Flat bar to Drop bar conversion Specialized Sirrus Elite

[citizenthom]

Hi. I'm thinking of doing the same.
Did you put a 9 speed shifter on an 8 speed bike? Are they compatible?

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Hi. I'm thinking of doing the same.
Did you put a 9 speed shifter on an 8 speed bike? Are they compatible?

Yeah I'm really curious about this as well...

 

[HLaB]

Hi. I'm thinking of doing the same.
Did you put a 9 speed shifter on an 8 speed bike? Are they compatible?

I've got 8sp shifters on my conversion.

 

[Dave Elcome]

This forum is great!!

I have been pondering doing this very same conversion to my 2008 Sirrus LTD.

I was looking at getting Shimano Ultegra STi 6603 levers to go with the current 10Sp set up. I take it this will be OK, and work with the V brakes that mine is equipped with?

 

[MacB]

This forum is great!!

I have been pondering doing this very same conversion to my 2008 Sirrus LTD.

I was looking at getting Shimano Ultegra STi 6603 levers to go with the current 10Sp set up. I take it this will be OK, and work with the V brakes that mine is equipped with?

nope the v-brake would require a different lever or a cable pull doubling device. A v-brake requires nearly double the amount of cable pull that a road brake does.

For my recent conversion I used a travel agent which replaces the v-brake noodle and doubles the amount of cable pull. I hated drops so have been seeling off my conversion stuff, the travel agents are still for sale in the classifieds bit.

It's a toss up, the STI's will come with cables so, if your frame will accept dual pivot road brakes then that may well be the way forward, mine wouldn't, the drillings aren't there. Costs a little more for the road brakes, but the travel agents aren't cheap. Main limitation from switching from v's is clearance for tyres and guards.

 

[Neil Mann]

Hi, I found your thread on a google search because I wanted to do the same and convert my Sirrus having bought it with the same intentions and then got into some longer rides. I asked a bike shop and they said it would cost too much to convert and for the same money I could get a new Road bike. I am glad I didn't fall into that trap. I currently have the flat bar set up and some tri bars, which having been out with friends to train for a charity 66 mile ride I was surprised how much difference just being a bit lower and changing the bike set up made. When I used the tri bars and settled I was able to pull away from some of the others. I realise this is an old topic now but thanks for the advice as I have convinced 'finance dept' that this is a much smaller investment rather than buying a new Tri Bike as I am looking to do an Olympic triathlon on the Sirrus by the end of the year. Furthermore, for anyone with money the 'Ribble Bikebuilder' on their website is awesome. You will be addicted to building your fantasy bike.

 

[mcshroom]

As a cost saver, would it work to put 10sp campag shifters on with an 8sp shimano cassette?

I've seen it on here somewhere and in a blog that the cable pull is the same

There's campag shifters for £62 at CRC

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

It should be less than £50 at Ribble after the current TRIP7 7% discount code. P&p is free if the original price reaches £50.

This explains why the combination works.

 

[g00se]

Hi,

Just wondering - those Escape brifters are "quick shift" and not "ultra shift" like the Veloce models. From what I've read, the quick shift are indexed on the front mech, so they won't work with Shimano kit - the ultra shift are ratcheted so that there is no indexing issues with the front.

Hope you can prove me wrong, as I'm looking to put some drops on a hybrid at some point - but for as cheap as poss.

 

[Globalti]

Nice job, you must feel very satisfied at having built up your own custom bike. It looks pretty slick.

Those flags need resetting though.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Hi,

Just wondering - those Escape brifters are "quick shift" and not "ultra shift" like the Veloce models. From what I've read, the quick shift are indexed on the front mech, so they won't work with Shimano kit - the ultra shift are ratcheted so that there is no indexing issues with the front.

Hope you can prove me wrong, as I'm looking to put some drops on a hybrid at some point - but for as cheap as poss.

For what it is worth, my understanding of the theory is that Shimano MTB front mechs, which a Sirrus Elite comes with, happen to require nearly the same cable pull across a triple chainset that the Campag Escape mechanism provides. Hopefully folks who have tried can confirm or illuminate pitfalls.

For double chainsets indexing shouldn't be an issue obviously.

 

[Fattman]

Nice job! Very impressed, and it's good to hear it has already proven fun!

 

[Strawberry]

Am I being dumb? I can't see any pictures?

 

[pb63]

it's an old thread...

 

[arsa3858]

I would love to have pics from this conversion