I have built up a Ridgeback Flight 05 from components, and been riding it on and off over the past few months, but now I have the itch to finalise some of the compromises I made. Notably the drivetrain.

I run the bike 1x8 at the moment, with a Surly single chainring at the front (46t) and an old Megarange cassette, LX rear derailleur & 8sp Grip shift (all taken from an old bike). The LX mech has been better days, the megarange cassette is a little annoying too, my regular (MTB) commuter uses the SRAM PG 950 11-32 but I was looking to go a little more road orientated.

What I'd like to do, on a budget, is look at something like a Sora short cage mech, a Tiagra 12-25 cassette and shifters to suit .. and that's my current puzzle, which shifters (flat bar) would work best in this setup? I like gripshift for the clean lines and simplicity, but wonder if I'd be better with thumbshifters like the Deore 9sp M590 - assuming they'll work with the chosen rear derailleur?

The bike in question:


Any help appreciated

Thanks

Jon

I've got a set of the M590 shfiters and they're outstanding. I used to have M770 Deore XT shifters and I can definitely see the family resemblance -- lots of trickle down technology there. The M590's perform very nearly as well as the XT's. I'm not a fan of grip shifters, so going to trigger would be a no brainer for me.

On the rear derailleur, I'd be tempted to stick with a MTB mech. They work fine with road cassettes and wouldn't limit your future options. Jenson USA has an M581 LX for $39 right now. If you go road, don't go cheaper than you need to. I bet if you look around you can find Tiagra for about the price of Sora, and I've been able to find pretty good deals on Ultegra in the past.

Having done a number of 1x? in the past mixing mtb/rb componentry the above advice is spot on. You may want to invest in a Paul Chainkeeper as well. Pricey, but really does do the job concerning chaindrop. Sram makes a series of Road/CX cassettes that may suit your needs as well. www.nashbar.com They've got a medium cage Ultegra on sale for 79.00, but I'll bet you cab find one cheaper someplace online or good/used on CL.

+1 on the megarange, too. When one is going 1x8 or 9 a closer ratio cassette is preferable.

Thanks for the info.

I am finding the Surly front chainring excellent for keeping the chain in the right spot (something they quote in the product blurb) https://surlybikes.com/parts/stainless_steel_chainrings

The idea of going MTB for the rear mech makes sense, I will do some more looking around.

- Jon

Didn't realize your chainring is unramped. That helps alot in avoiding chaindrop. I started using Rocket Rings before they were renamed and used to run 48x24-12 7 sp. on my commuter. For the Dirty Dozen ride held in Pittsburgh I built a 1x8 C'dale SR300 up w/a 38x34-12 w/bar-end shifting for those brutal climbs. It worked out real well. Used a Sugino 103mm track bb w/some Truvative cranks. www.dannychew.com if you want to check the ride out. Just click where it says Dirty Dozen on the left.

Oh yeah, I used a megarange Altus derailleur purchased on closeout from Nashbar @ 7.50 for that particular build. The der is on my wife's hybrid now. Works great.

Yeah I'm using Driveline Track Cranks (175mm) coupled to a Shimano UN55 (107mm) with the Surly 48t Chainring. The bike is a mixture of old and new parts mated to a Ridgeback Flight 05 frame. The wheels are MTB spec 29er items, but run 700x28c Conti Gatorskins, the front Fork is a used Kona P2 (steel) and the brakes are a set of Avid Juicy 3s I picked up from a forum.

It all works pretty well, but trying to get the drivetrain nailed down now....

Thanks

Jon