Help/Advise - Building with drop bars..

ahstueyman
ahstueyman Posts: 76
edited February 2012 in Workshop
First of all any advice is welcome as I literally dont have a clue of what to do after swapping the bars!

The current set up i have is a flat bar Raleigh Pioneer Trail (1991ish), it has a flat bar and these horrible grip shift gears and your normal brake levers.

What I would like to do essentially is turn this into more of a cross inspired bike. First things first, fit some drop bars right?? Im guessing a new stem would be needed here also to fit a 26mm bar (curent bike fits a 25.4mm/22.2mm (1 inch) quill stem)

Next....the brakes and gears, all previous experience is from mountain bikes so I struggle here as alot of road bikes seem to have integrated brakes and gears...how do these work? how are the put together? fitted to the bars?. Coinciding with this...I want to fit a bigger chainset something like this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=40623

Im happy with the cassette on the back (7 speed) would this be alright?

Still on gears.....im guessing the change in chain set and possibly cassette would require new derailleurs?

Back to the brakes, im happy with my current cantilver style brakes, will it simply be a case of just fitting the cable to the new brake levers?

Im trying to do this as economically as possible, so whilst things may not be perfect the main goal is to have drop bars. Would it even be possible to not go down the new chain set/cassette route straight away and fit my current gears to the new shifters/brakes? Im guessing unlikely because all I see online are 9 or 10 speed shifters?

(PS. I dont want frame shifter things)

Any advice will be welcomed!

Thank You

Stu

Comments

  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    You can get 7 speed Shimano Sora STI shifters/levers I think. Whether they'll work with your current mechs, Im not sure. They should work fine with your canti brakes though. They are fitted to the bars and the gears are changed via levers/buttons.

    7 speed is fine if you're happy with it. Infact, you'll have to be, since a 7 speed cassette is narrower than an 8 speed (i think) so to upgrade to 8/9/10 speed would require a new freehub and/or wheel.

    What chainset is on it now? Why do you want to upgrade?

    You may have chainring clearance problems if you do upgrade, and you may need a new bottom bracket aswell.
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    I think it would be cheaper to buy a new bike but....

    If you can find a drop handlebar to fit in your quill stem then no new stem is required. One of the major online shops should have something. I managed to get a 1" Deda bar from Ribble for my Singlespeed a few years back.

    That is the least of the issues though. 7 speed is not compatible with 8/9/10 speed derailleurs so to stick with your current derailleur you'd have to source some old 7 speed STIs from late 1990's (or Sora from the early 2000's). Otherwise it's a new rear derailleur and 8/9/10 speed shifters

    If you buy new, you can get 8 speed STIs but even Sora is now 9 speed and everything else above that is 10 speed. Shops may have some NOS bits and pieces hanging around though for bargain prices.

    Then if your current rear wheel has a screw on freewheel rather than a freehub and cassette then it'll be a new hub at least and more likely a new wheel. Even if it has a freehub, IIRC a 8/9/10 cassette won't fit on a 7 speed freehub. To put a 7 speed cassette on a 8/9/10 speed freehub you need to use a 4.5 mm spacer.

    [edit] And then if you go 8/9/10 speed you'll need new cranks (or at least new chain rings) for the narrower chain. And that may mean a new BB.

    At the end of it you'll still end up with a bike worth much less than the sum of new parts.
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    Just doing a quick google, I think you'll struggle to get much change out of £250 by buying parts individually if you buy Shimano 2300. However, Merlin have Tiagra and 105 groupsets for £300 and a rear Tiagra wheel for £45. It depends what you define 'as economically as possible'

    Decathlon have a new 2300 equipped bike for £300.