Flat bar road shifters

[Motobecane]

I'm going crazy with searching and trying to figure this stuff all out. I'm in the process of building a "super commuter" for the potholed bumpy streets of nyc but also setting it up as sort of a loaded touring rig as well. I want to go with a flat bar setup using a road crank. I know there are special front derailers for this however, are specific shifters also needed or can I use any MTB trigger shifter set up? please don't advise me to use grip shifters, I hate them.

I'm interested in using microshift 9speed mtb shifters because they are cheap. also, are there any type of gadgets that will allow me to take a regular road FD and make it work with MTB shfiters? I know there are cable pull issues but I'm just curious if there is any way to rig it up?

Thanks in advance

 

[dabac]

If it's gonna be a flat bar commuter, why do you want to use a road crank?

A 46T front will give plenty of speed for that application, and is easily shifted by regular flat bar MTB trigger shifters.

 

[Motobecane]

Primarily because I already have the crank so I'm trying not to spend money when I don't have to. I feel like I've read that some people have been able to shift a regular road FD with MTB shifters without major issues and others have definately needed to get the shimano R443 FD to make it work. It won't be the worst thing in the world if I have to do it, just hoping to avoid it.

new FD is probably cheaper than a new crank though I feel like nashbar does have a cheap decent mtb crank that would suit my needs. MTB crank may be worth doing should i end up using it for loaded touring, especially since I alone weight 240lbs

 

[alfeng]

FWIW. I think that YOUR primary concern is whether the frame you plan to use allows for a BOTTOM PULL or a TOP PULL front derailleur ...

• Some Shimano front derailleurs can use cable routing from EITHER direction ...

Since MTB shifters cost less than the Flat Bar shifters which are designed to use a Road front derailleur, I think that you may as well simply choose a set of MTB shifters UNLESS you are setting up your street bike on a frame with short chainstays ...

• Most low profile (whatever they are called) MTB front derailleurs have their mechanism BEHIND the seat tube

So, if you can mount a MTB front derailleur on your frame, then you may as well simply buy a set of plain DEORE shifters.

If you need to use something like a 105-or-Ultegra front derailleur (just a couple of examples) on the frame, then you need to use a set of Flat Bar ROAD shifters.

FYI. Despite what some people may say, you can use a 52t (and, probably a 53t) chainring with a Shimano MTB front derailleur:

​

I changed the pictured crank (ISIS BB) to one which uses an Octalink BB ... without looking, I dont' recall if I have a 52t or 53t chainring on the current crank. The particular front derailleur is a Shimano FD-737 ([COLOR= #808080]or, whatever the 8-speed XT model number is[/COLOR]).

 

[Motobecane]

Originally Posted by alfeng .

FWIW. I think that YOUR primary concern is whether the frame you plan to use allows for a BOTTOM PULL or a TOP PULL front derailleur ...

• Some Shimano front derailleurs can use cable routing from EITHER direction ...

Since MTB shifters cost less than the Flat Bar shifters which are designed to use a Road front derailleur, I think that you may as well simply choose a set of MTB shifters UNLESS you are setting up your street bike on a frame with short chainstays ...

• Most low profile (whatever they are called) MTB front derailleurs have their mechanism BEHIND the seat tube

So, if you can mount a MTB front derailleur on your frame, then you may as well simply buy a set of plain DEORE shifters.

If you need to use something like a 105-or-Ultegra front derailleur (just a couple of examples) on the frame, then you need to use a set of Flat Bar ROAD shifters.

FYI. Despite what some people may say, you can use a 52t (and, probably a 53t) chainring with a Shimano MTB front derailleur:

​

I changed the pictured crank (ISIS BB) to one which uses an Octalink BB ... without looking, I dont' recall if I have a 52t or 53t chainring on the current crank. The particular front derailleur is a Shimano FD-737 ([COLOR= #808080]or, whatever the 8-speed XT model number is[/COLOR]).

not sure your data is accurate. to my knowledge there is no such thing as a road flat bar shifter. essentially they are just MTB shifters. there are no flat bar trigger shifters that will work with a regular sora/tiagra/105 etc FD. The issue is that the pull ratio is different between MTB and Road FD's. The other issue is that a MTB FD has a different curve profile to the cages because of the smaller chainrings. I would think a mtb with the proper pull ration would have a better chance of working that a regular road FD with the right cage size but wrong pull ratio.

In fact, I know a regular road FD wont work properly, my gf doesn't like Drop bars so when we bought her bikes direct bike, I put my old flat bars onto her bike and put her brifters onto my bike. I initally tried to use her Road FD and it didn't shift properly upfront. I think i'll just end up buying the FD 443 FD and do it right.

 

[alfeng]

Originally Posted by Motobecane .

not sure your data is accurate. to my knowledge there is no such thing as a road flat bar shifter. essentially they are just MTB shifters. there are no flat bar trigger shifters that will work with a regular sora/tiagra/105 etc FD. The issue is that the pull ratio is different between MTB and Road FD's. The other issue is that a MTB FD has a different curve profile to the cages because of the smaller chainrings. I would think a mtb with the proper pull ration would have a better chance of working that a regular road FD with the right cage size but wrong pull ratio.

In fact, I know a regular road FD wont work properly, my gf doesn't like Drop bars so when we bought her bikes direct bike, I put my old flat bars onto her bike and put her brifters onto my bike. I initally tried to use her Road FD and it didn't shift properly upfront. I think i'll just end up buying the FD 443 FD and do it right.

FYI. The possibility that I might be wrong always exists, however the Shimano SL-R770 2x10 shifters are considered to be Road Shifters -- the first clue is the 'R' prefix before the numerical designation.

​

Of course, when the R770 10-speed shifters were introduced, Shimano's MTB drivetrains were only 9-speed ...

But, with the advent of 10-speed MTB drivetrains, the end user can choose his-or-her shifters based on the front derailleur type.

 

[Motobecane]

We are both right. Yes they are considered "road shifters" and don't have any branding of the MTB groups on them, however, essentially they function like MTB shifters and require a special fd. Essentially what I was implying was incorrect is that there are flat bar road shifters that are compatible with a regular road FD. perhaps with a double there may be some compatibility or the trim function will make it work well enough but certainly with a road triple crank you can't get to all three chainrings properly unless you use the correct Flat bar road FD.

I'm doing so research on SRAM's flat bar road offerings as someone is leading me to believe that they work with the same ration as road FD's and might work.

 

[wild]

I don't have the specs here but 2010 Fujis Absolute 1.0 uses triger shifters and a triple with a 30- 39- 50 chain ring and a 105 10 spd casette you might want to look up the specs Fuji calls it there flat bar road bike. Hope I have helped

 

[Motobecane]

thanks wild, I've decided to go ahead and buy the shimano R-443 FD, I should get it by the end of the week and I'll update the thread with my results for those considering the same thing.

 

[wild]

How did you make out useing the R-443 FDs

 

[Motobecane]

It worked out great! Microshift 9spd mtb shifters with Microshift rd and shimano 443 fd and it shifts better than my ultegra equipped road bike and runs dead silent. It's mated to a truvativ elita crank isis bb that I got from eBay seller wheel and sprocket for $40 so its a very inexpensive and effective drivetrain. Fwiw, the pics on nashbars website don't do the Microshift stuff justice, the stuff actually looks really good . I can't vouch for durability and I don't know if they would withstand true off-road riding but for these purposes they are a tremendous value.