Converting flat to road bars

[DeF]

The SO has done her first TT and has got the bug.
Now she's asking about converting her Avanti Blade
which has flat bars to to road bars. I see three
options in order of decreasing cost:

1: N+1
2: Get whole new gruppo and bars
3: Get Tiagra sti levers and some bars

My uncertainty is with 3 - will road STI brake
levers work with her V-brakes OK? I seem to
recall seeing somewhere that the lever travel
is not right. Secondly, do you need to have
a special lever if there is a triple on the front?

Option 2 isn't that much more expensive than 3
(about twice maybe) and I'm leaning towards it.
Also, I could convert her to Campy and then we
could share wheel sets.

DeF.

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[Parbs]

DeF wrote:
.. <snip>
>
> My uncertainty is with 3 - will road STI brake
> levers work with her V-brakes OK? I seem to
> recall seeing somewhere that the lever travel
> is not right.

Wont work, although you can get these
http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=42680&cat=30&brand=192

> Secondly, do you need to have
> a special lever if there is a triple on the front?

Shimano 9 speed stuff have the same lever.

Parbs

 

[Joel Mayes]

On 2007-04-14, Parbs <[email protected]> wrote:
> DeF wrote:
> . <snip>
>>
>> My uncertainty is with 3 - will road STI brake
>> levers work with her V-brakes OK? I seem to
>> recall seeing somewhere that the lever travel
>> is not right.
>
> Wont work, although you can get these
> http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=42680&cat=30&brand=192

Or switch over to traditional canitilevers if you've got a set laying
around, they work acceptably with drop levers.
>
>> Secondly, do you need to have
>> a special lever if there is a triple on the front?
>
> Shimano 9 speed stuff have the same lever.

I think the front shifters use different amounts of cable travel, I
don't think the OPs MTB front mech will work with road bike STI
shifters

Cheers

Joel.

 

[Artoi]

In article <[email protected]>,
DeF <[email protected]> wrote:

> The SO has done her first TT and has got the bug.
> Now she's asking about converting her Avanti Blade
> which has flat bars to to road bars. I see three
> options in order of decreasing cost:
>
> 1: N+1
> 2: Get whole new gruppo and bars
> 3: Get Tiagra sti levers and some bars
>
> My uncertainty is with 3 - will road STI brake
> levers work with her V-brakes OK? I seem to
> recall seeing somewhere that the lever travel
> is not right. Secondly, do you need to have
> a special lever if there is a triple on the front?
>
> Option 2 isn't that much more expensive than 3
> (about twice maybe) and I'm leaning towards it.
> Also, I could convert her to Campy and then we
> could share wheel sets.

Been there and done that. The key issue in my mind is whether the frame
is a genuine road frame (not familiar with Avanti Blade). If it's not,
then it'll be a perpetual sore spot, and you are better to just go for
N+1 solution. If it is a road frame, then by all means replace all the
specific components as required to complete the transformation. If you
are not too style conscious, you may be able to pick up specific
components off eBay or similar for a good price.
--

 

[rooman]

N+1 would be my option (budget permitting)

SO will still have a bike to fool around on or whatever without compromising her need for speed and giving you what for!

I fooled around with converting a commuter hybrid over to drop bars, even decided I could stick with the flat bar brakes and gear selectors combo and not go STI, and in fact it did work, the ergonomics were fine...I just thought it looked funny and went back to flat bar when I was given a very light/strong Carbon/Kevlar/Alloy-core flat bar and dropped some FIR 700cs with some old Record hubs & Campy 8speed cassette on it, it actually became a superb flat bar triple that actually had some zip. It is now my post office tripper and speeds my mail home , only now I want to train it to go get the mail on its own...

 

[DeF]

rooman wrote:
> N+1 would be my option (budget permitting)
>
> SO will still have a bike to fool around on or whatever without
> compromising her need for speed and giving you what for!
>
> I fooled around with converting a commuter hybrid over to drop bars,
> even decided I could stick with the flat bar brakes and gear selectors
> combo and not go STI, and in fact it did work, the ergonomics were
> fine...I just thought it looked funny and went back to flat bar when I
> was given a very light/strong Carbon/Kevlar/Alloy-core flat bar and
> dropped some FIR 700cs with some old Record hubs & Campy 8speed
> cassette on it, it actually became a superb flat bar triple that
> actually had some zip. It is now my post office tripper and speeds my
> mail home , only now I want to train it to go get the mail on its
> own...
>
>

The Avanti Blade is a "proper" road bike, in many ways it
resembles a traditional "touring bike" - fairly relaxed
angles and lots of braze ons. It has 700c wheels.

I've gone the modification route - ordered new Tiagra STI
levers and brakes and can do the rest with bits around the
shed.

N+1 will probably wait until sprogs are a bit older....

DeF.

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