shimano 2300 flat bar conversion
 

I'm pondering converting a road bike with a 2300 triple set (FD-2303 28.6 mm, RD-2300, ST-2300/2303) from drop bars to flat bars.

Ideally I'd like to keep the same crank, cassette and derailleurs; suppose I simply swapped the ST-2300/2303 brifters for a set of flat bar ST-R225 shifter/levers? The ST-R225 is Sora but it's still for Shimano/8sp/triple so it seems as though that might work.

I've heard that for 9sp flatbar conversions one must also use a different FD, but I've not heard anything about 8sp. It'd be nice to keep this conversion simple and not to have to get into some crazy-ass setup with an MTB derailleur or something.

Surely someone out there has done this...

http://www.shimano.com/publish/conte...ty%20Chart.pdf



See page 2 for some help.

I actually already consulted that, but that essentially just lists Shimano's recommended configurations (which this is not). I'm just wondering if it would work, not whether it's been cleared by Shimano's legal department.

You should be fine as long as you use road flat bar controls instead of mountain flat bar controls. Shimano's road and mountain front derailleurs have different cable pull, hence two different kinds of flat bar controls.

If you get a good deal on mountain flat bar controls, my recommended set-up would be whatever 8-speed right shifter you can find and a cheap friction shifter for the front (Sunrace makes them, for instance). This nicely avoids all the problems associated with front indexing on a triple, and allows you to use whatever derailleur and crankset you want.

To add to this: if the bike has caliper brakes--which I presume it does--make sure the brake levers are short pull for caliper/cantilever (not long pull for V-brakes and disc). Some levers can handle both by having two anchor points on the lever.