Need help with Ultegra Flat Bar Setup

[wiseguy]

I am building a low budget comfort / cross bike trying to use components I have on hand. Doing this I need some advise.

First, I need suggestions for a frame set that will accommodate 700 x 32 tires, v-brakes (and possibly road brakes as an option). I would like something that's not too heavy, looks good and has road geometry. I do not need a shock fork since most of my miles will be on the road with only occasional off--road smooth trail riding.

Second, I need advise regarding the following components:

1) I am planning to use my old (but good) 8 sp Ultegra components with a flat bar. I know my STI road bar shifters and brakes are of no use so I need to know which flat bar shifters (and brakes) I need to work with v-brakes and an 8 speed Ultegra drive train.

2) If I later decide to upgrade to 9 speeds, can you suggest a shifter that will work with either the 8 or 9 speed Ultegra road group.

3) If I decide to start out with my Ultegra brakes and then change to v-brakes, will the brake levers work with either setup?

4) Will my 8 speed Ultegra hubs work with 9 or even 10 speed gears?

Lots of questions....I appreciate you comments!!

 

[jasong]

If you have the 8sp STIs you can use them, and maybe just keep the drop bar unless you really don't want it. Or you could hang them in an interesting way on the flat bar (will they grab 25.6mm ok?). Use cantilever brakes instead of Vbrakes (Nashbar has a set of deluxe cantis that vary between $10-15). Maybe you need a canti hanger for the front / rear, these are cheap addons. 8sp freehub body is same width as 9 or 10sp (except durace is different for 10sp) shimano.

There's a $100 cross set someone wrote about recently in bikeforums

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?threadid=85627

Otherwise look for things like a jamis nova on ebay, but identical geometry to road may be tough to find. I think a lot of cross specific bikes will have the canti cable bosses already there because people seem to be keeping road levers on them which can pull adequate cable.

As to the 8/9/10 compatibility, perhaps Campy's Ergo setup is the most flexibile with the need to change out a part to adjust the spacing, but I don't know how much that part is. You can use Ergo with shimano components if you use the campy hack mentioned at

http://www.hubbub.com/ergoleverswshim9.htm

You would be able to use the ultegra brakes with vbrake compatible levers, I'm doing that now, but careful with pulling because the brakes will lock fast.

 

[artmichalek]

http://www.hubbub.com/ergoleverswshim9.htm
You would be able to use the ultegra brakes with vbrake compatible levers, I'm doing that now, but careful with pulling because the brakes will lock fast.

You can smooth that out with one of these:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=2647&subcategory_ID=5221

 

[boudreaux]

If you have the 8sp STIs you can use them, and maybe just keep the drop bar unless you really don't want it. Or you could hang them in an interesting way on the flat bar (will they grab 25.6mm ok?).

The flat bar standard CLAMP diameter is 25.4,and that's not the diameter where the shifters 'grab' it.

 

[jasong]

You can smooth that out with one of these:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=2647&subcategory_ID=5221

I used a pair of those for a while and don't like them. They fill up with grit and it's pretty much impossible to remove the cable and then put it back in, as the device's wheel frays the cable and crimps it after short use. Aside from that, they're more expensive than a decent pair of canti brakes (ie. the deluxe ones I mentioned from Nashbar), so it seemed like an obvious pick to me, especially if one is buying new equipment.