Can I use my Road Bike STI levers with my AVID mechanical Disc Brakes?

[Me]

Hi I want to convert my mtb to road style drop bars using my Ultegra STIs
and my Avid Mechanical Disc Brakes (the standard mtb version) -for touring
not to be like John Tomac!

My question. Will my Ultegras levers pull enough cable? I'm guessing they
wont, so in that case can I use a "travel agent" type device which is
normally used to allow drop bars with v brake levers...

If anyone has any experience with this, and if I need to buy something else,
I'd appreciate the name of a place here in the UK where I can buy the type
of adaper I need.

cheers

 

[di]

"Me" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi I want to convert my mtb to road style drop bars using my Ultegra STIs
> and my Avid Mechanical Disc Brakes (the standard mtb version) -for touring
> not to be like John Tomac!
>
> My question. Will my Ultegras levers pull enough cable? I'm guessing they
> wont, so in that case can I use a "travel agent" type device which is
> normally used to allow drop bars with v brake levers...
>
> If anyone has any experience with this, and if I need to buy something
else,
> I'd appreciate the name of a place here in the UK where I can buy the type
> of adaper I need.
>
> cheers
>
>
I tried this with travel agents and was not happy with it. The brakes were
almost as effective as road brakes but did not stop as well as I wanted them
to. The bike would barely slow down without the travel agents. I finally
went to Avid Road Disks brakes, which stop very well with STI levers.
Another option is with road v-brake levers and bar end shifters,

 

[Me]

cool, can I ask where did you place the travel agents? At the brake lever
end or down at the wheel?

Any idea if I can buy whatever part is differnt between the road and the mtb
brake?

I've tried to find an avid site to ask some tech questions but can't seem to
weed out the company's website from those selling their products.

thanks for everyones advice!



"di" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:cXxOc.86$Yr.4@okepread02...
>
> "Me" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Hi I want to convert my mtb to road style drop bars using my Ultegra
STIs
> > and my Avid Mechanical Disc Brakes (the standard mtb version) -for
touring
> > not to be like John Tomac!
> >
> > My question. Will my Ultegras levers pull enough cable? I'm guessing
they
> > wont, so in that case can I use a "travel agent" type device which is
> > normally used to allow drop bars with v brake levers...
> >
> > If anyone has any experience with this, and if I need to buy something
> else,
> > I'd appreciate the name of a place here in the UK where I can buy the
type
> > of adaper I need.
> >
> > cheers
> >
> >
> I tried this with travel agents and was not happy with it. The brakes
were
> almost as effective as road brakes but did not stop as well as I wanted
them
> to. The bike would barely slow down without the travel agents. I
finally
> went to Avid Road Disks brakes, which stop very well with STI levers.
> Another option is with road v-brake levers and bar end shifters,
>
>

 

[di]

"Me" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> cool, can I ask where did you place the travel agents? At the brake lever
> end or down at the wheel?
>
> Any idea if I can buy whatever part is differnt between the road and the
mtb
> brake?
>
> I've tried to find an avid site to ask some tech questions but can't seem
to
> weed out the company's website from those selling their products.
>
> thanks for everyones advice!
>

I put the travel agent down at the wheel on the brake caliper. The cable
had to make a weird bent before it goes into the travel agent, but it was
ok.

I can't see any appearance difference between the road brakes and mountain
brakes. I sure there's a little difference in the actuating lever or
maybe there's something on the inside that cannot be seen.

 

[ZeeExSixAre]

> I can't see any appearance difference between the road brakes and
> mountain brakes. I sure there's a little difference in the
> actuating lever or maybe there's something on the inside that cannot
> be seen.

It's not the lever. It's the brake itself. They pull different amounts of
cable and have different mechanical advantages.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[di]

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:gLCOc.5738$4%[email protected]...
> > I can't see any appearance difference between the road brakes and
> > mountain brakes. I sure there's a little difference in the
> > actuating lever or maybe there's something on the inside that cannot
> > be seen.
>
> It's not the lever. It's the brake itself. They pull different amounts
of
> cable and have different mechanical advantages.
>
> --
> Phil, Squid-in-Training
>
>
I was referring to the lever on the brake that is actuated by the cable,
sorry for the confusion, I thought from the past conversation we were only
talking about the brake calipers.

 

[tcmedara]

Me <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I've tried to find an avid site to ask some tech questions but can't
> seem to weed out the company's website from those selling their
> products.
>
try this: http://www.avidbike.com/home.html

Google is good.

TOm