pmurph

I have seen previous posts on bikeforums.net discussing the merits (or lack of them) of converting a hybrid to drop bars. However, I have a road bike (Ridley Crossbow frame with a mishmash of other components) with straight handlebars that I’d like to convert to drop. I bought it like that in the first place (for £500 from a friend of a friend who owns a bike shop in a different city from me; he used the frame with other components as his training bike – he is a serious cyclocrosser), as it was cheaper than the entry-level cyclocross bikes that I was interested in (which all seemed to be around the £700 mark in the UK). However, my preference is for drops. One reason for this is that I had a minor accident recently when I was unable to get to the brakes quickly enough from my bar ends, which I use most of the time. As the bike is essentially a road bike, do you think that this will make it easier to convert? Or is it still not worth the hassle?
If I go ahead, I reckon I will need:
Drop handlebars – Powerplay Race Pro – 26 mm (£14.95)
Stem – Powerplay Race Pro Aheadstem – 26 mm (£19.95)
Gear shifters/brakes – Shimano Sora STI 3300 (£70–£90)
Handlebar tape (less than £10)
Is there anything else that I will need? I realise that these are budget options, but I don’t need anything high spec, and I want to keep the price down. Does anyone have any alternative recommendations?
The only other potential problem I can anticipate (although I am a complete amateur and could be missing the obvious) is that the cables might be too short; however, as there seems to be a bit of surplus at the front end, I’m hopeful that they will reach. If I buy all the components, will I, with my lack of expertise, be able to assemble them without too much trouble? Or should I definitely take it to a bike shop. Of course, I am trying to keep the costs down, so would prefer to do it myself if possible.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Paul
P.S. The irony is not lost on me that much of the £200 I saved last year is going to be eaten up by the conversion!

KevinF

I'd plan on buying a new set of cables. Cables have stoppers on them (i.e., so that they don't get pulled through the brifter), and the shape of those stoppers is different between MTB (i.e., straight bar) and road (i.e., drop bar) levers.

Also, the cables are usually crimped on the brake / derailleur end. You'll have to cut that off. By the time you've pulled the old cable out and threaded it back through, it's usually fraying pretty badly. So you can try to re-use the cables, but I wouldn't count on it working.

As for doing it yourself. It's not that hard. You'll need a good pair of cable cutters. Check out: https://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html if you want to see what's involved.

pmurph

Thanks KevinF. The info in the link was helpful, although a bit above my head at times.
The cables run along the top of my frame and are only housed in sections. This could be a stupid question, but would I leave the housing in place and just thread through new cable? And if I buy road-bike specific cable, will it come with the correct-shaped stoppers?
I may have to admit defeat and let my LBS take a look if things get too complicated, especially as sheldonbrown.com empthasises the need for accurate cabling.

Podolak

Another thing to take into consideration is brake compatibility. Do you currently have standard cantilever brakes or v-brakes?

pmurph

The bike came with Cane Creek Direct Curve 2 brakes. I think that these are more suitable for MTBs, but, as I said, my bike has a mishmash of components. How will this impact on what I'm trying to do?

KevinF

Sheldon Brown has an article on his website that talks in depth about mechanical advantage that might be interesting for you to read.

Basically, road-bike brake levers and MTB brake levers are designed to work with different kinds of brakes, mainly due to the different amount of cable the two brake lever types inherently pull. I believe that there are doodads that you can put on the brake cable that adjust the amount of cable being pulled (edit) thus enabling you to use the "wrong" lever type on a given brake.

Note that there are some styles of brakes that look like MTB-type brakes but were designed to work with road-style levers. Usually you will see this type of brake on cyclo-cross bikes or touring bikes (i.e., road-style type bikes that are designed to take wider tires and are probably going to be muddy, two conditions that aren't very compatible with modern road-style brakes). I don't know any way to determine what type of brake works with which lever without finding the technical specs for the brake itself. The docs I've seen say pretty clearly what type of levers the brake was designed to work for and how you're going to die some horrible death if you use the wrong kind.

pmurph

In order to get around the compatibility issue and ensure mechanical advantage, I could just get a complete groupset; for example, see the below link:
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...:B:DBS:GB:1123
My only concern with this set-up would be that the dual-pivot brakes would be no good for muddy conditions (I think that's why the MTB-style brakes have been applied); however, I use my bike mainly for commuting, so it may be a compromise I have to make in order to get an affordable solution to converting to drop bars. Although the set above has elements that I don't need, my LBS is selling the brifters alone for £90, so an extra £30 for new cables, brakes, crank, chain, etc., doesn't seem too bad.
Back to the cabling: will it be possible to remove easily the housing from the sections of cable that are exposed on my current set-up?
Thanks again for replying.

HillRider

Do your current shift cables run along the top tube or only the rear brake cable? If the shift cables also do, you may not have any place to add the needed cable stops for the Sora brifters. BTW, Shimano brifters come with new cable housing, inner cables and downtube stops included in the kit.

Given this cable run issue, brake compatibility questions and your lack of expertese, I recommending a consultation with a knowledgable bike shop before buying anything.

AndrewP

You may also need in-line cable adjusters.

pmurph

LBS it is. Two different shops have quoted me £30 to carry out the work. They both seem to think that my brakes will be compatible, but that's without seeing the current set-up. Therefore, I'm going to take my bike in before ordering anything, as you suggest, HillRider.
Although I would have liked to do the work myself and learn more about my bike in the process, i definitely know more now than before I posted, so thanks for taking the time to answer.
Cheers,
Paul