What kit will operate MTB gears from drop or courier bars?

born2beeza

I don't like flat bars. I find them uncomfortable and you can't pull on them.

My roughtourer bike currently has courier bars and dura ace bar end 9 speed shifters married to Deore LX rear mech. This is OK, but not ideal.

Flat bars have a narrower calibre than drop or courier road bars, so the usual MTB levers won't fit. Has anybody put anything together that matches:
- MTB chainrings,
- long cage rear mech
- STI or bar end shifters?

You might have done it or seen it on a touring bike.

Ta

Nick

ralex

There shouldn't be any problem with running 'mtb chainrings', a long cage rear mech, and STI or bar end shifters. Lots of touring bikes have exactly that combination and it works well.

redvee

I used an MTB drivetrain, chainset, front & rear mech with Sora 3x8 STIs with no problems.

andrew_s

If you use normal road bike controls, the problem areas are front gears and braking.

MTB and road front mechs work off a different cable pull, so if there's any indexing you have to match a road shifter with a road front mech.
If you are currently using Dura-ace bar end shifters, the front shifting isn't indexed so there's no problem.
If you want to use road STI, you'll need a road front mech.

Rear shifting is cross compatible between road and MTB. All you have to do is match the shifter speeds with the number of sprockets.

MTB brake levers are generally designed to pull twice as much cable as road levers. If you are currently using MTB levers (i.e with V brakes), you'll need to either change the brakes to cantilever, use a cable pull adapter (eg "Travel Agent"), or use V-brake specific drop bar levers (eg Tektro RL520).
Cantilever brakes can be a problem to install (i.e you need to arrange cable hangers), and are fiddly to set up well and keep set up. They work fine when well set up.
Travel agents don't usually have a good press - drop bar levers, travel agents and V-brakes seem to work about as well as an averagely set up set of cantis. RL520 levers get a good press, but mean you have to use bar-end levers rather than STI.

alfablue

Good info, above, just to add an alternative, I am using Campag linear pull brakes (short arm v brake type of thing) successfully with Tiagra STI's. No Travel Agent required, good braking performance.

born2beeza

Thanks both - very helpful

andrew_s

I forgot about mini-Vs (like alfablue's).
a) The cable is low, so tyre size is limited to about the same as it would be with RX100 dual pivots (28mm or so)
b) Shorter arms mean less leverage, so performance is on a par with cantilevers or dual pivots. (ie not as powerful as full-size V)