Drop bars on a mountain bike?
 

Hello everyone, I am currently renovating a 16 year old Giant Iguana and i love the feel of drop bars so i was planning on making some adjustments so they could work with my bike. First off, i was planning on using 25.4 mm drop bars so i could use my current mountain bike stem. Secondly i was planning on using dia compe 287 drop bar brake levers since i have center pull cantilever brakes. I was also planning on using some old sram grip shifters i have and putting them on stem part of the handlebars if i can get them past the drops if not i could always put them on the bar ends. If anybody has any input or experience with this kind of stuff please comment i could use some help.

I skipped the whole shifter nonsense when I converted my Kuwaharas into drop bar versions... I went with a fixed drive.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/uav1.jpg

Grip shifters are designed for mtb bars so there could be some compatibility issues and they won't pass the bend in the bars... bar end levers would be the way to go.

That is a good idea with the fixed drive but i need the gears because i live in a very hilly area. As far as the shifters go i think your right about not being able to get them past the bends but i think i can still put them on the drops. As for compatibility i think it should work since the only difference between drop bars and mountain bike bars are the diameter (as far as i know) and i got mtn bar diameter drop bars so i think that problem is resolved

That sounds like it will all work out fine.

I did it with an old Rock Hopper. It was a bit of a kludge -- having more to do with the 8 speed shifters on the 7 speed cassette -- than the bars themselves. My advice would be to look for some bar end shifters. In friction mode they'll work with any derailleur and they're relatively cheap on eBay.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18...tober06065.jpg

I wouldn't go with the grip shifters. Harris Cyclery has an adaptor to mount them on the bar ends, but you can get a set of barcons for the same price.

Gripshifters on a Trek hybrid that originally had flat bars. I went with Gripshifters because I don't care for barcons. They work fantastic. The handlebar adapters are homemade. One problem that you may run into is that some MTB stems won't accept a drop bar, I'm not talking bar diameter, but the clamp area may be so wide that the curves of the dropbar won't fit through the clamp area. I've tried it. I didn't want to open up the clamp so far that it may damage it. I just went with a road stem. Yours may be different.


http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1249520874

SRAM really knew what the heck they were doing when they invented GripShift! Nice setup!:thumb:

thanks for the picture that is the basic idea i had glad to see someone else has done it succesfully. I was wondering though if i could put the grip shifters backwards and without a extender piece thing

what ever you do, match your shifters and front derailleur. i.e. if you use road shifters, use road derailleur, and if you use mountain shifters, use mountain derailleur. the amount of cable pull is different with each type so you need to match them up. (if you want good front shifting).

rear derailleur doesn't matter. mix and match as you please.

Remember, there are two diameters at play, stem clamp diameter AND grip diameter. 25.4 is the stem clamp diameter, and there are plenty of drop bars available in that size. As far as grip diameter, the drop bars and the mountain bars will be different. You might be able to squeeze, and such, but I wouldn't count on it.

And I'll put in my own suggestion, Suntour Command Shifters
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wcOnQ-ygzE...0/CIMG0591.JPG

+1


As above, I'm betting the diameter is not the same. The Gripshifters work much better the direction that I have them. The other direction, and the cable is really out and in the way. Even if you could get them on your bars.

:roflmao2:
Sorry but what you're talking about is Old School road bars with a 25.4mm clamp. Which is MTB bar standard. A MTB bar has 22.2mm tubing for the rest of the bar. A road bike uses 23.5 or something similar, feel free to jump in and give the exact dia. That's why grip shifters won't even slip over the flats on a road bar. Good luck there's been some great suggestions so far.

First off thanks to everyone for the input. Ok so the general idea is that the grip shifters will probably not fit on the drops of the bar, i have heard about the extenders/adapters but they do seem a bit pricey (im on a tight budget) are there any other cost effective solutions?

How did you make the custom handlebar adapters?

by the way these are the handlebars i was planning on getting http://www.ebikestop.com/nitto_classic_40cm_254mm_silver_road_bar___model_115-HB1018.php[/URL]

yup, it would take a LOT of work, or HubBub adapters to make gripshifts fit that bar.

yeh i think your right about how much work it would take. What about the shimano ultegra 8 speed bar end shifters? I dont know if they would or would not work with my 7 speed cassette and shimano altus derailleur. any suggestions for cheap bar end shifters that would would work with my 7 speed cassette?

Sram should bring back road gripshifts. I wonder if they'd sell today?

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...195&top_cat=60
I used .875" (or 7/8" or 22.2mm) diameter aluminum rod from Online Metals and turned one end down to the I.D. of the drop bars. Make the piece as long as the shifter plus how ever far you want to extend into the handlebar. I went about two inches. I made the dia. a snug slip fit into the bar and then it's simply anchored with a small sheet metal screw. I used a tubing cutter to take off about an inch of the handlebar so that there wouldn't be so much hanging out. The Gripshifter then clamps on to the .875" dia. part. Any machine shop should be able to turn these out. I know mine cost a lot less than a Hubbub adapter.

Get a 1" threadless stem and a short bit of MTB handlebar and you can run this Sheldon setup:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/org/rale...l-nexus10.html

Almost every bar-end shifter can be turned to friction mode, allowing it to shift ANY derailer made. It's nice.

Grip shifters are the devil.
Get some thumb shifters.

I love my thumbies. Wish they made them for a road bar. It would be great to have a set on the top of a drop bar. I probably spend 90% of my time there.

For a while I had drop-bars on my B'stone MB3 and had it's 7spd Deore thumbies mounted on a peice of 7/8" aluminum tube that spanned the bars right in back of the brake hoods. They were right in thumb reach when riding on the hoods. In practice it worked well but I couldn't come up with a satisfactory way to attach the alum. tube. It had to be removeable in case I needed to remove the bars from the stem. And I ended up taking off the drop bars anyway. But with a stem with a removable face plate.......