Wilfred Laurier

yes

hence the suggestion

thook

AH HA!!!!! Bells are ringing! <<<ding, ding, ding>>>> Ergo it is, then! I'd read those worked better for small hands, anyway. Plus, they have a quick release, iirc. Nice!

I guess this concludes this short episode of "Willit er Wonnit". Thank you kindly, gentlemen.

fietsbob

Just saying It's not a 100% consensus either way , people's experience differed.

the whole Campag way of doing things is a bit different .

just note , Shimano dominates the OEM market ,
out here, the small shops have to special order Campag parts ,
repairs of Shimano stuff is often from inventory.

so on a long tour there is that ..
[our workaround, is a partnership with another Bike shop down the coast ,
and the Campag parts are ordered & shipped during the days it takes to get to the other Shop]

gruppo

In my shop I mix components on a regular to customize a customer's gearing (Of course matching Shimano & Sram shifter/brake controls* with their respective rear derailleurs), which includes using road and mtb stuff in whatever combinations necessary. As has been said the issues with the front derailleur are the curve & length of the cage and the depth of the inner cage sometimes (Different between road & mtb). I explain that some combinations will result in a bit of degraded performance but the drivetrain will still shift just fine and provide more than acceptable performance (For example Ultegra shift/brake controls* with an XT rear derailleur and 34 T large cog).

*brifters needs to be banned from use, it being the most stupid of terms.

In the OP's case, the goal seems to be to use the least expensive rather than the best combination of components so performance isn't necessarily an issue. Therefore he should just throw whatever on the bike and then decide what does or doesn't work. In the 12 hours this has been going on, he could have done that.

thook

@gruppo...

I think the term is rather convenient, myself. I mean seriously....what's the harm?

The goal is not what's least expensive, if you'd reread my original post. And, I wouldn't call Ergo shifters least expensive, either. Bar end shifters are. The goal was/is to try and continue to use the Deore groupset I have since I like it and have made effort to acquire it. It's pretty snazzy in my book.

Yes, in twelve hours I could have found out what works and doesn't provided, of course, I have the integrated shifters to do this. But, I don't. So, before I went out spent money on anything, I've done weeks of internet searching to see what others have done and then ask questions where I felt I needed clarification. Is that a problem? Seems to me somehow my posting has sparked some bit of discord. I'm simply exploring the options. If some have done what I'd like to do successfully, it stands to reason I could keep what I have.....since I like it....and just get some brifters. (ooops... I said it). If it doesn't work, my world won't end, I'll have some new shifters, and I'll acquire whatever else I need.

thook

I took note of the differing experiences when it was said before. Ultimately, I just need some new shifters and one way or the other I'll have that.

I've read a lot on the pro's and con's of either STI or Ergo. So, I know atleast some of what I'm getting into. I thought for a long time I'd never do brifters because of their weaknesses vs other types of shifters. But, millions have jumped in the water and seem to be having a pretty good time. So, what the fork, eh?

fietsbob

Microshift is another company coming in at a bit less $ No experience ,
I'm off to the pub on my Brommy 3 speed . [I can bring it in and fold it up.]

thook

Ahhhh.....that's so cool. Sometimes I wished I still lived in town. Just ride a bike everywhere. I had so much more extra spending money. I could have an entirely new bike for what I've spent on repairing vehicles in the past few months.

I've heard of and read some on Microshift. I've only had one experience with their products and that was some bar ends on a Vaya test ride. Seemed fine except the gears needed some tuning, so not a conclusive experience to rely on. OTOH, some might call it "micro****" for a reason.

Standalone 

Dang. And here I thought it was my lame FD tuning skills.

My sora 8sp + deore + MTB crankset (48t) is rubbing like crazy, and not just b/c the outer ring is slightly out of true.

Can I throw on a road crankset and keep the FD? I need a top pull: it's a Dahon Espresso folder.

FastJake

Here's the solution I've been peddling (correct use of the that spelling, in this context) to everyone that will listen.

- 10 speed Campy Ergo brifters.
- 8 speed Shimano drivetrain.

The Campy 10-speed brifters pull the correct amount of cable for a Shimano 8-speed cassette/RD and work beautifully. The front shifter has a bunch of clicks and is basically a "friction" shifter. I have yet to find a FD that it doesn't work well with. I've done this setup on 4 bikes now and they've all turned out great.

Pfft... Because "shifter/brake controls" is so much easier to type, right? Brifter is the obvious combination of shifter and brake lever. What's wrong with that?

thook

And, the pudding gets thicker.....muahaha.

I've read about the 8spd/Ergo combo and it working perfectly. There's a tandem forum....blog...one of the those things....that stated the same thing about 9spd/Ergo/RD cable reroute set ups and working quite well, too. This all very encouraging.

I'd thought about doing the 8spd set up, but I want to keep a wide range between low and high and still keep cog spacing close for the terrain and smooth as possible shifts. In which case, I considered a 13-32t cassette with a 48-36-24 ring set. But, then the idea of simplifying to the 2x9 keeps taking over...hehe. One ring for most of my riding and also eliminating some gear overlap. Not that it's really a big issue, but still.

Brifters. It just rolls so well off the tongue, don't you think?

thook

I'm sure I'm not the one to answer your question, but I think it may have already been answered anyway in a previous post. Maybe reread on the first page?

FastJake

On my cross bike, which I use exclusively for cross practice/racing I settled on a 1x8 setup with a 39T chainring and a 11-28 cassette (using Campy Veloce 10-speed brifters.) But I never use the 11T so next season I will be switching to a larger cassette, probably 13-32 if I can find it, or maybe I will settle for 12-30.

You really don't need more than one chainring for cross, but I did have the Campy brifters setup with a 34/46 double for a while with a super old Shimano XT FD and it worked just fine.

thook

I vote you go for the 12-30 and move to a 36t ring. A somewhat finer spread in the rear with the same low and same high as with the 39x13-32.

Standalone 

If the answer is "buy a set of campagnolo brifters, they might work..." then no, that is not an option. I have a lot of bikes and parts laying around, but any random parts that may not work have to have an option of working with some other build of mine. Otherwise I'm throwing my time and money away.

Standalone 

OK. So here's a combination that pretty much works: Deore FC 590. Old Exage 500 LX (48T), Old Sora 3x8.

Just barely. The outer chainring is a little out of true, which makes things interesting, but I just got it to shift on the stand. I think my embarassing commuter vs roadie shifter fail on Friday's commute was due to cable stretch on my new build.

Anyway, I think it's shifting well enough for a commuter at least.





It was my first time building up any bike with STI brake/shifters. So if this novice can get it to work, it should be doable. I think it just needs to be tuned a bit more finely.

I am considering finding a thinner 10 speed outer chainring-- the narrower width might make a slight difference in terms of making the whole thing narrower, even though it would wear out more quickly.

thook

No, man....that wasn't the answer I was thinking of. It has to do with brifters being road spaced and your use of three rings on an mtb crank. According to the post, the third/outer ring is problematic, if at all doable, while the inner and middle rings are good to go. It has to do with the center to center spacing of a road crank vs mtb crank chainrings.

Standalone 

I think you're missing this part from the second or third post:


So there are two factors, apparently. I want to know if this pull ratio thing is true.

So the question for me is whether finding a triple road crankset would work while still leaving the brand new deore FD on there. I need top pull functionality-- it's a folder.

Anyhow, I went back out to the garage this AM in my bathrobe to try and fine tune things. It works. The rings are very close and will likely rub when flexing under real power, but I got it running pretty reasonably as is-- with mountain cranks, FD, and Sora STI "brifters." I should take a video!

thook

Yeah, I was just about to reply "see #2 and #9 " posts. Anyway...

I don't think some of these gentlemen would be posting about the pull ratio difference if it wasn't atleast partly true. I have read about that elsewhere, but in my situation....with an older mtb FD....I had to wonder if the tolerances might be different. Since you have to use a top pull derailleur, I mentioned earlier on in the thread that some folks were successfully using top pull mtb/fd's by rerouting the cable. I'd read that on mtbr.com. The thread was about brifters and dirt drop bars on a mtn bike. A fellow by the name of "Shiggy" made replies on how it's done.

BTW, that's a really cool folder build! I like it a lot!

Standalone 

Some more clues! I'll go poke around at MTBR with those search terms. Thanks!

And thanks for the compliment-- it would be even better if the shifting were totally smooth. I'll get it right by spring.