Originally Posted by
minorhero
why is that? I didn't know there was a difference in shifters being for flat bar or drop down beyond the look of them, ie they would still pull as much as their counterparts.
The flat bar road group from Shimano from what I understand was specifically designed for people who wanted to use flat bars on road bikes. This is why I linked to the Tiagra level flat bar shifters:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c...36e98137747d78
They're not Ultegra level however which means you may have wasted a bit of money on your new derailleurs.
And as far as I know, there's only one quality level for the flat bar Shimano group: Tiagra.
http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/...andlebar0.html
From what I've seen Tiagra is equivalent to Deore which many say is the best quality for the money.
If you wanted to hear what I'd do, I would have bought new old stock Shimano STX-RC shifters...
Wow, I just searched for Shimano STX-RC shifters on eBay and don't see any. That means for the Deore or higher quality levels, you may very well need to go up to 9 speeds or more. Or, wait, I linked you to 8 speed flat bar road shifters anyway so you may be good to go with that.
For the fun of it, I found these Microshift 8 speed shifters... (but these would be for regular mountain bike front derailleurs, not the Ultegra you bought)
http://www.huskybicycles.com/mm5/mer...t_Code=341-308
lol, I just searched for low-normal (rapid rise or Shadow) rear derailleurs on eBay and didn't find much at reasonable prices. Sheesh, the things I find pretty good is also somewhat difficult to find now.
In any case, I used to be able to find really cheap Deore LX shifters and front derailleurs. Those were in 9 speeds although I'm just trying to make the point what you're trying to do is I think achievable except it takes a bit of time to find great prices. I'll list at least some places to look...
niagaracycle, cambriabike, eBikestop, nashbar, velo orange, bikeparts, bikeman, wheelworld,
harriscyclery, jensonusa, universal cycles, eBay, amazon, chainreactioncycles, saint john cycles,
bike24, bikexperts, cyclepath.ca, smartbikeparts, cheapbikeparts360, bikepartsplace, price point,
blueskycycling, performance bike, bikeisland, benscycle, starbike, aebike, airbomb, xxcycle,
probikeshop.com, whoolyhatshop
and I think there are others like wiggle, evanscycle...