Cyclocross - question about 1x9 with shimano sti..

what brake lever is a good match for an sti lever? im not going to use the second one with no front derailleur. in my parts box i have a dia compe aero lever similar to this

http://www.bikepartsusa.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=01-89155&source=froogle


anyone ever run something similar? does it feel odd using two different levers?

i'm sure you will get used to the feel. I can tell you however that I'm running a campy ergo right and a cane creek left and it feels similar.

I did it for a season and was never really happy with it because of the difference in feel between the brake levers. Now I just run a double. There really isn't a good solution for Shimano.

I run this kind of setup on every one of my bikes, because I only use barend or down-tube shifters for the FD, and STI for the rear derailleur. The difference in feel between the two sides has never bothered me. The Dia Compe levers are old-fashioned, and the hoods are not very comfortable, the Tektro/Cane Creek levers are a lot comfier (Tektro and Cane Creek are the same lever except for the hood cover); Shimano sells some that look somewhat similar to the Dia Compe's so I would avoid them, although I've never actually tried the Shimano ones. The shape of the brake lever on the Tektro/Cane Creeks is awesome, and feels better than the STI brake lever, the Dia Compe lever doesn't have a great shape. I'm told the Tektro/Cane Creek hood shape is more similar to Campy than Shimano, but when paired with a Shimano STI on the other side, it feels fine to me.

The tektro R200a and cane creek scr-5 are both patterned after the Campy ergolevers. They are very comfortable. I prefer the Tektro levers as the hoods look nicer and they are around 2/3rd's of the price.

For a 1x9 shimano set up, I suggest one of these 2 methods if you want the hoods to feel the same:

1. Run a Shimano barend shifter on the right side and both tektro brake levers
2. Run a Campy 10-speed right shifter in the "shimergo" configuration with a Tektro left lever

Either of these are pretty sweet and by selling your STI levers, you should at least break even $-wise.

i would just use what you got.

Lance and i believe other members of the postal team used a similar front brake lever with a DT shifter for many tour stages. as long as you have the flat bart of the lever at the same height i dont think it will be that noticeable.

edit:
anybody ever notice jan's old stlye ergo levers with carbon levers and 10spd? i would love to have a set...

http://cyclinghalloffame.com/riders/pics/armstrong_l6%20reduced.jpg

I've run Shimano STI on the right and the Tektro on the left and IMO it feels fine. My only caution is to make sure the levers are located correctly before taping up the bars. You can't do it just by sight, you have to double check that the hood tops match by feel.

This is probably a stupid noob question, but is it possible to just "disconnect" the front shifter cable from the STI shifter and keep it as just a brake lever?

This is probably a stupid noob question, but is it possible to just "disconnect" the front shifter cable from the STI shifter and keep it as just a brake lever?

that's definately doable. with sram and campy you can easily gut the shifter to be brake only (cos weight), but i've heard shimano is like black magic, so i wouldn't do it.

I actually ran my bike with the front sti shifter as brake only and it worked.

This is probably a stupid noob question, but is it possible to just "disconnect" the front shifter cable from the STI shifter and keep it as just a brake lever?

Yes it is. I did it on my 'cross bike and had no problems.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3206745377_370d0b7375.jpg

whats the rubber band for? keep the lever from moving sideways?

I think I have a broken one I've kept around for just that reason. A gutted STI shifter will save you a bit of weight and keep the feel congruent. Let me know if you are interested and I'll see if I can dig it up and send it to you.

If you want to gut a left Shimano shifter here you go.

http://www.nitrodyno.com/Ultegra-STI/

whats the rubber band for? keep the lever from moving sideways?

No. :lol: Get some rattling when I hit bumps. Rubber band eliminates this annoying sound.

Hmmm.. I'm not too sure about "gutting" my shifter - I thought I could just take out the cable that was responsible for the shifting and replace it easily if I wanted to go back to a 2x9 setup.

Maybe I'll just buy a brake lever then and keep the STI for such a scenario...

Of course you can just remove the shift cable no problem. The brakes will still work just fine. People gut old broken ones just to lose a bit of weight.