conversion from drop bars with brifters to trekking bars
 

Spouse has a Novara Randonee with drop bars and Shimano brifters. It is an eight speed with a triple. Due to certain issues he is considering a conversion to a different bar system, probably butterfly bars. All conversions I have seen end up using bar end shifters mounted to thumbies and then new brake levers.

He likes the brifters. Is there any way to mount them on a trekking/butterfly bar? I know the bar diameter is different. I told him no but he insists there must be a way. :) If not, are there other bar options?

(FYI, we are first trying the strategy of getting the drop bars up higher than his seat through the use of an adjustable stem).

goldfinch, Two piece spacers could be fabricated to allow the road STIs to be mounted, however there may not be a suitable position to mount them in.

If mountain STI shifters are used on the trekking bar, the front derailleur most likely will require replacement with a mountain FD as the pull ratio is different between road and mountain (RD pull ratio is often the same, but not always). There is a slight possibility of success using the B position of the cable clamping bolt.

Other ideas hopefully follow.

Brad

Even if you could mount STI levers on butterfly bars, I would think shifting them would be very awkward. If he just needs the bars to be higher, a threadless steerer extension would work better than an adjustable or high rise stem.

Some older bikes used 22.2mm drop bars and had smaller clamps on the brake levers to fit the smaller diameter bars. If you can find a set of brake levers with the smaller clamps, you might be able to transfer them to the brifters. A good source for those levers might be a co-op or a low end road bike like a Columbia, that you find used for next to nothing. Another thing to consider is the ergonomics of the shifters when installed on the bars. If the brifters use a thumb paddle like the Sora shifters to downshift, you may not be able to access them on the new bar. Good luck.

There are Fitness Bike Brifters , like MTB ones , for flatbars, but for road FD's & big chainrings..

Alternatively split it up, The MTB Brifter for the rear will work, use a friction thumb shifter for the Front.

The benefit of the FD Trim after shift, is lost with the 3 ka-thunk shift.. of the STI brifters .


I have Trekking bars But I'm using Rohloff grip-shifter on mine ..



ergonomics of road brifters is about them being vertical , and the horizontal re-positioning
seems rather awkward.

You could try this too

http://www.amazon.com/Origin8-X-Tra-...dp/B0037N9YIG/

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...7L._SX342_.jpg

+1. I have my bars same height as seat on my trek 520 woth this. So much cheaper and no crazy mods.

A friend of ours has one of these and we are also going to try that. Still looking at options. I do agree with those who say the ergonomics of STI shifters on trekking bars are hard to figure out.

At related question: If he ends up keeping the drop bars (after we try ways to get them up higher), I would like to put those levers on to operate the brakes from the top of the bars. What are they called so I can search for them?

Interrupter levers, they are normally used on cyclocross bikes.

Also search on "cross levers"

If he went for Trekking bars is the only good option for shifting thumbies? IIRC I remember reading here that you cannot use regular mountain bike trigger shifters with road bike front derailleurs (in this case, a Tiagara triple). Or am I wrong?

If you switch to trigger shifters there are 2 options. Either replace the crankset and front derailleur with MTB parts, or replace the front derailleur with an FD-R443.

the mix of Thumb shift for the FD, and rear using the STI MTB shifter, .. is the mix and Match is in the front
thumb friction shifter works well with both .. Its possible to put that thumb shifter under the handle bar too.

The Rear is OK , just get the Speed number the same .. and it should Klick

Man, I wish I'd a seen this thread. I just posted one on the same problem in the road bike forum. Wasn't sure were to put it. Fiance doesn't seem to like the drop bar either and we are looking for options.

I'm not sure if it will be what you are looking for but mustache bars and a variant called Abastache may be the thing to use. They are for road bikes but shaped more like a flat bar and up more. And something called a dirt drop stem to raise the bars up more if needed.

There are road bike shifters that are designed for flat (or trekking) bars. http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-SL-R44.../dp/B001ON4XI2. You will need brake levers designed for cantilever brakes (not v-brakes):http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-BL-R55...d_sim_sbs_sg_1. I'm pretty sure if you have a double crank that those shifters will work, you just don't use the 3rd click. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will clarify. Good luck.

Katsrevenge, I've been using Mustache bars , 70~80s cable out the top road levers, and bar end shifters ..


that set up works fine.. still the ergonomics are odd, laying STI road brifters flat..

It has a triple. It also has v-brakes. My Terry is a flat bar road bike. I think that it has the R-440 nine speed shifters, which look similar. So the R-441 will work on the road Tiagra front derailleur?

I looked at the Mustache bars as a possibility and they do not seem near as good as the butterfly bars for hand positions and seem to not work well with STI shifters. As you say, the ergonomics are weird, just as they would be on the trekking bar. I have about given up on the idea of moving the STI shifters to other bars.

You can probably sell the road shifters for about as much as it costs for a trekking bar, some MTB shifter/brake levers and a new MTB front derailleur, maybe make a little profit. That's what I did for my spouse, and she likes the arrangement. Just make sure to get brake levers that are compatible with your brakes- canti (short-pull) levers rather than v-brake levers.

That was a good question. Evidently you will need a new front derailleur, specifically this:http://www.shimano.com/publish/conte...-.fd_road.html. Turns out that the cable pull from the flat bar shifters is different than the road shifters, so the Tiagara you've got won't work. Also, I don't see a V-brake equipped Novara Randonee on the web. They all have cantilever brakes which will work with the levers I linked to previously. Did you change the brakes after purchase?

Edit: Lots of good advice here, but some conflicting, and probably confusing. Here's the breakdown:
-Flat bar shifters have different cable pull than road brifters on the front shifter (this assumes indexed front shifters), so you will need a new front derailleur. A mountain bike front derailleur would work but it's cages are not curved to follow larger road chainrings, so I'm not sure how well it would work. The FD-R443 has "mountain" pull, but "road" cages, so is ideal with a flat bar shifter/road crank setup.
-You can use mountain bike shifters, but they don't have an extra click for trimming the front derailleur, which is more important with the larger road chainrings. (exception: Sram micro front grip shifters)
-As Fietsbob said, you could run a single rear, indexed, mountain bike shifter combined with a friction thumb shifter and keep your existing derailleurs. Very functional and economical, but a bit frankenbike'ish.
-You could also run grip shifters with a micro front shifter (which is basically friction). This would allow you to use your existing front derailleur. The downside is that the numbers on the front shifter indicating what gear you are in would not match up. A non issue for me as brifters don't have gear indicators either.

No, the shifters are the same as MTB shifters. The FD is special in that it works with the cable pull of flat-bar shifters but has a cage big enough for a road chainring.

It seems like my first thought that bar ends on thumbies is the best choice.

Road Flat Handlebar 8/9/10 speed: http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/...ndlebar0.html#

Well, we are experimenting with the adjustable stem off of another bike. This stem got the handlebars closer and higher so they are much more comfortable. He will ride it for a few days and see if it is worth buying a stem extender and a shorter stem.

If this looks like it might work my next question is how to get more cushion on the handlebars. My experiment for tomorrow is that I am going to remove the worn and extremely dirty :) handlebar tape from my road bike and use it to double wrap his bars to see if that makes the bars more comfortable. Other suggestions? This is temporary at best because my tape is in rough shape.

I am also looking for wider tires that will help cushion his ride.