Sharpy96

Hi there, as a total newbie whos building his first bike in anticipation of using it for touring, im looking to buy the mechanics of the bike, however, with it being a mountain bike, what sort of mechanics are needed? Will road groupsets work on a mountain bike? And what are some 'standard' mechanics that people use when touring? Ive read about numerous ones such as Ultegra and Deore and they both seem to get positive reviews... What would be my best course of action?

Thanks

WestPablo

Depending upon your mtb cassette, I would recommend a Shimano Alivio at the very least. Otherwise, I'd go for Shimano's Deore, Deore LX, SLX, Deore XT, or XTR.

Alivio ---> XTR

Sharpy96

I dont have the cassette yet either, so I really do have a wide choice of options. So by what your saying, buying components suited to a road bike would fit on a mountain bike no problem?

WestPablo

No. Those are all mtb gruppos...

Also, since you're a "total newbie", I would suggest that your first course of action should be to join a bicycle co-op, in order to learn how to properly build and service your bike. You will there, quite possibly learn about the efficacies of bicycle componentry

Otherwise, just start by taking an old bike. Disassemble that bike and reassemble it over and over again. Find another old bike and do the same. Next, buy your own bike and take it apart. Make certain that you take pictures of your bike with each part removed, step-by-step!

fietsbob

people tour on MTBs just putting street tires on it. others prefer drop bars , thats a harder combination to describe repeatedly.

why not look at some of the prior posts on that topic?

donalson

on my touring bike is all MTB... it's a surly disc trucker (so a "proper" touring frame") but everything on it is MTB parts... as low as older MTB specific deore parts (shimano has since put deore into the trekking category) on up to XT bits. XTR is IMHO pretty pointless unless you have just random extra $$$ you want to spend or you find good deals on a few generation older versions... mine is all 9 speed bits, cheaper and i've got a decade or more of using 9spd parts and more 9spd parts are cross compatable with road bits than the 10 speed parts.

cycle_maven

A lot of folks tour with mountain groupsets on a sturdy road frame - AKA a "touring" bike.

Seriously, any bike will do for a tour, and a '90's rigid-frame (no suspension) mountain bike is a really good start to a dedicated touring bike. It will have the low gears and sturdy frame and wheels that you'll need to carry a lot of weight reliably. After swapping tires for road-tread (nobody wants to tour on knobbies), the main problem with a mountain bike is the lack of hand positions on the flat bars, so a lot of folks will swap the handlebars for "trekking" bars, which will swap right on without issue (maybe change the cable lengths, but you were going to replace all the cables anyway, right?). No need to change to a "road" groupset, although there are some components that would swap without issue (and others that won't). You don't need that hassle.

Just buy an old steel '90's Stumpjumper or Trek 820 with a rigid fork (I've seen good ones go for $100 in my area), and swap handlebars, and you can spend the rest of your budget on panniers, camping equip, etc. Stay away from the Magna/Pacific/Mongoose/Next Wallmart bikes- they'll be shiny but unreliable- get a good name with good components and 24 speeds or more- if the derailleur in back says "deore" or "stx" or "xt" or (never gonna happen) "xtr" on it then you're good to go.

Sharpy96

Ill have a search on prior topics right now!

Sharpy96

I have already bought the frame, as its a project i plan on doing over the coming months. Its a 1991 Kona Hahanna, Ive had it sanblasted and resprayed already so its pretty much a blank canvas! Now I've got a good idea of the components that would be good, would they have any issues fitting the frame of the Hahanna? I dont think they would, however, having purchased drop bars for the Hahanna already, would the sti shifters that I want to have be compatible with canti brakes?

Sharpy96

Ive done some more research on XT groupset/components and as you said, it gets good write ups + im not on an infinite budget, thus, the XTR is not for me, thanks for your help!

fietsbob

Overspending is too common, but people feel they love riding the deluxe stuff And it's their money..

yes, you dont need top tier components to make a decent touring setup.

and 8 speed is plenty cogs stacked up on your back wheel .. and spares are cheaper too ..

Out in a town on a very popular touring route , I note:, should the wheel you have be damaged ,
the replacement wont be premium , so you have to mail the XTR hub home , and use what wheels are ready to ride
as there is few who want to stay a week while all the parts are ordered to make a like wheel to theirs, custom.



And: Trekking bars are an almost no-brainer alternative to set up MTBs as touring bikes .

one guys video .. he did the vid and then forms the opinion of them ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UaHXlkASU

I found them to work well, but make no tech selfies..

they work great with the gripshifter on my Rohloff hub drivetrain .

Bezalel

Due to the weights involved in touring, the lower gearing of MTBs is preferable to the faster road gearing. If you're starting off with a MTB and keeping a flat bar (or changing to a trekking bar), you can keep almost all MTB components. The one thing you should change are the tires.

donalson

even stepping up to XT isn't needed IMHO... I did spend the extra on an XT hub for my rear wheel but even that was a $30 splurge... I even downgraded my brakes and shifter setup from XT to deore due to ergonomics for my setup...

on my first REAL MTB back in the mid 90's it was a mix of alivio and STX, when I trashed my rear derailleur I "upgraded" to STX RC (all controlled by gripshift)... I also spent a good bit of time on other bikes using the other controller options... I'm using dual controls on my touring bike... sort of like road bar shifter/brake combos but for MTB... they didn't last long in the MTB world but i like em for my touring bike so far and I have spares if I damage one)

I wouldn't hesitate building a 9spd gripshift setup, a buttefly trekking bar is a great match as mentioned before ($20 on nashbar makes it a no brainer)

for brakes you can choose between canti's or V's... no wrong answer IMHO, just make sure to use levers that match the design... V's are prob more practical today anyway... avid SD7 lever/brake combo is a great one in my experience) Avid Single Digit 7 SD7 SD 7 SD 7 Rim V Brake F R FR7 Fr 7 Fr 7 Brake Lever | eBay

in short... you don't have to spend top dollar to have a dead nuts reliable, fun to ride, comfortable bike.

Sharpy96

Trekking bars are out of the window as I have bought the drop bars already, are sti shifters compatible with cantilever brakes?

Thanks

fietsbob

Of course you can also buy a complete MTB and change a few parts , and it will be less than buying the frame and components separately , at Retail.

Starting from Scratch as a Noob , the picking of what will work best, from past experience, wont be in the mix.

alan s 

You can save money by buying a complete groupset online. Jenson sometimes has smokin' deals. SLX or XT are nice gruppos, but see what's available.

donalson

I assume you are speaking of ROAD STI?... if so yes... and not compatable with v's without adapters...

if you are talking MTB sti... depends on what era

but as fiestbob said... a complete MTB will be cheaper even after chainging/upgrading a few parts... I did that on a commuter bike once... awesome old '88 GT mtb with some high zoot bits from the early 90s... few parts upgrades had it to my liking for under $100... prob would have made a great touring bike had that been my bag when I built it.

Sharpy96

Yea road sti and having already bought the frame and having it painted, buying an old mtb that is ready to roll is a no-go.

Thanks for the great help!

fietsbob

be sure to read back thru the various opinions on how well STI shifters work with MTB drivetrains ..

the issue is how the front derailleur translates the 3 increments of cable pull from the brifter to shove the chain sideways..

the differences in the geometry of the parallelogram lengths matters ..

If you mix the shifters , say use Retro shift's adaptation and the friction lever is in front of the brake lever ,

or thumb or bar end shifters in the bar for the front shifting , then the trim of the FD is something You do..

rather than rely on the shift mech to work for you and be more or less than what works well ..

part of the reason a lot of drop bar touring set-ups use bar end shifters .. Shimano indexes the right/rear, not the left/front.

cycle_maven

Rules of thumb for road brifters (shimano):

Stay with 9-speed if you can. 10 speed is more expensive, finickier and fewer MTB cassettes are available.
You'll want a 9-speed MTB rear derailleur even if you go 10-speed on the brifter, cassette and chain.
Road brifters (even 10-speed) will shift (9-speed) MTB rear derailleurs.
Road brifters need a road (sora, tiagra, 105, ultegra) derailleur in the front.
Road brifters will pull Cantilever brakes, but not V-brakes without a "travel agent" adapter.
If the MTB derailleur is "Dyna-sys" then it won't work.
Sweet spot for MTB derailleur is Deore.

Sharpy96

This is all very confusing, would it be safe to say bar end shifters would be simpler to work with over sti shifters?

Sharpy96

As said earlier, would it be easier to just go with bar end shifters?

fietsbob

It Would, and if you use V brakes there are V brake cable pull road levers , they dont exist in the STI Brifter Universe .

Sharpy96

Excellent, that settles it then, I'll go with bar ends! Thanks for the help

donalson

bar end shifters are great... still stick with 9spd if you can... because the front shifter is friction only you can get away with what derailleur you use easier... you can also turn them into MTB style thumb shifters with "pauls thumbies" or even use them as downtube shifters like on old school racing bikes... if I ever move away from the MTB build over to road bars on my touring bike barcons will do my shifting.

for brake levers... tektro RL520 is the one you're looking at (look for the words "Long pull" or "linear pull") cane creek has a very similar pair... I believe they are made by tektro but have some nicer hoods and graphics... I'm not fond of the shape and for that reason alone I would stick with canti's and one of tektros other hood shapes (R340) as I spend a lot of time in the hoods... I used them a few years back when I updated some things on a vintage trek and really liked the wider/smoother shape.