Quick verdict: The BDH H1, also known as the Bazooka, delivered one of the most convincing standalone H-pattern shifting experiences I had tested. Its beautiful machining, adjustable resistance and crisp mechanical action were outstanding, although the very high price, fixed USB cable and lack of a sequential mode make it a specialist choice.
Manual gears remain one of the most involving ways to drive, and the physical movement of a proper H-pattern shifter can add enormously to a sim rig. The handmade BDH H1 was designed to recreate that mechanical connection with an unusually substantial, realistic mechanism.
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Introduction
Jump to: First impressions · Price · Installation · Build quality · Adjustment · How it feels · Final thoughts
Review context: This review was originally published in April 2024. Prices, specifications, accessories and availability described below reflect that period and may have changed. The shifter was supplied free of charge for review, and BDH had no editorial control.
The H1 immediately attracted questions when I shared it on social media, particularly from real-world racers, drifters and rally drivers. With plenty of experience driving high-performance manual cars, I was especially interested in whether its appearance translated into convincing feel on the rig.
Although the review sample was supplied free of charge, the conclusions here are entirely my own.
First impressions
Look at it… It’s absolutely gorgeous. The shiny brushed housing is very unique. I felt like I wasn’t worthy of such a beautifully engineered product and that’s usually exactly the effect that top end hardware has on me. There’s great weight in it but it’s also not as heavy as it looks. To be honest, it looks a little like a real gearbox, but scaled down. The black lever is very nice, but I’m not sold on the white shift knob. It does appear that they now offer a black knob too but I have not seen one in real-world. I’d love to see subtle BDH branding on the shift knob too. A machined knob to match the casing would be incredible. Should you wish to source your own, the fitment of this gear knob is M10 x 1.5.
The USB cable is hard-wired into the unit, which, other than ruining my fancy product photography, means that you need to be super careful with it. From my experience though, cables rarely fail but it would be nice to be able to plug in a custom cable in order to get the perfect length and to keep those cables tidy.
I’ll go through how it feels in a later section, but on the bench I did pop it into first gear and I was very impressed.
Price
At the time of the April 2024 review, this handmade, top-end unit cost €1,080 excluding taxes, or roughly €1,350 delivered within Europe. Its main competition, the Pro-Sim shifter, was approximately €1,750 including VAT—a difference of about €400. Check current pricing and tax treatment before ordering.
Bolts for fitting this unit are not included. The fittings kit is an optional extra although I have seen some resellers simply include it and absorb the cost to keep things simple.
There is an option for a longer or shorter shaft which costs an extra €75 or so. This is not cheap, but for those looking for specific details in their gear shifts, shaft length does make a difference. The longer throw numbs the shift a little bit but is amazing for things like truck simulator. The shorter shaft really allows all of those details to be transferred to your hands.
Installation
While installation itself is relatively straightforward, the front and rear mounting holes are quite far apart, making this shifter best suited to custom rigs or those made of aluminium profile.
While at first I mounted it as it came, I soon learned that you are able to mount it to the side of your aluminium profile too. This is a really nice way to mount it and would be my long term mounting solution of choice. However, it wasn’t that simple for me to do. You need to take the brackets off and do a bit of fiddly manoeuvring to make it work. I even had to unplug and replug every single gear into the main board as some of the internal cables are shorter than others, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.
The USB cable is not detachable as mentioned which is a pity. There is no software with these devices and they are plug and play. They also come calibrated from the factory.
Build quality
These shifters are hand built in the UK. Each one is meticulously checked and tested by the family-run operation. It’s absolutely incredible to think that something that looks this incredible, comes from what is essentially a family shed. A family shed filled with expensive equipment and talented engineers, but a shed nonetheless.
It is beautifully machined. After months of intensive use on my rig, it had lost a little of its initial shine and sparkle but still looked excellent.
I’m not one to take products apart. At least not in my reviews. So let’s just start by highlighting that taking this thing apart makes me feel like James Bond about to defuse a bomb. It’s incredible. And so simple.
But, I took it apart because it had to. See, I had an issue early on in my review which resulted in missed shifts. After talking to the guys at BDH, they apologised profusely, explained that the batch that my shifter belonged to all had a couple of similar issues. But luckily, the fix was easy. They even did a little video showing the simple fix, so I did it, and never had an issue since. I’m not mad when issues happen, especially when the service is this good. Maybe it’s because I’m a YouTuber. But I don’t think it is… just search for BDH Shifter and you’ll see how people value their relationship with the company as much as they value the product. In fact, Dave from BDH joked that they purposely sabotaged my review device so that they could demonstrate their world class customer service. I still don’t know if he was serious or not.
Whilst this issue was a non-issue really, I still feel that I need to highlight it for you to maintain full transparency.
Adjustment
There’s a big bolt sticking up from the casing. Probably the least nice looking part of the unit, but possibly the most important. This allows you to adjust the weight of the throw. Tighten it and the throw becomes stiffer. Loosen it and it becomes less stiff. With stiffness comes more noise, but at least you have the option to tweak it to your preference.
There is no ability to adjust the throw of the gears themselves, but this is not really an issue for me. If you want to adjust the perceived throw, I recommend buying the optional shorter or longer lever accessories.
How it feels
This gearbox feels like it is doing real work. That’s because it actually is doing real work. They’ve incorporated a very simple mechanism and simple reliable switches. But it all just works well.
Sim racing hardware that feels tactile and mechanical is usually quite loud and if you’re expecting a super quiet shifting experience, this isn’t the shifter for you. That being said, it’s not incredibly loud but it’s too loud to use while someone in the next room is trying to watch TV in peace. The more resistance you add to the shift, the louder it gets.
Most buyers considering this shifter are unlikely to prioritise silence. The shift action is excellent: the gate feels clear, crisp, intuitive and aggressive. After the early fault was fixed, I did not experience further missed shifts.
In my testing, this was one of the best standalone H-pattern shifters I had used. It felt as though it had been lifted from an older Mazda MX-5. When I mistimed the clutch and heard the simulator’s gear-grinding sound, forcing the lever into gear felt genuinely uncomfortable—the kind of convincing mechanical illusion that makes this hardware special.
Final thoughts
When creative people who have incredible engineering skills get it into their head that they can do better than the competition, it’s difficult to convince them otherwise, especially in sim racing. And every now and then, products like this emerge.
It looks great. It feels great. It performs great. It’s a no-brainer really. If you have the extra cash and want one of the finest H-pattern experiences in sim racing, this is it.
I will be 100% honest and admit that if I wasn’t a sim racing product reviewer, I probably would never own this product. Not unless I was training for a specific car. For me, I would never have both a sequential and a H-pattern shifter on my rig. It would have to be a combined unit and it needs to be ready every single time I decide to drive a random car. I know that a combined H-pattern and sequential unit won’t be as good as this, but I’m willing to make that compromise.
However, if I wanted to impress my friends with an incredible driving experience, a unit like this is top of the list. When coupled with tactile transducers and great force feedback, it’s one of the most enjoyable sim racing experiences possible.
I have utterly enjoyed my time with this shifter and consider it one of the highlights of my high-end sim racing hardware experiences to date. I have no issues recommending this product and this company.
For buyers who specifically want a premium standalone H-pattern mechanism, the BDH H1 was easy to recommend. Those who regularly switch between H-pattern and sequential cars may prefer a combined unit, even if that means accepting a less convincing shift action.
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