then you have to give straight bars an oval or bent shape so that it would become compatible for mounting of shifters, it depends on the material of the bars if the material is steel then you will face a little bit of difficulty in bending of steel, place the bar on fire and increase the temperature after few hours bent the straight bar with the help of wrench or other bending tools, in this way you can easily shift from straight to drop bar and then mount your gear shifters.
width Of Handlebar Pipes:
Handlebars have different widths from 22.2 millimeters to 23.8 millimeters, you have to choose the right diameter clamps of the thumb shifters for making the shifters compatible with the width of the handlebars, there are two types of clamps shifters, hinged clamps, and unhinged clamps, hinged clamps of the thumb shifters are bolt removable clamps and you can easily unscrew the nut bolts and insert them at the right place on the bars, hinge clamps are much better because if you drop bar is wrapped with a tape or band for comfortability, then you do not have to remove or scratch the tape with these clamps, and also you do not need to remove the levers of the brakes for mounting and inserting of the thumb shifter hinged clamps.
Length Of Shifter Cables:
Mounting thumb shifters on the drop bars, you also need the appropriately sized cable lengths, the smaller length of the shifter cables are not accepted for this setup, whether you have to change or replace your shifter cables with the longer cables, shifter cables are available widely on online stores and mechanic shops.
Steel Vs Aluminum Shifter Clamps:
Steel clamps are much better and more durable than aluminum clamps, always buy thumb shifters with steel clamps, because when the shifters become old, aluminum clamps would start slipping and moving from the right to the left side from their actual mounting position, but steel lamps would stay firm and remains immovable.
How To Make 1mm or 2mm Larger shifter Clamp Compatible With The Drop Bar?
It is common for the clamp shifters, these would cause mounting issues with the drop bars due to different widths and diameters, the short and easy access is that you can wrap the drop bar with a band and tape to make the larger diameter clamp shifters compatible with the drop bar pipes, and also you can replace smaller nut bolts of the shifters with greater and longer length bolts for screwing of the clamp.
How To Check The Diameter Of The Drop bar?
The diameter of the drop bar is measured with the help of a caliper, you can mount the teeth of the caliper within the drop bar and measure the diameter, if the clamps are made of plastic material then you can easily install thumb shifters on the drop bars without any difficulty and problem, plastic is easier for stretching a little bit to make compatible with the width of the drop bar.
Exact Place For Mounting Of Thumb Shifter On Drop bars?
It is a must for the thumb shifters to mount them in an exact place and location for easy access and better reach on the roads and flat trails. the flat gripping place of the drop bar near the bending region is the place where you can grip the handlebar, you have to install thumb shifters near the gripping region so that your thumb would easily reach the shifters, and the exact distance of the thumb shifters from the stem body of the headset is 64 to 65mm far from the stem for both right and left thumb shifters.