Road to Hybrid Conversion

[Mleimer]

I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her. The
KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a straight
handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?

Thanks ML

 

[Gary Smiley]

Yes (if you get the right ones), but you'll have to get new brake levers as well, since the old
brake levers were designed for curved bars..

MLeimer wrote:

> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>
> Thanks ML

 

[Per ElmsäTer]

MLeimer wrote:
> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>
> Thanks ML

Why don't you just set the handlebars up higher and closer while you explain to her that this is far
more comfortable than she will ever be on straight bars?

--
Perre

Remove and/or replace the DOTs as needed to reply

 

[Ken]

[email protected] (MLeimer) wrote in news:238a77bd.0304071151.6044ba99 @posting.google.com:
> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?

Does this bike have enough clearance for hybrid tires (32mm and fatter)?

 

[Jonathan Bond]

Per Elmsäter wrote:
> MLeimer wrote:
>
>>I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
>>The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
>>straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>>
>>Thanks ML
>
>
> Why don't you just set the handlebars up higher and closer while you explain to her that this is
> far more comfortable than she will ever be on straight bars?
>
> --
> Perre
>
> Remove and/or replace the DOTs as needed to reply

I'm much more comfortable on my riser bars (lo rise) with Oury grips on my mountain bike than I am
on the traditional bars of my road bike. And if you're riding casually, you're not gonna be in the
drops much.

Jon Bond

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

We do this conversion all the time. You'll need a few things to make it work right.

#1: The mountain bike shifters do *not* work properly for the front
derailleur. You'll need to get the Shimano Road Bike flat bar shifters, of which there are two
versions that work with 9-speed, going for about $60 and $110. The less-expensive ones work fine.

#1b: There's also a different front derailleur (440 series?) that's needed
for things to work right. Don't know why they didn't simply make a shift lever that would work with
their standard front derailleurs, but they didn't. Costs about $30.

#1c: As implied, there are no compatibility issues with the rear
derailleur, only the front.

#2: Mountain bike brake levers aren't going to pull the right amount of
cable for her dual-pivot brakes, so you'll need to get the appropriate Shimano brake levers for flat
bar road bikes as well. Fortunately those are cheap, around $20.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"MLeimer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>
> Thanks ML

 

[Mleimer]

Thanks for all the input. My first idea was to just raise the current bars and save money as many of
you suggested. However, I need to buy a new left shifter anyway. It turns out that you have to
double shift to get from the bottom to middle chain ring. Not a problem for me but I don't want to
add one more concern to the list as I introduce my lady to road bikes. I've taken it to the local
shop and they say it can't be fixed. Thus the Mt Bike shifter idea. Oh well, lots to think about.

Thanks, ML

 

[Per ElmsäTer]

MLeimer wrote:
> Thanks for all the input. My first idea was to just raise the current bars and save money as many
> of you suggested. However, I need to buy a new left shifter anyway. It turns out that you have to
> double shift to get from the bottom to middle chain ring. Not a problem for me but I don't want to
> add one more concern to the list as I introduce my lady to road bikes. I've taken it to the local
> shop and they say it can't be fixed. Thus the Mt Bike shifter idea. Oh well, lots to think about.
>
> Thanks, ML

Well getting from a smaller to a bigger chainring up front is always difficult. Both on my Ultegra
( two shifts and possibly some trimming) setup and my XT ( long lever but not hard)setup. The
chain has to be moved a long way. Before I put XT on my hybrid I had Alivio shifters and almost
broke my thumb shifting up. Sometimes I was seriously sore in my thumb for days and I am not a
weakling exactly. A couple of smaller shifts to work it up can sometimes be much preffered
especially for a girl.

My girlfriend had an MTB that she swapped with a friend for one of those five speeds with a
footbrake. Now she's complaining that it's too heavy. I've been contemplating getting a Rickshaw for
toting my family around with me
--
Perre

Remove and/or replace the DOTs as needed to reply

 

[Pat Budd]

[email protected] (MLeimer) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>
> Thanks ML

I've done this to a couple of bikes and included switching the standard road tires for knobby's.
Best way is to pick up some used MTB bar shifters and levers but you can do it with DT shifters and
very basic brake levers for straight bars. I've recommended similar setups to a number of people who
thought they wanted MTB's but in reality had no interest in going off road other than groomed
trails. Much, much lighter than a MTB and much cheaper.

 

[Sheldon Brown]

>>I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
>>The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
>>straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?

> Pat Budd wrote:

> I've done this to a couple of bikes and included switching the standard road tires for knobby's.
> Best way is to pick up some used MTB bar shifters and levers but you can do it with DT shifters
> and very basic brake levers for straight bars. I've recommended similar setups to a number of
> people who thought they wanted MTB's but in reality had no interest in going off road other than
> groomed trails. Much, much lighter than a MTB and much cheaper.

This is good advice except for the part about knobby tires. Fat knobby tires are good for mountain
bikes to be ridden in steep sandy or muddy conditions, but in any size skinny enough to fit on a
road bike they're almost always a poor choice.

Tires this narrow won't work in mud or sand, no matter how lumpy the tread is. Knobby tires are
needlessly slow on pavement, and cause a very annoying buzzing vibration.

Much better to get smooth tires, fairly wide ones. (You can generally fit a wider smooth tire in a
given frame than you can a knobby.)

Sheldon "Fat & Bald" Brown +----------------------------------------------------+
| I admit that reason is a small and feeble flame, | a flickering torch by stumblers carried in the
| | star-less night, -- blown and flared by passion's | storm, -- and yet, it is the only light. |
| Extinguish that, and nought remains. | -- Robert Green Ingersoll |
+----------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

 

[Jack Fortune]

[email protected] (MLeimer) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I hope to get my wife on a road bike by turning my old KHS into a more comfortable ride for her.
> The KHS has Shimano 105 derailleurs, 9 speed rear and triple front. If I switch the drops to a
> straight handle bar and put on Mt Bike shifters, will they work with the road derailleurs?
>
> Thanks ML

I don't think that Mt Bike shifters will work correctly with the 105 front derailer.

I believe that the STI shifters pull a different amount of cable than Mt Bike one do.