Putting Shimano SORA STI Shifters on Touring Bike w/Deore Derailure
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I use this on my commuter. It will go far enough out to see beyond my pannier.
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#27
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Those are the last generation ones (5700), although you can still get them, they're becoming rare.
OK, so I still have no idea which ones people are actually supposed to avoid then?
There are also lots of 105, Ultegra and Durace FD triples still floating around in the world either as used or as new old stock (NOS). The old ones suffer from the same problem and haven't gotten better with age.
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I'm going by what Shimano has listed on their website. Since they aren't listing the "next" generation, I consider that you can still find 105 now if you look hard enough.
Given the choice on mountain front derailers, I'd choose Sram over Shimano any day. The Sram is a much better mechanism. I wish Sram would make a triple road derailer.
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
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Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Days of Wineless Roads. Bed and Breakfasting along the KATY
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You can dismiss this as an old grouch's complaint, but . . . I picked up a Litespeed Classic ti back in 2002 with a 3x9 Ultegra group. Live it! Sadly this year the right brifter finally died beyond resurrection! I put the Sora 3x9 brifters on, and have been very disappointed - they are clunky, shift heavily, and are just annoying. All this in comparison to the Ultegra of 13 years ago. In fact, I'm so disgusted with them, I'm removing them and going to Microshift barends - yeah, I know. But I know they work fine - they're on my touring bike, and they shift cleanly. I'm not a racer, and have found I don't really need to shift and brake at the same time. I'd rather have something that works well even if it's old tech than newer tech which works poorly. YMMV.
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Update! And All Is Wonderful!
So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
Also oddly enough the linear brakes worked great! Now after talking to the mech at the bike shop it had to do with the fact that these brakes had shorter arms and were built for use with road levers. Over my head but here is a picture for reference:

So this isn't universal compatibility with linear pull... this was a favorable exception.
And not that it's necessary, but here is the final picture of the bike! Shifts awesome! Ignore the hacked front rack...
So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
Also oddly enough the linear brakes worked great! Now after talking to the mech at the bike shop it had to do with the fact that these brakes had shorter arms and were built for use with road levers. Over my head but here is a picture for reference:
So this isn't universal compatibility with linear pull... this was a favorable exception.
And not that it's necessary, but here is the final picture of the bike! Shifts awesome! Ignore the hacked front rack...
#31
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Can't tell from the photo, but those brakes may be Mini-V brakes, which would work with Sora brifters fine, where regular V-brakes will not.
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#34
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Alternatively you could try a Gevenalle/Retroshift setup which effectively mounts a bar end shifter on the brake lever. They make versions with a long pull to suit V-brakes without using converter pulleys and their front shifter friction shifts so it doesn't matter whether your front mech is MTB or Road. With shifters CXV Shifters for Road Derailleurs & Long Pull Brakes - Gevenalle or EUR/AUDAX Friction Only Shifters - Gevenalle to bring your own shifters.
Also from what I have read, if you do decide to get a road front derailleur to use STI shifters, you are better off using a road compact double model rather than a triple model because Shimano road triple derailleur cages are specifically shaped for a 30-39-50 crank and don't work well with smaller touring or trekking cranks.
Also from what I have read, if you do decide to get a road front derailleur to use STI shifters, you are better off using a road compact double model rather than a triple model because Shimano road triple derailleur cages are specifically shaped for a 30-39-50 crank and don't work well with smaller touring or trekking cranks.
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Update! And All Is Wonderful!
So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
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Full bike specs here: Print Bike Page - Touring
If you could tell me a quick way to find it I will try to help you out. I'm slightly above novice, way below expert lol.
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I'm not 100% what my chainline is, but my crankset is Shimano Deore, 48/36/26T w/ chainguard.
Full bike specs here: Print Bike Page - Touring
If you could tell me a quick way to find it I will try to help you out. I'm slightly above novice, way below expert lol.
Full bike specs here: Print Bike Page - Touring
If you could tell me a quick way to find it I will try to help you out. I'm slightly above novice, way below expert lol.
#38
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So I just bought the 2015 Fuji Touring Bike and it came with bar-end shifters. I do a lot of city riding so having STI "Brifters" is really convenient in hilly city traffic.
The problem is my Fuji Touring comes with a 9x3 Deore rear derailleur and a Altus 3 speed front derailleur. The only 9x3 brifter I could find was Shimano SORA.
Now technically the Deore/Altus groupset is for mountain biking and the SORA is for Road bikes. Can I put the SORA "Brifters" on the the Deore/Altus groupset?
My Fuji Touring Specs Here: Print Bike Page - Touring
Thanks!
The problem is my Fuji Touring comes with a 9x3 Deore rear derailleur and a Altus 3 speed front derailleur. The only 9x3 brifter I could find was Shimano SORA.
Now technically the Deore/Altus groupset is for mountain biking and the SORA is for Road bikes. Can I put the SORA "Brifters" on the the Deore/Altus groupset?
My Fuji Touring Specs Here: Print Bike Page - Touring
Thanks!

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Sorry for the late reply. I measured myself and it looks to be roughly 51mm. This was from center of tube to middle chain ring. I put the measuring tape against the middle chain ring. Not sure if this is standard... I couldn't find anywhere to get an exact number so maybe call Fuji if you need specifics.
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Sorry for the late reply. I measured myself and it looks to be roughly 51mm. This was from center of tube to middle chain ring. I put the measuring tape against the middle chain ring. Not sure if this is standard... I couldn't find anywhere to get an exact number so maybe call Fuji if you need specifics.
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Altus-.../dp/B00CBNGHUQ
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Oh cheers that's perfect. My bike is 50mm too. Just want to confirm this is the FD you tried?
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Altus-.../dp/B00CBNGHUQ
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Altus-.../dp/B00CBNGHUQ
Also just so you can see the measurements I made, I'm posting pictures for your reference. I did 2 measurements, one where my tap measure went OVER the sprocket and I pulled back to set the distance, and one where my tape was pressed against the sprocket. You can see these in the pictures.
#42
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I tried a SORA 3x8 with a mountain 3x8 setup on my 26" folder. It did not really work -- the FD pull on MTB's and Road triples are different, as is the distance of the chainrings from the centerline of the bike. The wider chain stays prevented successful installation of a narrower bottom bracket. So I have bar ends on drops and commute in east coast urban craziness with no real problems. It's a little more energy to reach down from the hoods and throw the shifter, but not a big deal for commute level distances.
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#43
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The ird Alpina front derailleur is another option for compact road triples. I have one with ultegra shifters and it's been solid.
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Everything that I've read says this combination should not worked but you've proven otherwise - have you been riding it much lately? Any downside you've discovered?
I've never been able to figure out whether that works with 50mm chainline crankset - any experience?
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I run a set of Sora 9 speed Brifters on my drop bar 29er, using a SRAM X5 FD, and Shimano SLX RD, and pulling on Avid BB5 disks. Setup works quite well most of the time, just took a lot of mental adjustments in the dirt. I also some cyclocross brake levers on the top of the drop bar...
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Update! And All Is Wonderful!
So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
Also oddly enough the linear brakes worked great! Now after talking to the mech at the bike shop it had to do with the fact that these brakes had shorter arms and were built for use with road levers. Over my head but here is a picture for reference:

So this isn't universal compatibility with linear pull... this was a favorable exception.
And not that it's necessary, but here is the final picture of the bike! Shifts awesome! Ignore the hacked front rack...

So for the record the SORA brifters worked great with the 9 speed Deore Derailleur as well as the Altus 3 speed front derailleur. Now this was likely in part because the Altus has bottom pull cable routing... I'm assuming from previous post.
Also oddly enough the linear brakes worked great! Now after talking to the mech at the bike shop it had to do with the fact that these brakes had shorter arms and were built for use with road levers. Over my head but here is a picture for reference:
So this isn't universal compatibility with linear pull... this was a favorable exception.
And not that it's necessary, but here is the final picture of the bike! Shifts awesome! Ignore the hacked front rack...
I woke up this morning with an idea to make exactly the same modification. Ten minutes of googling and here I am

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Glad to hear that!
My plan is to turm my Fuji into a road bike while I'm not touring. I'm considering to have an extra pair of narrower wheels as well.
My plan is to turm my Fuji into a road bike while I'm not touring. I'm considering to have an extra pair of narrower wheels as well.
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Travel Agents work fine and are reliable. I used to do a lot of work on tandems so I've had quite a bit of experience with travel Agents. My only hesitation is the first time that you set one up can be a bit of a trip. My advice is to do your rear brake first. That way, if you screw it up, you can shorten the kinked cable and use it for the front brake.
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