Drops Bars & STI Upgrade - Selection Assistance

[MacB]

After months of wrestling with controls position for my butterfly bars I've decided to switch to drops. I've looked into this and spoken to guys on the rides. I wanted to get some further advice and if anyone has any parts I need for sale then please let me know. Okay:-

Current setup - Giant CRS Alliance hybrid, has 9 speed triple, truvativ cranks, 9 speed SRAM cassette. Tektro brake levers, Shimano 440 trigger shifters, Shimano Alivio V brakes, Shimano 440 front derailler, Shimano Tiagra rear derailler.

Desired - shallow drop bars, STI brakes/shifters, secondary cross top brake levers.

What I think I need:-

Bars - try some out to get size I'm comfy with - should width equate to shoulder width?
Cross top levers - looking at Crane Creek and appreciate that need to match size to bar dimensions.
Bar Tape - already have cinelli stuff
Cables - planned to leave this to LBS to sort
STI's - seen Shimano 105 9 speed pair, including cables, for £161.79
Brakes - looking at changing to 57mm drop road brakes, Wiggle have Mcihe ones at £18 for a pair.

Did consider Campy stuff but would rather avoid any compatability issues. Also considered a travel agent to keep the v-brakes but would rather not. Any info, advice or offers of kit welcome....cheers....Al

 

[John the Monkey]

What I think I need:-

Bars - try some out to get size I'm comfy with - should width equate to shoulder width?

Yep - shoulder width. If you don't need to mount loads of stuff to the bars "Wing" bars are *really* comfy (they flatten out on top after the clamp portion of the bar, and keep that flat profile up to the area the controls clamp at).

Cross top levers - looking at Crane Creek and appreciate that need to match size to bar dimensions.

Don't know much about these - I'd be worried about trying to control the bike from the tops though - I'd ride from the hoods in preference, making the cross top levers superfluous. IME, properly setup road brakes work pretty well from the hoods.

Bar Tape - already have cinelli stuff

If comfort is the goal, you could consider double wrapping, or buying some gels to go under the tape (I use Fizik's bar gel on my Surly LHT - I've found the wing bars on my SCR2.0 comfy enough not to need it though).

Cables - planned to leave this to LBS to sort

Not a hard job - just make sure you're happy with them before you wrap the bars.

Good quality inners & outers are the key - my LBS uses Jagwire outers, which I've found decent enough. I use shimano gear cable inners (because I have scads of the things) and Fibrax teflon coated brake inners (these are *REALLY* nice). The PBK cable cutter makes a decent job of cutting - a fine file and an old spoke (to open up and "round" the hole in the outer after cutting) work to finish the outers.

If you're using cable doughnuts to stop the cables slapping, remember to thread them on before clamping the cable. Also remember your frame protectors (Halfords bikehut ones are actually rather good) and a set of inline cable adjusters for the gear and brake cables (make set up and tuning much, much easier - again, I like the Jagwire ones).

It won't save you a whole lot of money, but if you want a pair of Shimano gear inners, fire off a PM to me and I'll send you some.

 

[PpPete]

Bars - try some out to get size I'm comfy with - should width equate to shoulder width?

Maybe go a touch wider if you are changing from flat bar?

 

[MacB]

Thanks folks, interesting stuff, also got a PM from ILB directing me to complete group sets. This got me thinking, it's full 105 for £400 or Ultegra SL for £450. The Ultegra has more options available and I could switch to a compact from the triple. Thinking 34/50 with 12-27, should be able to ride in larger ring most of the time. Whitstable ride I didn't need to go below 54 inches(42/21) gear wise. Bottom gear of 33 inches, only 2 inches higher than my triple.

So £450 for groupset, plus bars £70, I like look of FSA pro wing compact jobbies, possibly £600 all in.

Keep as much existing as possible would cost about £300-350.

By going groupset I'd also be able to sell the existing groupset to offset a bit. Surely someone would need a full triple setup in good nick, would throw in bar ends with the flat bars. I'd be keeping the BBB's for another bike

Someone tell me it's a good/bad idea ro give me a link to even better groupset prices.

 

[andrew_s]

Does the frame have suitable drillings at fork crown and seatstay bridge for caliper brakes?
i.e unthreaded holes right through, 7mm (ish) across, and about 2mm larger on the non-brake side.

 

[MacB]

yep the crown drillings are there, my only concern would be the drop on the brakes, think I would need long drop for this frame.

 

[revvers]

Don't know if it's any help/ relevant, but I found that by using a combination of 'Chain reaction cycles' 'Pro-bike' and ebay I have bought a 105 cassette, new freehub, new drops, pair of 105 sti levers, ultegra 10 speed chain and relevant cables for £180

 

[MacB]

it does help because at the numbers I'd been getting to not buying a complete new bike was seeming foolish.

 

[andrew_s]

yep the crown drillings are there, my only concern would be the drop on the brakes, think I would need long drop for this frame.

If you take the tyre off and measure from rim tape to centre of brake hole, that should be a reasonable simple to measure indication of the required drop.

 

[bonj2]

got some bars you can have
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=42435
pm me if interested

 

[MichaelM]

Current setup - Giant CRS Alliance hybrid, has 9 speed triple, truvativ cranks, 9 speed SRAM cassette. Tektro brake levers, Shimano 440 trigger shifters, Shimano Alivio V brakes, Shimano 440 front derailler, Shimano Tiagra rear derailler.

Desired - shallow drop bars, STI brakes/shifters, secondary cross top brake levers.

What I think I need:-

Bars - try some out to get size I'm comfy with - should width equate to shoulder width?
Cross top levers - looking at Crane Creek and appreciate that need to match size to bar dimensions.
Bar Tape - already have cinelli stuff
Cables - planned to leave this to LBS to sort
STI's - seen Shimano 105 9 speed pair, including cables, for £161.79
Brakes - looking at changing to 57mm drop road brakes, Wiggle have Mcihe ones at £18 for a pair.

Did consider Campy stuff but would rather avoid any compatability issues. Also considered a travel agent to keep the v-brakes but would rather not. Any info, advice or offers of kit welcome....cheers....Al

You'll have to do something about the v-brakes if you use STI's, either some sort of travel agent, or mini v's.