I inherited a 2003 Trek 7700 FX with a Deore XT groupset (with an SRAM 7.0 11-32, 9spd cassette, and a Deore 48/36/26 crank) last weekend from my grandfather-in-law, and I am trying to figure out whether I will be able to make a drop bar conversion with a set of brifters. Trouble is that I don't fully understand all of the info online about pull ratios and the difference between MTB and road shifters/derailleurs. Is the Deore XT an MTB groupset? Or is it road? (The bike, of course, is a hybrid.) Furthermore, I can't find the pull ratios for the Deore XT...

Would, for example, a set of Shimano Sora R3030 (3x9) brifters be compatible with Deore XT front and real derailleurs? If not—any suggestions for what set of brifters might work well? I would prefer to avoid having to get new derailleurs, a cassette, crankset, etc.

IIRC 9 speed MtB and road rear ders and shifters use the same pull ratio. Subbing a Shimano long cage MtB rear der (for the OEM road one with it's low gear limitations) is a well known way to get lower gearing on a road bike. However the front ders (and cranksets) use slightly different pull ratios and ring C-C dimensions. With a road shifter and a MtB der the front shifting will "sort of" index and work but there will be chain rub and/or less then better shifting. (And this is why Shimano at one time offered a flat bar STI shifter for road bike systems). (And this is why so many real touring bikes use bar end levers instead of STIs)

There's a bit of component tolerances drift and rider perceptions/skills that also are at play and when parts are new (or the rider isn't too aware/sensitive) mixed systems seem to work, sort of. Often after the miles of wear add up this "sort of" becomes less and less.

The brifters that have nearly zero compatibility issues with front set ups is the G springed versions of the Campy Ergo levers. But then you have the rear shifting issues of Campy's low gearing limits and their cassette fitting. Going to a Shiftmate adaptor can help intermix the various brands of drivetrain parts, although many will claim they are more trouble than they are worth. Andy

The Sora should work. An alternate is MicroShift R9 which are pretty good and maybe a little cheaper. If you have a bicycle co-op near by or are willing to lurk on Fleabay, you might find a higher level shifter for just a little less.

The front derailer is going to be a problem. The XT is hard to get to play nice with STI. A road derailer works much better, although you will need to move the crank inboard because the road derailers don’t have the range of movement needed for the wider stance of a mountain crank. The crank may need a shorter spindle if it uses a square taper or Octalink or ISIS bottom bracket or you many need to move around some spacers if it uses an external bottom bracket.

Depending on the cable routing, there may be another issue that raises its ugly head. If the cables for the rear derailer are top tube routed, you’ll need a top pull front derailer which isn’t really something that is available for road bikes.

As mentioned above, the issue is the front derailleur. You could use an ird alpina d front derailleur, or another 3x road front derailleur, preferably one designed for smaller chainrings. A lot of older road triples had a 52t big ring, but a lot of recent ones have a 50t big ring, which will be closer to working with your crankset. Front shifting might not be super fast but you should be able to find a setup that works fairly well.

I have several bikes running mountain bike cranks with a 44 tooth outer ring and regular road front derailers. It’s never been a problem setting them up nor getting them to shift crisply.

Do a swap with-
Flat bar conversion on a Trek Alpha 32.3 road bike

Take a look at Gevenalle setups. Indexed rear, friction front, everything up top with the brake lever hoods.
Dom’t use them myself, but it sure would solve your problem and the friends who have them like ‘em a lot.

Can you elaborate a little more on how this would work if I went this route? Would I get ahold of their "AX" or AUDAX integrated shifters and then attach a set of bar-end or down-tube levers for the indexed rear and then some other lever for the front? Are there particular bar-end/down-tube levers that do and do not work with the Deore XT rear derailleur?

And you have a brake compatibility you'll need to address also.

the XT rear der works fine with road brifters for Shimano... the front Der. will need to be swapped to a Road der...

The bigger concern is is The BRAKE pull ratios being different... what brake style is on the bike now??

Standard V-Brakes??? they will NOT work with road brifters... V-brakes are the Long Pull design, except for Mini-V-Brakes, and they can be found new or used. Tire clearance becomes an issue with Mini-v brakes, though... ...
Canti brakes? They DO work with road brifters...
Mechanical Disc brakes? They come in two versions... "Road" calipers have the Short Pull you will need.... MTB Long pull calipers do NOT work with Road Briffters.
How to tell if a Mech Disc Caliper is long or short pull? Measure the Actuator arm from the center of the pivot to the surface the cable clamps to... 25-ish mm(one inch) is Short Road pull... 35-ish mm (1 3/8 inch) is MTB Long pull. These dimensions are the same as the Pull of the LEVERS too.. measured from the lever's pivot to cable pivot point.centers.
There are no "standards" for hydraulic disc brake calipers, master cylinders, and how they interchange, Yet... that market is still in it's infancy.

good luck, and update us on how your conversion works out, ok?

There is a chance Sora R3000 2x9 will work as a double, not as a triple.

You’ll need to run the middle and inner chainrings only. Probably evaluate the tooth count as 36-26 is not very usable on the road.

I am surmising the FD compatibility based on Tiagra 4700-Deore FD compatibility with the new Shimano FD cable pull. I haven’t run the R3000 with a mtb FD.

You’ll still have the same V-brake issues.

John

Bar end shifters and long pull road levers or travel agents (assuming linear pull brakes) will solve your problems pretty easily.

You may also find yourself wanting a shorter stem with drop bars.

So far I have gleaned that swapping out for brifters is going to be ... difficult:
1. To keep accurate indexed shifting, this would involve swapping out the front derailleur for a road derailleur.
2. That would in turn involve rewiring the front derailleur, since my current one is top-pulling and there are virtually no top-pulling road derailleurs
3. I would also need new brakes, since my current brakes are v-brakes.
4. A workaround is to get a Grevenalle setup, through this would not quite be a true brifter setup.

I'm considering adding a drop bar but keeping the shifters and brakes the same, meaning they would remain on the flat part of the bar. I find myself wanting to be able to lean forward and have my hands lower while riding on long flats, whereas when climbing I like to be more upright.

At one time there were flat bar clamp on bar ends that mimicked drop bars. If all you want is that lower hand position...

All the flat bar lever clamps I have seen are for 22.2mm (7/8") bar diameters. Drop bars typically are much larger in diameter. Andy

I found two drop bars that have 22.2mm grip diameters: Pure Cycles "Pure Fix Drop Bars" and Solé Bicycles "Classic Drop Bars" (I can't post links just yet). I'm not entirely sure how I would get the Deore XT shifters/brakes installed onto the bar (must they slide on via the bar ends?) but at least there are two products out there.

Yea, I should have said "all I can remember in the last few decades". Back when I was wet behind my ears the US bike brands did use steel drop bars which had 7/8" diameters but I hadn't seen any "current/new" for so many years. One more example of recycling old ideas.

How a flat bar shifter or brake lever (or combined unit) will slide past the curves is dependent on the lever's clamp dimensions and/or ability to separate in half. I suggest you be able to confirm this before spending any shipping costs Andy

Maybe some clip-on aero bars like on TT or triathlon bikes.

I went the other way: drop bars to trekking bars, to be nicer to my arthritic wrist.
The bike had Shimano Ultegra 3 x 9 with V-brakes. It was originally set up with "Travel Agents" (seen in Post #9 above), and the brakes worked really well.
The Ultegra RD has the same pull ratio as the XTR rear shifter. The FD was the problem; I settled on a Rivendell "Silver Shifter" (friction), which works quite well.
For brake levers, I got a pair of Paul "Love Levers". I still had to use the Travel Agents, but just as simple pulleys, not pull-ratio changers.
The cables had to be routed in a weird sort of way, but the whole system works nicely.
Good luck with your project!


Looks weird; works well.