Friction downtube shifters 9 speed mtn group? (& other s

AllanT

Have just been offered a new unused Alu road frame & forks for only £100, which I'm going to use to build up the winter bike.

The initial plan was to strip down the entry level bike (which is now superseded) and use the bits off that to build up with a new frame.

However this frame has a threaded headset, whereas my entry level has a threadless. I've been able to scrounge a quill stem & bars (complete with brake levers along with a few other bits off a bike a friend was throwing away).

I started to think if I could source a cheap pair of shimano 9speed hub wheels (as opposed to the campag on the entry level bike), then I have mtn bike mechs, crankset & cassettes lying around, infact virutally enough to make a full groupset (pity the frame doesn't have braze ons for disks as I have a set of hydralic disk brakes lying around - anyone know if you can get parts brazed on to alu frames?). That way I could fit one of the narrower range mtn bike casettes, use a 48/36 ring (or could even go triple if I wanted), and run as a compact road groupset, saving my decent campag centaur stuff for a better project (like a dedicated crosser).

Much as I don't like shimano (though their mtn bike stuff is good) it is much cheaper & efficiency matters less with a winter training bike. Therefore it seemed ideal for winder usage.

However there is the problem of the shifters. I prefer campag ergo (which I have in the campag groupset), but I was thinking I would rather keep them for the crosser. The frame in question has fittings for a downtube shifters, and amongst the bits I scrounged from the scrap bike includes a pair of friction shifters. I wondered if I would be able to run them with the 9 speed indexed mtn bike mech, or would there be any problems with this? Alternatively does anyone do cheap shimano 9 speed mtn bike compatible indexed downtube shifters?

The other option I've considered is getting some bar end shifters, and using them instead (again anyone know anyone who does cheap shimano 9 speed mtn bike compatible shifters?) - possbily a better option as it means I wouldn't have to remove my hands from the bars to change gear.

Or is there a durable cheap form of mtn bike compatible STI shifter?

My budget is around £200, and obviously £100 of that has already been allocated to the frame. so that leaves another £100 for the shifters, cables, etc.

Any comments or suggestions?

nicklouse

do you want indexing?

i seem to remember some company that modified some shimano bar end shifters to work as thumb shifters for use on retro look MTBs.

A2Z do adaptors for frames without disc mounts. But dont forget the hub O.L.D. is different MTB to road. by 5mm (130mm road and 135mm mtb).

AllanT

Just thought I didn't state, not sure if this is obvious, but I would be using drops, I hate flatbars - though I suppose there would be nothing stopping me mounting the shifters on the flats, except then I might as well as use downtube or barends. I presume what you're saying though is that you can get barends which are mtn bike compatible, how you mount them is irrelevant?

Obviously if I had the choice I'd prefer indexing, though I'm weighing up the pro's and cons. I understand the campag front mech shifter isn't indexed anyway?

Thinking I probably wouldn't use disks anyway, but it is an avenue to consider (understand there may be issues with the frame strength). On thing I did consider if I used disks would be that I have an old set of mtn bike wheels fitted with road tyres. Apparently you can get tyres for mtn bikes which are as narrow as a roadbike tyre, so I thought maybe I could use the road tyre fitted mtn bike wheels (which would be smaller - ok not as fast but would have greater clearance for mudguards ) and save myself more money.