Originally Posted by
Calder Benson
That was a good looking bike before. Looks great now.
Upon first glance, it looked like the brakes on the drop bars were dummy's and you used the Tektro with the Vee brakes. But in the picture it looks like you have used a zip tie as a parking brake on the left drop bar brake. Yes/No?
Also, it appears that your conversion to drop was feasible for two reasons:
1) Great deal on a set of drop bars/brakes etc.
2) Upgrades spread out in stages over years.
Is this true
I only bring this up because it is generally stated to be cost prohibitive to make these kinds of upgrades, and most folks just recommend buying another bike with drops if you have a flat bar bike (and are looking to convert).
The elastic bands on the brake levers are indeed parking brakes. They are part of the bike stand called the Click Stand. It is marketed primarily to the touring bike crowd but is just as applicable to any lightweight bike. They weigh practically nothing and fold up like a tent pole (very compactly).
Click-Stand Home Page In order to hold your bike, your brakes must hold the bike from rolling.
Actually over the years, I have invested more money in modifications than I spent on the bike originally ($1200). Since it was far from a base level bike, I figured it was worth keeping and changing as my requirements evolved. At any point if I'd decided to sell the bike and buy a new roadbike, I would have been lucky to have seen half of what I'd paid for it. This seemed like too much loss plus the hassle of selling the bike was not a pleasant prospect.
So, yes, the upgrades were spread out over several years and therefore manageable.
I added the Tektro interrupter brake levers with the addition of the front rack. It is quite nice when riding in traffic on the bar tops to have easy access to the brakes. Just to clarify, in the use of STI brifter brake/shifter levers with V brakes, it is best to use Travel Agents (made by Problem Solvers)
Problem Solvers in order to convert the short cable-pull levers to the long cable-pull needed by V brakes.
The interrupter levers do not effect the operation of the brifter brake levers in any way.
Doug
PS - In reading many posts about hand positions and bar-ends, etc., it occurred to me that I probably only spend about 5-10% of my riding time "in the drops". Primarily when I'm riding into a stiff headwind. Most of the time I ride with my hands on the hoods (or on the bar tops). Even with your hands on the hoods many small variations of hand/wrist position are available. It doesn't take much position and angle change to avoid pain and numbness over a long time on the bike. Dropbars offer many positions without even using the lower drops.