flat bars to road bars....
 

my wife has one of those road bike-mtn bike cross bikes (speed bike) that has a flat bar, mtn bike shifters/brakes and V-brakes. I want to change it to a road bar and shifter/brakes making it more of a traditional xcross setup. Questions:

Will V-brakes work with 105 road shifters/brakes (any length-of-pull problems on the brakes cables) or will I need canti-lever brakes?

Will the 105 shifter/brakes have any problems with a Deore fr derailler?

Will I need to put on a shorter stem? The flat bar is at the perfect position (120 stem) but I feel she will need a shorter stem to accomodate the reach to the brakes hoods.

Any other issues I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for any help.


tommy

There are adapters that you will want to use for the brake setup. Most often found under the name 'travel agents' they adjust the cable pull rate for V-brakes to be used with road levers.

Not sure on the cable pull rates for front derailleurs on road-vs-mtb. Something in the back of my head tells me they are different, but some searching on BF's would be your best bet, or hopefully someone will come along with a better answer.

Keep the 120mm stem for now, unless she plans to do a lot of riding from the drops the move to road bars won't add too much reach as you are also likely going to be having a slightly narrower bar, as well as wanting a bit more of an agressive position on the bike. You can always adjust slightly after the conversion is done.

I just made a similar change and ended with a stem length about 2 cm shorter. I suggest keep you current stem, and only wrap one end of the bar to get the feel of the fit. Then make the change if necessary. I had difficulty finding the right size stem, and bought an adjustable one, which allowed me to try different heights and reaches till I was happy.

If her flat bars are at a comfortable cruising position, this is where you should aim to place the brake hoods. You will have to find a much shorter stem.
I query the whole idea of switching to drop bars. Why not just add some Spinnacci or clip on aerobars?