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Recommend Shifter/brake levers to convert Ultegra 6500 Series drop bar to flat bar.

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Recommend Shifter/brake levers to convert Ultegra 6500 Series drop bar to flat bar.

Old 08-18-10, 06:32 PM
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Recommend Shifter/brake levers to convert Ultegra 6500 Series drop bar to flat bar.

Hello everyone.

I'm new to the whole mixing/matching/compatibility thing, so forgive me if this is an obvious question. I have a road bike with drop bars and Shimano Ultegra 6500 Series components. I want to put a flat bar on the bike and need a recommendation for some trigger-shifter/brake levers to replace the brifters.
9-speed cassette
triple chainring
cantilever brakes

Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Old 08-18-10, 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by CaptainSpalding
Hello everyone.

I'm new to the whole mixing/matching/compatibility thing, so forgive me if this is an obvious question. I have a road bike with drop bars and Shimano Ultegra 6500 Series components. I want to put a flat bar on the bike and need a recommendation for some trigger-shifter/brake levers to replace the brifters.
9-speed cassette
triple chainring
cantilever brakes

Thanks in advance for any advice.
I think youre crazy for wanting to discard your STI shifters but you might want to look at some 9 speed Shimano Deore XT and XTR stuff, I believe alot of it is compatible with your road derailers
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Old 08-18-10, 06:53 PM
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Cantilever or caliper brakes? If they really are cantilever then perhaps switch over to V brakes and go for the XT all in one pods.

Otherwise if you want to keep the cantis or they are actually sidepull calipers then I'd suggest Avid Speedial levers and just screw the ball end shuttle all the way in so that the cable pull is compatible with the cantis or calipers. From there a set of XT rapid fire pods and yer done.
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Old 08-18-10, 06:54 PM
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The shifters are compatible back and forth from road to mountain but not the brakes. All the current cable brakes would be V brake compatible. So you either need to find some canti compatible levers or use the Avids which will come very close to achieving the same thing when the shuttle is dialed in.
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Old 08-18-10, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by BCRider
Cantilever or caliper brakes? If they really are cantilever then perhaps switch over to V brakes and go for the XT all in one pods.

Otherwise if you want to keep the cantis or they are actually sidepull calipers then I'd suggest Avid Speedial levers and just screw the ball end shuttle all the way in so that the cable pull is compatible with the cantis or calipers. From there a set of XT rapid fire pods and yer done.
Uh, not quite. The rear derailleur will work fine, but the front derailleur won't. The MTB/flat bar shifters pull more cable than the road shifters. For this conversion, you need a Shimano FD-R453 or FD-R773 front derailleur. This will match the cable pull and work correctly with the Captain's larger chainrings.

This is the setup I have on my Gold Rush recumbent: https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/jeff-grr/index.htm . It works just fine.
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Old 08-18-10, 08:57 PM
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Thanks for the quick response. I read up on the Avid Speed Dial levers. They sound great. When you say XT rapid fire pods you're talking about XT M770 shifters, yes?
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Old 08-18-10, 09:04 PM
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Originally Posted by CaptainSpalding
Thanks for the quick response. I read up on the Avid Speed Dial levers. They sound great. When you say XT rapid fire pods you're talking about XT M770 shifters, yes?

I'd guess he is: https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...3&category=772
Now available in 10-speed! https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...1&category=772

FWIW: my wife's Gold Rush has Avid brake levers on it since the front brake is a caliper and the rear is a V-brake. The Avid levers' leverage adjustment accommodates both styles: https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/diane-grr/index.htm
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Old 08-18-10, 09:08 PM
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that's right, mtb front derailer needed, I knew that haha because one time I tried to use a road triple fd on an old MTB. The MT 770 shifters are sweet I have them on my carbon fiber Trek MTB. Good luck with build, are you building a cyclocross bike?
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Old 08-19-10, 10:56 AM
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Thanks everyone for your responses so far.

Originally Posted by MadBuddha1
Good luck with build, are you building a cyclocross bike?
Nope. I'm building an ultralight city bike based on a Merlin Road.
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Old 08-19-10, 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted by CaptainSpalding
Thanks everyone for your responses so far.


Nope. I'm building an ultralight city bike based on a Merlin Road.
GAH! I keep forgetting that the fronts are enough different in pull and cage curvature that they don't work well. Thanks for keeping me honest Jeff.

Having been through the light city bike idea with a couple of commuters I never quite found that I had the hand and wrist comfort I wanted with the straight across lightweight MTB bars. Then I found, bought and soon came to love my Redline 925 with bullhorn bars. The forward extensions make for comfy wrist angles, the brake levers right there under your fore finger for those frequent city required panic stops. the curl up at the end makes for a great hold with my fingers wrapped forward and up around the lever tip when I need to climb or sprint and when you want to cruise the straight inner cross part provides a nice sit up angle. All in all I found that I just could not beat them.

In fact they've worked SO nicely that the aluminium with carbon rear stays frame that I recently picked up for a song is going to be built up as my own two wheel "sports car" using bullhorns and TT levers with some sort of centered shifter setup in near the stem unless I can find the right TT levers that let me install bar end shifters in the bars. I know this isn't as "aero" as drop bars but my body just doesn't like to bend over that way and still let me breath decently. Meanwhile the bullhorn crouch with me reaching forward and arching my shoulders and back up instead of down to reach the drops opens my chest up and let's me breath a LOT better.

As always YMMV and it's your bike and your dream. But keep the bullhorn option in mind if you find your wrists bothering you at some point with the new ride.
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Old 08-19-10, 12:41 PM
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Originally Posted by BCRider
. . . my body just doesn't like to bend over that way. . .
That's the issue for me, sort of.

The genesis of this project arose out of a trip i took a few weeks ago to Belgium. It's cyclist heaven there, and I did a lot of riding. I took my Dahon Jetstream in a suitcase and enjoyed having it there, but I also rode lots of other bikes. My favorite by far was an old Sparta grandpa bike. Heavy steel frame, steel rims, steel fenders, full chain case, 650B wheels, North Road-style handlebars, chrome bottle dynamo, the whole works. The last time I rode a bike upright was in 1970, on the day I traded in my Stingray for a Peugeot U-08. I've had many bikes since then, but they've all been on the aggressive side.

I'm 50 now. My career of 25 years is very physical. My back and knees are iffy and my left shoulder is shot. I can enjoy 3 hours in the saddle if I pre-load the Advil, and then have another after the ride. Without the Advil my neck and left shoulder are screaming. But then I tried the grandpa bike. Ahhh. I can easily ride for six hours on that thing and hop off feeling fresh as a daisy. After I rode it the first time, that was it. I'm converted. I haven't drunk the Rivendell cool-aid yet, but I'm waiting in line. I'm not saying that I want to sell off everything and get a Dutch bike. I'm not that much of a Luddite. I'm going to do a little experimenting.

I'm going to pull the saddle, stem, and drops off my Merlin Road. I'll replace the saddle with a Brooks (either a Flyer or a B67.) I'll add a tall Technomic stem and either a flat straight bar or a flat bar with a shallow sweep. I'll ride it for a while and see how I like it. If I don't love it, I'll go for a North Road style bar. I'm going to keep the fenderless skinny tires and cantilevers. Aesthetically it could look really goofy or really cool. Time will tell. (Although heaven knows I'm no stranger to goofy.)
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Old 08-19-10, 01:19 PM
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There are Flatbar 700c wheeled bikes , it's the Fitness Bike niche, and so I'd think

you can get the Brifter from those build kits.
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Old 08-19-10, 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by BCRider
GAH! I keep forgetting that the fronts are enough different in pull and cage curvature that they don't work well. Thanks for keeping me honest Jeff.
Yeah, but who's keeping me honest?
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Old 08-19-10, 10:19 PM
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For your 9-sp conversion: Shimano SL-R440 shifters & FD-R443 front derailleur. The FD-R443 has a 10t minimum difference, which should match fine with your 52/42/30 cranks.

You could convert to 10sp: SL-R770 shifters & FD-R773...plus cassette and chain. Just throw this out since you'll be replacing the shifters and FD anyhow. Don't know how the 10sp chain will play with the 6500 crank, though. Definitely the more costly option...and questionably worth it.

Have you looked at Nitto Moustache bars? Interesting looking bar with lots of fans using them for commuting to touring. Plus, you could use your current STI levers as this person did on his. Or you could use road brake levers with barend or downtube shifters. No need to replace the FD in any case.

Also, look at Nitto's Dirt Drop stem if you want a stem that will favor a more upright position.
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Old 08-20-10, 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by desertdork
For your 9-sp conversion: Shimano SL-R440 shifters & FD-R443 front derailleur. The FD-R443 has a 10t minimum difference, which should match fine with your 52/42/30 cranks.
Thanks, DD. As it turns out, if one googles "flat bar road bike" a lot of good info turns up. I discovered this page of Shimano Flat Bar component tech docs. In addition to the FD-R443, which is the correct derailleur for my application, I also found the SL-R660 shifters, which are "Ultegra level" Flat bar road shifters. Paul makes some good looking flat bar road levers. They're a little too pricey, though. But as luck would have it Shimano makes their own flat bar road levers - BL-R550.

Have you looked at Nitto Moustache bars? Interesting looking bar with lots of fans using them for commuting to touring. Plus, you could use your current STI levers as this person did on his. Or you could use road brake levers with barend or downtube shifters. No need to replace the FD in any case.
I've always liked the look of the Moustache bars. With regard to using STI levers with them, it's always looked a little awkward to me. In terms of function, that setup puts the controls at the farthest point on the bar away from the rider. My goal is a relatively upright seated position. I'm looking at a couple of Civia bars: the Loring, which has a decidedly Dutch-bike look, and the Colfax, which is a flat bar with a mild sweep.

Thanks for the head's-up on the Nitto dirt drop.

And thanks to everyone for your advice. This is going to be a fun bike!
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Old 09-05-10, 06:11 PM
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Okay, it's ready.

Well, it's finished. It took a while for all the parts to arrive. Here's the list.

Nitto Technomic stem - 70mm reach x 225 tall.
Civia Loring handlebar.
Brooks B.67 saddle
Shimano BL-R550 flat bar brake levers to work with road caliper brakes.
Shimano SL-R660 flat bar shifters.
Shimano front derailleur FD-R443, matches with the shifters and my 52T road triple.
MKS AR-2 road pedals
Schwalbe Marathon HS368 700 x 25.
Clamp-on handlebar grips.




The Nitto Technomic stem is really tall.


Here's the BL-R550 brake lever with the SL-R660 flat bar shifters. The brake levers are designed to work with road caliper brakes. The shifters are meant to work with the Ultegra rear derailleur. In my case, I had to get a new front derailleur.



Here's the FD-R443 front derailleur. It doesn't match the level of finish of the rest of the components. Clipless pedals are replaced by some nice MKS road pedals.


The Civia Loring bars and sprung Brooks saddle make it a sweet ride.



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Old 09-05-10, 06:59 PM
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Great pics and detail of the build. Let us know how it rides.
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