Formula Oro K18 levers with Shimano rapidfire shifters

ritchieJB
ritchieJB Posts: 27
edited August 2009 in MTB workshop & tech
Hello,

Just fitted my shiny new K18s - thanks everyone for the advice when choosing these :D - one snag, they don't marry well with my current shifters.

The shifters are mounted outboard of the levers and the levers hit the handlebar grips and brake lever clamps when changing gears. I have found some articles on google about this and various solutions that don't work for all people, but wondered if anyone had come across this issue themselves and how they solved it.

I have deduced (word of the day) that they are best married with SRAM shifters like the X series but want to avoid changing the shifters.

Great brakes though!
"Brannigan's Law is like Brannigan's love: hard and fast"

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    sorry you have lost me on the problem.

    got pics?
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • ritchieJB
    ritchieJB Posts: 27
    Shimano shifters aren't very compatible with formula brakes. They don't sit together very snug.

    Will try to post some pics later when I get home, but it is a common problem apparently, just wanted to get peoples feeback.

    The body of the shifter doesn't fit under the brake master cylinder so has to be rotated down away from it, this results in the shifter levers being in such a position that the levers don't have the freedom of movement to engage (click into next gear) so I can go to a higher gear but can't change down again.

    Have heard of people moving the brakes to the outiside, but this results in the shifters being in under and immediately in front of your fingers and not the inside of your index fingers.

    These links also talk about the issue, it appears it's a problem with all formula brake levers:


    http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=526879

    http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/tech/?id ... ws/oropuro
    "Brannigan's Law is like Brannigan's love: hard and fast"
  • bomberesque
    bomberesque Posts: 1,701
    you have me all intrigued. Mrs B has K18s and Shim rapid fire XT shifters and I don't recall her having any issues. the shifters are an older model though ('00) I think

    I'll have a look when I get home. Actually I'll probably forget but the intent is there. Honest. :wink:
    Everything in moderation ... except beer
    Beer in moderation ... is a waste of beer

    If riding an XC race bike is like touching the trail,
    then riding a rigid singlespeed is like licking it
    ... or being punched by it, depending on the day
  • Johnny Napalm
    Johnny Napalm Posts: 1,458
    Shimano shifters aren't very compatible with formula brakes. They don't sit together very snug.

    Oh dang!

    I've just purchased Formula Oro K18's along with an XT groupset for my bike build! :?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    Johnny Napalm

    seen many shimano and formula set ups working fine.

    but maybe it is something to do with whatever year the OPs shifters are or how they have been fitted.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • cornonthecobra
    cornonthecobra Posts: 1
    Oro K18s and XT shifters with no problems here. Brakes an inch inboard from shifters.

    I hope you took the silly little orange indicators off :wink:
    They often get in the way. Love the clever little replacement caps on the inside.

    If you look at the picture on the right of the cyclingnews article illustrating the problem, it's the gear indicator that's in the way. These are removeable on the current XT shifters but not plain Deore.

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