Hello,

I'm converting my old Scott Speedster S6 to a flat bar commuter, why I'm changing from regular handlebars to flatbars. Got a knee injury so I don't practice on it anymore. Will buy a new road bike next summer if my knee is recovered fully by then.

Right now it has a Sora (2 x 8) group on it, which doesn't work too well anymore. I plan on keeping the the crank as it is - easier to just let that one be as it is.

This full group is what I have planned:

Brake Levers: BL-R440
Shifters: SL-R770
Front DR: FD-R770
Rear DR: RD-6600 (a regular ultegra for 2 x 10)
Crank: I have one that says "SR Suntours Superbe comp"
Brakes: It has got scott brand dual pivots and I plan to just keep those.

My main concern is that the crank will not work with the front derailleur and I have to get a Shimano one. But what I thinking is, that since the "Suntours" I have now worked with the Sora group, it should work with any FD I put on it?

Just want to get confirmed that this is going to work as a whole before I order everything!

Thanks alot,
Anders Christensen

You will need a 10s cassette and chain if you plan on using those shifters. The crankset should work OK with the rest of your drivetrain, although the front shifting will not be great from small to large chainring with the 10s chain and the old Suntour large chainring, which lacks the ramps and pins that assist the chain moving up. For 8s the ramps and pins aren't really necessary. You could get a Shimano 10s large chainring and things would then be pretty good.

Ok, thank you! I was planning on getting a 10 speed casette+chain by the way.

So if I buy something like these:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=10250
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=10245

everything should be in perfect working order?
I assume that changing chainrings its just a simple swap job, betweem suntours and shimano chainrings (will fit same drivetrain?)

My aim is to have this bike equipped with the flatbar equivalent of Ultegra or atleast 105.

By the way, the ramps and pins you talk about, is that (on the chainrings) where it looks like the the teeth looks sort of grinded down so they are not as long as all the other teeths?

Yes, to facilitate the narrow chains climbing to the larger chainrings, the teeth have been machined (ramps) and there will be flat rivets (pins) that are in the chainring.

I would just try your current chainrings first. If the shifting is not up to your expectations, get a new 10-speed compatible large chainring. You don't need to replace the inner ring unless it is worn.

It all looks good. TA 10 speed rings are the best availale. I use them as replacements myself.

My Try bike (below) is 9 speed Ultegra Flat Bar.

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Cheers,
George.

Thanks,

I will order the parts now! Can't wait to fly through town on my Scott bike!

Just because I'm curious, gclark8, what do you use your 'try bike' for? I have another flat bar bike that I use as a daily commuter (work - home; back and forth) for about 30 kms a day, but its almost 5 years old and with internal (eek) gears, so I was amazed how much of a diffrence in speed I gained from riding my Scott S6 (got a pair of used WH-R550 wheels from a friend).
We're talking about several minutes on the 11 km trip to work. I rarely got above 40-45 km/h before, now I reach above 50 km/h easily on certain stretches. Probably an expensive commuter, but what the ... if it makes me happy! (and it does!)

I wanted a fast coss town 26" wheel MTB based commuter bike, but all the frames I looked at were too long across the top tube. My LBS offered me this frameset, 650c wheel, so over 6 months I built the bike, similar component choice to my Felt SR81.

As it is based on a Triathlon Frameset, I call it a TRY bike, some of the comfort features as well as the flat bars, include, a Rock Shox Suspension Seat Post, Sell Ialia Gel Flo Seat, Platform pedals with strapless toe clips, Pro Dual Density Grips. 650x23 Conti Ultra Gator Skins on the training wheels and Conti GP4000 Tyres on Velocity Sparticus Wheels for Sunday best.

I chose a 12-23 9 speed cassette, with Sugino Crankset, 36(TA)/42/53 chainrings, yes its a triple. I will take some pix over the weekend.

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Cheers,
George.

I would love to see a couple of pictures for inspiration. I think I will go with 12-25 for casette, I shouldn't really matter as I don't have to worry about keeping correct gear ratio as I should worry about traffic anyways. And for a start I'll keep the 39/56 front sprocket.
Good idea having a suspended seat post. My mother (53 years) has that on her Specialized road bike and she's pretty happy with it. Nothing wrong with a little extra comfort while we're at it.
Gonna have regular platform pedals with no toe clips. And all the other things required by law - bell & reflexes and definitely getting mudguards front and rear, although I'll be rinding it dry weather only.

I just had a phone call from my GF, she reminded me of the balance when converting a bike from drop to flat. You may find the front end a little light at low speeds, a longer stem and bringing the seat forward a little, maybe a Zero offset seat post, this will put more weight ove the front wheel. I use a mag trainer with the front wheel on a set of bathroom scales to set up the bikes.

I will take the pix today, but processing and digital conversion wil have to wait till monday. I can give you a link to the bike I recently built for the GF, it may give some inspiration to your Mum, the GF is 52.
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t363004.html

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Cheers,
George.

Amazing how much that actually looks like my mothers bike! Except for the wider tyres and the luggage carrier (what do you call those in English? lol), it could have been her road bike.
She ablsolutely loves that thing and does an hour work out about 3 times a week. I tell her that it's the best buy she's done. I've always been preaching on how easy and effective road bikes are if you want to loose weight and get a good, longer low intensity workout. She had planned to run, but got exhausted after 3-5 kms already, but on the bike she just flys for a good hour or so. Should be alot more effective that way!

Anyway, back on topic! How do you set up the bike with the bathroom scale? Basically I was just going to setup handlebars, and the seat so it closely resembles my old bike which is almost perfectly set up for me. But I see that it could be light on the front if you don't lean forward as much.
I'm 1.83 m (6 foot exactly) and 75 kgs. I have really short arms for some reason, lol, so I already ride with a stem as short as 90 mm.

You could weigh the bike and rider and try for a 45% front 55% rear weight distribution, but that's a bit over the top.

If you can support the bike in a trainer, put the scales under the front wheel, check the weight with your hands on the hoods with the old drop bars. When you have built the new bike, re-check the weight with your hands on the grips, if significantly lower, try a longer stem. If you find you need a 120-125mm stem then you will need to change the seat post and bring the seat forward to maintain a comfortable bike fit.

With the Upland I did for Jackie, the distance from seat to steerer tube is the same as on the road bike, however the effective stem lengths are 100mm Flat bar, 85mm drop bar. You can see from the pix the seat post clamp is reversed, this brings her whole body forward on the bike, keeping her shoulders up and not stretched out.

An alternate to these changes are bar ends on the ends of the Flat Bars. Use these just for low speed climbing to bring the weight forward.

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Cheers,
George.

Thank you for your very informative posts! I think I should have everything covered now.

One last thing, though. I want to replace the quick release mechanism on the wheels with something that requires a spanner (or other tool) to open (like on most city bike type of wheels), because I have to leave it in public places from time to time. Any idea what these are called or where to get one? Right now I'm using Shimano WH-R550 wheels.

Thanks,
Anders

Tranz X make lockable axle skewers including a seat post QR and anti theft key in black and silver, search for a reseller.

I showed Jackie the topic last night, she laughed when she read about your mum. Not many ladies in their 50s like cycling, but when they do, they are particular about their bikes.

I was going to mention gearing, I chose a triple for my age, but found the 30t too low, the 36t is ideal for slow town riding and accelerating off the lights. Your 39 with 12-25 should be ideal. When experimenting with a 26" wheel MTB, a 38t chainring with 11-28 7 speed worked well for me. Jackie prefers the 38t with 11-24 7 speed with no 3 tooth gaps in the middle and higher speed ranges.

Good luck with the project, I will process the pix early next week and post them then.

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Cheers,
George.

I just got the film procressed yesterday, must get a digital camera.

Flat Bar Try bike:

Attached Thumbnails

     

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Cheers,
George.