Drop bars on Sirrus Elite 2007

robrauy

Hi,

Was thinking about fitting drops to my Sirrus.

Just wondering if anyone has fitted them to a 2007 model (with the curvy top tube).

Mainly concerned about whether it will look ok, as I think the geometry would work fine for me.

Many thanks,

Rob

alfablue

Should look okay, the drops will be a longer reach than flats, so may need a shorter stem, though I note that you say geometry should be okay. Ifthey are linear pull (v-brake type) there may be an issue with the amount of cable pull available with drops. Depending on the shifters you choose it could cost you upwards of £150, wouldbuying a dedicated drop-bar road bike and selling the Sirrus be a better move (assuming its the basic Sirrus model)?

robrauy

Thanks for the reply.

They are linear pulls - Was thinking about swapping them out for some side pulls, though I'm not sure if the rears will have a mounting hole.

I was thinking about selling it, but it's a decent bike, and I quite enjoy the DIY challenge!

Rob

gkerr4

i think it would make a fairly decent drop bar bike actually - it;s geometry is slightly roubaix-like - which would be nice

not sure how you are going to get pas the v-brake issue though....

gkerr4

oh - that said - cross bikes work with v-brakes and STI-levers don't they? so it can't be that far out!

alfablue

Aparently Campag mini linear pull brakes work fine with STI's, or there is the Travel Agent device. Or maybe accept slightly compromised braking.

robrauy

Thanks for the replies - Looks like it's a goer then !

I'll look into the campag mini linear pulls...

Rob

robrauy

BY the power of photoshop

alfablue

robrauy wrote:

Thanks for the replies - Looks like it's a goer then !

I'll look into the campag mini linear pulls...

Rob

The linear pulls are hard to find, but I think Condor sell them. Campag say they are only for their flat bar bikes, but Condor fit them to their drop bar Heritage tourer, and C+ were very impressed with the braking in their review last year.

robrauy

alfablue wrote:

robrauy wrote:

Thanks for the replies - Looks like it's a goer then !

I'll look into the campag mini linear pulls...

Rob

The linear pulls are hard to find, but I think Condor sell them. Campag say they are only for their flat bar bikes, but Condor fit them to their drop bar Heritage tourer, and C+ were very impressed with the braking in their review last year.

Perhaps I could fit these instead ?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Tektr ... 360007433/

alfablue

You could, they would be fine (and cheaper than the £40 ish campags) but this tyoe of canti cannot offer the same braking power of mini-V's, however many cyclocross, tourists and audax riders seem to make do with them. I would say try with your existing brakes first and see how good or bad things are, but be prepared to buy something else.

robrauy

Just in case anyone is interested, I finally got around to doing this.

All very straightforward - Ended up keeping the original v brakes and buying a pair of travel agents, as they seemed to be the least hassle route. Just need to buy an inline cable adjuster for the front derailleur for a bit of tweaking.

Rob

alfablue

Well done Rob, the setup looks good. How much did it all cost?

robrauy

Thanks

Costs as follows:-

Bars £15
Xeon shifters and cables £42
Travel agents £32

The Xeon shifters work fine with the tiagra rear derailleur using the trick of rerouting the cable, and save a fair bit of cash over Shimano STIs.

Also I had to move the rack to fit the rear travel agent, so bought a pair of P clips for the seat stays. Also, used a stem (110mm) and headset spacer I had from a previous build.

The bike is really nice to ride, though I may end up dropping the bars a tad and fitting a slightly shorter stem at some point...

Rob

chuckcork

robrauy wrote:

Thanks

Costs as follows:-

Bars £15
Xeon shifters and cables £42
Travel agents £32

The Xeon shifters work fine with the tiagra rear derailleur using the trick of rerouting the cable, and save a fair bit of cash over Shimano STIs.

Also I had to move the rack to fit the rear travel agent, so bought a pair of P clips for the seat stays. Also, used a stem (110mm) and headset spacer I had from a previous build.

The bike is really nice to ride, though I may end up dropping the bars a tad and fitting a slightly shorter stem at some point...

Rob

Rob, probably a bit cheeky to ask, but could you do a full writeup for what you did to your Sirrus to convert it over? I have a Sirrus 2005, it was brilliant for the riding I did around London what with the need for high levels of control and an upright riding position, but I'm now doing longer country rides and find the drop bar setup of my other bikes preferable by far, as a result its been quite a while since I've ridden it.

I thought a while ago about converting it over to drops, but couldn't be sure it wouldn't be way to expensive. If I could convert mine over it would give me the choice of 3 bikes to ride on Sunday's

And maybe I could start a cycle hire business, bike loan for club newbies?

secretsam

I'd also appreciate it, have a Sirrus and have thought of doing the same!

robrauy

SecretSam wrote:

I'd also appreciate it, have a Sirrus and have thought of doing the same!

All pretty straight forward really..

The travel agents were more expensive than I had hoped, but they seem to me to be the neatest and most reliable method of mixing V brakes with campag shifters..

I'll dig up a link to show how to use campag shifters with a shimano rear derailleur.

Let me know which bits you need more detail on..

Rob

secretsam

Have PM'd you

Jajacp

Looks like the bike was meant to be that way. I've run a simillar set up for years on a drop handle barred MTB. It's a 9 speed campag groupset with Marchisio cassete on shimano hubs - they clain that you can't fit this combination because the freehub isn't wide enough, but I was unaware of this at the time and it seems to work.

Anyway the reason I've posted is to point out thatyou haven't got enough cable outer on the front brake and that the cable will wear a slot into the travel agent. I speak from experience. It will still work but ideally you need more cable outer than you would think to ensure the travel agent stays pushed down onto the brake arm.

robrauy

Jajacp wrote:

Looks like the bike was meant to be that way. I've run a simillar set up for years on a drop handle barred MTB. It's a 9 speed campag groupset with Marchisio cassete on shimano hubs - they clain that you can't fit this combination because the freehub isn't wide enough, but I was unaware of this at the time and it seems to work.

Anyway the reason I've posted is to point out thatyou haven't got enough cable outer on the front brake and that the cable will wear a slot into the travel agent. I speak from experience. It will still work but ideally you need more cable outer than you would think to ensure the travel agent stays pushed down onto the brake arm.

Thanks for that.

I guessed it should be seated a bit better... Need to add an inline cable adjuster to the front mech, so I'll fix it then.