bryroth

That's the whole question!

Actually, a sub-question would be: what would it take to do it? Do I trade the drop-style brakes and shifters for mountain bike gears and shifters? Do they attach to the same cables?

Obviously I have never worked much on a bike. But I'm trying to learn.

Thanks for any help!

-B

bryroth

Actually, come to think of it, can you just switch out brake/shifter combinations when you upgrade or do you have to switch out the entire drivetrain?

sivat

The answer, as it is to all questions of this type, is, it depends. If you have integrated brake/shifter levers (ergopower, sti, "brifters," etc) then you will need to switch to mountain bike style shifters and brake levers. If you have a 9 speed set-up, it is straight forward. If you have a 10-speed set up, it can be more difficult. You may also need to switch out your stem or run a shim on the new bars, as many mtb bars have a 25.4mm diameter, and many road bars are 26.0mm.

ruppster

You need flat bar road shifters & mtn style brake levers. The pull ratio on the brake levers will be determined by if you keep cantilever brakes or switch to V brakes. Tektro make a set of levers that will handle either. You will also need a bar and possibly a stem, that will be determined by bar diameter. If you have oversized (31.8mm) stuff, you can just buy a new bar, if not you need to get your bar & stem diameters to match. Just did this exact thing to my Surly Crosscheck, went with a pair of 10 speed flat bar shifters I found on Ebay, Tektro levers, & 31.8mm bar/stem.

bryroth

That is awesome to hear! How do you like the new setup? Is it just like a mountain bike, or is it different? Also, could you do me a HUGE favor and list out the component names that you used? I would love to use them as a starting point.

ruppster

The new setup is pretty nice, it is a bit more enjoyable on singletrack that it was with a drop bar & bar end shifters. I use the bike as an all-arounder, it gets used for town, gravel roads, light singletrack, and kid trailer. It is set up with 700x37s right now, but sometimes has smooth 32s or knobby 42s.

The parts I used:
Specialized O/S (31.8) flat bar & 120mm stem (take offs from Ebay)
Shimano 10 speed SL-R770 Shifters (used, Ebay, 25% of MSRP)
Shimano Ultegra 12-25 cassette (used, I switched to a 11-23 on my road bike)
Forte 10 speed chain
Tektro RT354AG levers
Generic grips
New cables/housings all around

I kept cantilever brakes and I already had a Bontrager road triple on the bike. I also kept the existing derailleurs : Tiagra triple front and a Deore rear.
I wanted 9 speed shifters, so I could run a 30T+ (mtn cassette) on the back if I wanted, but the deal on the 10s shifters was too good. The Tiagra front derailleur works great even though Shimano says you need a FD-R770 or FD-R773.

Added: It doesn't handle like a mountain bike, the geometry is a bit more aggressive. The handling is still like a cross bike. I also have a couple of inches of seat to bar drop.