parts swapping -

[Old Proflexer]

the other day i happened into my lbs and noted that one of the old racers there who works as a mechanic had his mtb leaning in the corner.  i'd seen the bike before but took interest in it 'cause he rides with road bars, drop and all.  

he's stated in the past that he uses the drops primarily and like me, being an old roadie, 'cause he's used to them.  they are especially useful during steep climbs and those trips to and from the start of the actual mountain biking.  (i guess if you add one of those new telescoping seatposts, one can do anything to get comfortable)

anyway, i like my cane creek ergo bar end grips and spend most of my time there moving over to the main grips (palms down) usually to brake or shift.  i'd given consideration a ways back to the xtr barend shifters when i had my other barends but that doesn't address the braking part of what i'm about to ask.

has anyone seen or considered using road shifter/levers to actuate our braking and shifting systems?  my shoulder comfort level and natural grip is not necessarily palms down or palms facing each other such as on some 90 degree bar ends.  my thinking is to create something such as a cutoff barend (just the stub) that may allow for the mounting of road units.  just not sure on the throw for the brakes - maybe avid mechs might be compatable, or the gearing for that matter.

hmmmmm! - could be a 'winter in the garage project' if parts were compatable.  any of you guys have any thoughts or feedback on this?  i'm drawing pics and trying to imagine how that could come together.  i've extra barends and bars for that matter in a box but no 8 or 9 x 3 road stuff
(yet)

OP

[Matno]

Here are some ideas I just ran across yesterday on MTBR...





You can buy moustache bars from Rivendell:
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/handlebars_stems_tape/16027.html

Or something in between on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3638492031

Just a thought. Personally, I'm fine with normal riser bars. I used to have flat bars with barends, which I liked, but I don't really notice that they're gone. One thing to look out for is that road levers are compatible with cantilever brakes, but not V-brakes. Don't know how that translates to discs...

[kiwi]

as far as shifters go i think road/mtb is the same at the rear and of course you can get three ring road bikes too.OP you are inventive enough to go with a short cable to a hydraulic actuator,maybe with a little linkage to "fix" the travel issue.....what sort of shifters do high end "fitness" bikes use nowadays...

and umm  matno at least one of those bikes dont need shifters....

[Matno]

Yeah, those are both from the single speed forum on MTBR. I've been looking for stuff for my single speed project, which may or may not take a big leap forward this week. (Hopefully!!!)

Anyway, with STI shifters, the setup would be basically the same as in those pics.

[Old Proflexer]

if so on the throw on the levers for the brakes, i seem to remember seeing some kind of 'travel agent' that adjusted the cable throw to v brake status if the levers were designed for cantelevers -

i'd have to come across these parts cheap (probably used) to give it a try -

i like those bikes matno


OP

[tmaybee]

Here is a link to the cable pulley thing.  It is called a problem solver.   I had one but I gave it away to another proflexer on the board.  I only had one.  sorry about that.

Trevor

http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&Category=434

[jimbo]

Here's a picture of the Bridgestone X0-1.  It came factory stock with the mustache bar and 26 inch wheels.  It has become a collector's item.  

http://idriders.com/proflex/files/bstoneX011992mini.pdf

[Dennis]

OP,,
there are no problems with putting drop bars and STI levers on an mtb. its done all the time, apparently.
I got the urge to do this with my Trek 930 (for long distance touring) after seeing cyclocrossers on OLN using mtbs with drop bars for racing.
talked to lbs. He has done this before. there is no problem with the shifting, and if necessary, add one of those cable travel things for the brakes.
good luck with your conversion,
[smiley=groucho.gif]

[jedoaks]

Very eccentric, from the single speed forum. Loves this type of thing. Hope this helps, Rich

http://forums13.consumerreview.com/crforum?14@174.4tgsa8MQZcS.0@.efdb602/3

[Old Proflexer]

well now you guys got my juices flowing -

my thought was not necessarily to use the moustache bars but to have a flat bar with barends pointing up - cut off the barends to an inch or so, plg them and attach the road shifter/levers to the stubbed out barends.  if necessary i could make an adapter to fit in the barend hole and give a small platform for the back of the palm of the hand.  

i'm running a slightly shorter stem right now but seem to stretch out on my barends.  this would allot for the most part, the same geometry.  

i see that the road units appear to work ok with avid mechs - at least according to one of the linked posts.  until then, i could run the units on my xtr setup with a travel agent.

OP

[Matno]

Okay, now I'm following you. (I think). You mean you would put STI shifters on your regular bars, basically in the same position they would be in on a road bike (except probably a little wider). That's not a bad idea at all. The idea with bar-end stubs should work fine although I'm having a hard time picturing it in a way that would look "pretty."

The hoods on road shifters are designed to fit on the curved part of the bars, so maybe if you could find some bar ends that curve in the first couple of inches that might work best. However, I doubt it would be an issue either way. I suppose you could mount the bar-ends pointing either up or down (or anywhere in between) to customize the fit. Cool.

[Tom_A.]

OP,



How about a "bullhorn" bar, otherwise known as a "pursuit bar" usually intended for a track or TT bike.



I've seen TT bikes that use these bars with STI road shifters on the "bar end" portion and a clip on aerobar...obviously, you'd probably leave off the aerobar.



You'd just have to use a road stem.





Go to www.chucksbikes.com and look at the bullhorn bar he's selling for only $10...



Tom A.

[Old Proflexer]

hmmmm - might stretch me out too far
would have to use no stem


how you been up there?

are you closer to michael or ronnie?

OP

[Tom_A.]

You could always just cut down the ends of the bars... [smiley=nod.gif]

Things are going good up here in Santa Babylon...been doing a bunch of road riding, but have started doing MTB rides on the weekends.  Rode to the top of Little Pine Mountain 2 weekends ago....VERY sweet, the conditions were PERFECT.  I felt like I was riding down a luge run coming down Santa Cruz trail.

I'm on the coast, so I'm closer to Reagan's old ranch than to Michael's hacienda.  It's funny, on top of the molestation charges, ever since that documentary last year, the county has been all over Michael's case about all the development that's taken place on his "ranch" which currently get's a property tax reduction for "agriculture"...of course, the county has egg on it's face too since they couldn't figure out what was happening even though they issued all the permits (one at a time).  I have a feeling Jackson's going to move from here sometime in the future...possibly to a federally funded facility