AVID Shorty 4 brake on Mountain Bike with road levers?

[Marty]

Hello rbt,

I'd like to setup a mountain bike with drop handlebars. So, I'd have
road brake levers (Shimano 105) and I'd like to know if I'd be able to
use them with the AVID Shorty 4 brakes and 26" mountain bikes wheels?

Also, would I be able to use a 105 rear derailleur on a mountain bike
frame with 26" mountain bike wheels with a 12/25 105 cogset?

I'm thinking of building such a bike for my daughter. It's kind of a
cross bike, but more towards mountain than road.

Thanks.
--
Marty

 

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>,
Marty <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello rbt,
>
>I'd like to setup a mountain bike with drop handlebars. So, I'd have
>road brake levers (Shimano 105) and I'd like to know if I'd be able to
>use them with the AVID Shorty 4 brakes and 26" mountain bikes wheels?

_ Yes. Cantilevers work fine with road levers, however Avid shorties
have a terrible reputation for squealing. Tektro are similarly
priced and have a better reputation.

>
>Also, would I be able to use a 105 rear derailleur on a mountain bike
>frame with 26" mountain bike wheels with a 12/25 105 cogset?

_ Sure. google for "Sheldon brown derailler capacity" to learn
why.

>
>I'm thinking of building such a bike for my daughter. It's kind of a
>cross bike, but more towards mountain than road.
>

_ Bikes with fat tires and drop bars are a lot of fun.

_ Booker C. Bense

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[Marty]

Another option that I'm thinking of is setting up the bike with disc
brakes. I've seen cross bikes setup with disc brakes. But, I'm not
sure if the "road" levers are standard road brake levers working with
the disc brakes. Maybe they are special disc brake road levers???

Also, to be more clear on my 2nd question regarding the rear derailleur
- is it possible to run a 105 cassette on say an LX rear hub with a 105
rear derailleur? Or, can I control a LX rear derailleur and cassette
with a 105 shift lever?

Yet another possibility would be to setup the bike with 700c disc
wheels on the mountain frame - but I'm not sure if 700c wheels with
cross tires will fit in a mountain bike frame.

Thanks again.
--
Marty

 

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>,
Marty <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Also, to be more clear on my 2nd question regarding the rear derailleur
>- is it possible to run a 105 cassette on say an LX rear hub with a 105
>rear derailleur?

_ yes.

> Or, can I control a LX rear derailleur and cassette
>with a 105 shift lever?
>

_ Also yes.

>Yet another possibility would be to setup the bike with 700c disc
>wheels on the mountain frame - but I'm not sure if 700c wheels with
>cross tires will fit in a mountain bike frame.

_ I think that's fairly unlikely to work unless the bike was
designed for it. Cannondale makes a bike like that.

_ Booker C. Bense

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[Marty]

Thanks very much Booker for the feedback to my questions. It's very
helpful. I get these ideas for bikes and then I start to think about
the details and there are many questions that pop up. I've learned to
ask questions about details after my last project - converting an old
Raleigh Crested Butte into a SS. That turned out great, but I ran into
all sorts of problems and it ended up costing a lot more than I had
thought it would and it took a lot longer to complete bcause of all the
special order parts and part returns. I plan to plen better on this
one. We'll see how it goes...
--
Marty

 

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>,
Marty <[email protected]> wrote:
>Thanks very much Booker for the feedback to my questions. It's very
>helpful. I get these ideas for bikes and then I start to think about
>the details and there are many questions that pop up. I've learned to
>ask questions about details after my last project - converting an old
>Raleigh Crested Butte into a SS. That turned out great, but I ran into
>all sorts of problems and it ended up costing a lot more than I had
>thought it would and it took a lot longer to complete bcause of all the
>special order parts and part returns.

_ It always does...

> I plan to plen better on this
>one. We'll see how it goes...

_ That takes all the fun out of it, however Sheldon Brown's
website is very useful if you pursue these kinds of things.

_ Booker C. Bense


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[Pete Grey]

Avid Shorty's are the best stopping brake I've used, and I've used quite a
few from the old XT Canti days and onward.
I did initially have some squealing with my first set, several years ago,
but Avid fixed the problem with those pads long ago.

The Tektro brakes are ok, if you use a really good and low-slung straddle
wire, but not as good as the Avid's for stopping, IMHO.

Just about any combo of either the 105 or LX deraileurs will work with that
cogset.

-pete

"Marty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello rbt,
>
> I'd like to setup a mountain bike with drop handlebars. So, I'd have
> road brake levers (Shimano 105) and I'd like to know if I'd be able to
> use them with the AVID Shorty 4 brakes and 26" mountain bikes wheels?
>
> Also, would I be able to use a 105 rear derailleur on a mountain bike
> frame with 26" mountain bike wheels with a 12/25 105 cogset?
>
> I'm thinking of building such a bike for my daughter. It's kind of a
> cross bike, but more towards mountain than road.
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Marty
>

 

[amakyonin]

In addition to the cantilever brakes you could also try the Tektro
Mini-Vs. These work with road levers and save you the bother of adding
cable hangers. The downside is limited clearance for large tires or
fenders. From the sound of what you are trying to achieve you can still
go with 1.75" tires or narrower. The Tektro Oryx cantilivers are also
available rebadged for Cane Creek and Nashbar (black only).

There is not much point in spending the money on disc brakes and/or
700c wheels. The only option that works with normal road levers are the
Avid mechanicals. These come in a road specific version. You can also
get the Dia-Compe 287-V road levers which have modern MTB V-brake cable
pull and will work with any MTB mechanical disc brakes.

You can use any combination of Shimano 8-9 speed hubs, cassettes, and
rear derailleurs you want. You can also mix in any 10-speed parts
except for the Dura-Ace hub with the aluminum freewheel body. I believe
8-speed Dura-Ace RDs have an oddball cable cable pull left over from
7-speed and will not work with any other parts. Note that the slant
angle of the MTB RDs is greater that that on the road RDs. This is
needed to acommodate the wider gear range of the typical MTB casette.
The cable pull is still the same for road and MTB, through, which
preserves the interchangeability. If you use the "wrong" casette with a
particular RD then you will experience delayed shifting for a portion
of the gear range. This delay stems from the mismatch in the RD slant
angle to the cassette. The mismatch prevents the RD from closely
following the cogs through the entire range of the RD.

My rain/winter MTB is set up with a 11-23 9-speed road cassette and an
Alivio RD. I have the B-limit adjust set so the jockey pulley is as
close as possible to the 11-tooth gear. The pulley is noticeably
further away when shifted over to the 23-tooth gear. This means that
the shifting is less crisp and delayed at the 23-17ish range of the
cassette. If you use an MTB cassette with a road RD you will experience
the same issues in reverse. While not a perfect situation, the delayed
shifting is not terribly noticeable and the mismatched parts work
pretty well overall. You wouldn't want to race on a bike set up this
way but it's OK for general purpose use.

You will be best off using the 105 derailleur on the bike but I would
use the LX if you already own it.

 

[Paul Kopit]

On 22 Aug 2005 10:18:52 -0700, "Marty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello rbt,
>
>I'd like to setup a mountain bike with drop handlebars. So, I'd have
>road brake levers (Shimano 105) and I'd like to know if I'd be able to
>use them with the AVID Shorty 4 brakes and 26" mountain bikes wheels?

Yes. Makes sure you have a cable hangar(s) that works. The front one
is sometimes a problem.
>
>Also, would I be able to use a 105 rear derailleur on a mountain bike
>frame with 26" mountain bike wheels with a 12/25 105 cogset?

yes
>
>I'm thinking of building such a bike for my daughter. It's kind of a
>cross bike, but more towards mountain than road.
>
>Thanks.