Originally Posted by Sin-A-Matic
Thanks for the help!
I haven't got the Sugino cranks though. That's on the '06 bike and mine's an '05. Mine are Specialized branded.
Do I have to use MTB der. w/ MTB shifters?
Am I going to run into problems if I try and use MTB shifters and ders. w/ road bike cranks, cassette, and chain?
I'd consider Campy or SRAM parts, but I'm not that familiar with either. The SRAM stuff looks like it's priced a little more affordably than Shimano.
I'm not sure about mixing road RD with MTB shifters, but I can't fathom why it wouldn't work. The biggest difference I saw between road and MTB components was the size of the RD--MTBs are longer to fit over the 34T granny. Road RDs can be much smaller when the only have to fit over a 26T cassette ring max. The RD isn't indexed--it moves where the cables and springs pull it. It boils down to the shifter indexing the RD to the right position. So, a road RD should work just fine. I personally went with the MTB RD for durability and cost, no other reason.
What I have with my bike, which works like a charm, is a road cassette, chain and crank with MTB RD, FD and shifters. The FD is crap, but I don't think that is because it is a MTB FD--it is just crap.