COUGAR

Please bear with me. I know next to nothing re: cycling mechanics, but am trying to educate myself for many months now. I want to purchaseall the required componantry to convert my 2002 Fisher Tssajara MTB to use a 52 teeth chainring.

I'd like to compile the parts starting with the R440 front derailer for "road" chainwheels and keep my straight (mtb) handlebars.I have below the bar brake/shifters: alloy linear pull brakes/Deore shifters), I'm basically cobbling together information on how to fit a "road" crankset on the Fisher for use in road races, so anything you have to offer is appreciated.

1) Keeping my Octalink BB, could I then use a Ultegra FC-6503 Triple or105 Triple with the R440 Front Derailer and the Deore SGS Rear derailer and SRAM 11-34 cassette?
2) Would I need a different rear derailer altogether?
3) Could I make the changes above and upgrade to an XT rear derailer, XT shifters?
4) On a different note, very dumb note, the diameter of the cantilever boss (?), on my rigid Kona fork is slightly larger than the hole in the brake arm on the brakes that came with the Fisher, but only on the left side, thus, the left side arm doesn't move. I'd also like to buy new Avid brakes. How can I be sure the new brakes will fit properly on the Kona fork? And yes, I should have probably returned the fork when I discovered this, but I didn't. To make the old brakes work, would it be better to bore a larger hole in the brake arm, or somehow reduce the diameter of the boss on the fork leg?

Thanks for anything you can offer.

Simon Ed

Cougar,
I recently upgraded my MTB Hardtail to road components (Tiagra, as only they have shifters for flat bars) It can be a real dog to do and my LBS guy had the luxury of billions of parts to interchange to make it function. Being rigid with the parts you have may doom you to failure.
I am very happy with the result and while I dont get a significant increase in speed the journey seems a helluva lot easier than it used to, probably due to the closer ratios. A thing to note though is that going to a road set you may have to change your rear wheel if it wont take a 9sp casette. Mine was a 7spd before)

Things he had to do though were change the Tiagra FD for a LX and the flatbar changers are made for a triple chainring not the 52/39 I have. Also he got me an older but very high quality BB.

In hind sight I might not do it again as you can pick up some real bargains this time of the year. Living in Japan though makes finding a frame that fits tough and the old MTB frame I have fits nice because of the long top tube.

If its too costly you may be better off just getting a hybrid with good parts from the get go.

Si

roadfix

Before you start on your modifications, what kind of road races are you talking about? Most sanctioned road bike races have strict rules on type and style of componentry allowed..... for example, handlebars....wheel diameter....etc...

tommy2pants

I think your LBS guy did not have a clue.

Simon Ed

Tommy,
I know it sounds that way but when he showed me the problems that he came up against with the seat tube having places for a bottle or pump frame to screw into plus the frame itself I could appreciate the problems that he had. I'm not a dullard and could see that he want trying to take my trousers down. I didnt want a low end wheel set, so no 7sp option. I wante to keep the flat bar again, fewer choices. Had I had the $ I would have bought a Rohloff and Ti frame but I feel I got a good combo for the price I paid.

tommy2pants

In that case,likely there may have been problems I could not see from your post. Sometimes better to just ditch a project and take another route. The advantage to doing it yourself is sloving problems as they crop up as your guy likely did, when what ought to work doesn't...peace.

giantmdb

How much are you looking at spending on the parts for the crossover?

Just looking through a mail order catalogue, the Ultegra triple cranks are $130, cassette is $30, BB (if needed) is $30, road slicks are $30 a pair, and then you're looking into possibly changing to XT derailleur and shifters......

You're looking at possibly over $300 to convert a bike from offroad use to some on road use. Instead of going through all the expense and trouble with this project look into getting a road bike and leave the Mt. bike as is. You can get a brand new Giant OCR3 for $599. Don't want to spend that much, check out Ebay like a friend of mine did, and picked up a Giant OCR3 that was barely used for $375.

Now you're set up for both road and offroad without the trouble of replacing this and that part.

Give this some serious thought.

Marc

azroadrider

i'm the guy formerly known as cougar. couldn't get that login to work. anyway. i've received a few very helpful, logical replies to my now uncertain project of converting the tassajara to a road bike. one issue brought up was cost. the 105 crank is 80$ maybe more (figures aren't in front of me) @supergo. the r440 der. at harris cyclery i forget but somewhere around 40.
the whole project, not including my labor would come in around 200. yes, for a little more i could buy a road bike. i guess the challenge was piquing my interest.

a significant hurdle is the 105 crankset and the octalink BB it works with. that particular crank ain't cheap so far as i can see, and there's an issue between the Octalink V2 BB and the V1 BB. my deore cranks don't work with the BB used for the 105, so i'd need the swap out the whole set.

the other issue is the diameter of the 52 ring. will it clear the chainstay? after a hilly ride today where i would have only used the big ring down hill, the whole thing's looking doubtful. i may just bag it since there's so much involved. thanks for the help. GVH bikes anyone?

miamijim

Heres how I use my mountain bike for mixed road/mtn useage. Obviously you can save a considerable amount of money if you dont buy an extra set of wheels.

1. Hutchinson topslick tires $30 each LBS
2. Shimano ultegra cassette $60 LBS

The key to this is your inner chainring...working backwards with a gear chart choose a tooth number that picks up where your big ring left off. In other words, its not good to cross shift. For arguements sake lets say you have a 44t front ring. The last cog on an 11-23 cassette you should use is the 21.
in gear inches this 54.5. (key number).

Now, assuming the same for the inner ring, that your not going to shift into the 11, looking at gear chart for the 12 tooth cog and a gear inch number around 54.5 you would need a 24 tooth ring (52 inches) or a 26 tooth ring (56.3 inches).

3. Buy an inner chainring and skip over the middle ring. $20 LBS.

Tires, cassette, ring, $140 LBS.

A 44X11 is 104 gear inches which isnt to shabby for a mtn. bike.

I have a 44x12 and have yet to spin it to maximum cadence going down a hill.

The 52 may hit.

Seaners

The problem with your brake mount not fitting your brake may be solved by grabbing it with the round part of a pliers and rotating the pliers to scrape some of the material off. (screw in your brake mounting bolt to make sure you don't squash it) This is what we do to new bikes that have this problem, usually due to dodgy paint jobs, so if your Kona is used an worked with other brakes, just try filing the mounts down a bit. Lot easier than driling through the calipers.

FLYBYU

I converted my MTB for touring, all I did was put slick tires on the rims, you can get alot of slick tires that fit 26" rims, however they will be wider then road rims. I think that in the long run it will be more trouble then it's worth for you. The most I would do is put a road cassette and slicks on your bike. A mountain bike will never work well for road racing, it's heavy, not very aero and unless you are Lance you won't be able to keep up with even a mederatly fit person on a road bike. Mountain bikes make excellent tourers because they are comfy, low geared and speed dosen't matter when your touring, but for racing I would get an actual road bike.