Hub gear

biking_mongoose
biking_mongoose Posts: 50
edited December 2007 in Workshop
I'm looking at building a Kaffenbach with the Shimano BR505 disk brakes. I'd like to combine this with the Shimano Alfine hub gear. This works as I've seen this setup on the Trek Soho. However, I want drop bars on my kaffenbach (The trek has flatbars). What i'd like to know is how do I go about integrating a changer for the hub gear with drop bars. I could use a bar end shifter but would prefer to use a single STI lever and a single non-sti lever. Is this possible and would it look okay? I dont want to mismatched brake levers. Could I use a pair of STI levers and only utilise the gear change on one of them?

BT

Comments

  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    I can't help you on whether an STI lever would work with a hub gear, but you can easily use one for just the brake. Just leave the gear cable off, the braking action is independant of it.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    biking_mongoose wrote:
    I could use a bar end shifter but would prefer to use a single STI lever and a single non-sti lever. Is this possible and would it look okay? I dont want to mismatched brake levers.

    Lance mismatched his levers sometimes.

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  • PHcp
    PHcp Posts: 2,748
    Nice idea, but no you can't. You'll have to use the specific hub gear shifter, nothing else will have the correct cable pull (At least this is true of all other Shimano hub gears, I'm assuming the Alfine is the same)
    If it's a trigger shifter you might be able to fit it to the tops, I've never tried. If it's a twist shift, then you could either use an accessory bar like this
    http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/images/produ ... horn_l.jpg
    Or get a converter to use it on the bar end like this
    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/bian ... index.html
    You'll then be able to choose the most appropriate brake levers.

    If you do a search you'll find that Avid mechanical disks are better thought of than the Shimano model. It might be worth checking out if these are compatible with the Alfine hub.

    What are you going to use for a chain tensioner? I've got a 5spd hub on a bike with vertical dropouts and a SS chain tensioner, I already had the frame, but if I'd been buying from new I'd have chosen something that didn't need one.

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