Wanting to tap into the collective. The wrench experience. The “tribal knowledge” so to speak. I’m posting this on both TNO and Slowtwitch, so those of you that post in both, no need to double post.
I’m converting an old road rig to a TT configuration. I had – Scott crit-bend Drop-In bars with Ultegra 8-speed STI brifters. After sitting for a few years, I’ve found that the STIs are fried. So in converting, the bar set-up is this: Profile Airwing base bar (about 6 years old) and old Profile Split Seconds (I think that’s what they are – non-flip up arm rests, extensions go straight forward then bend upward, and the brackets utilize a hex-shaped insert that plugs into the extension.
Problem: Got some Cane Creek 200TT brake levers, and tried to put them in the Airwings – no go. Won’t even go in. Have the Airwings changed over the last few years? Or is there another lever that DOES fit into these bars?
Problem 2 (maybe): Have some Ultegra 8-speed bar-end shifters on order (will be here next week), but I’m concerned that they won’t fit into the Split Seconds. The outside diameter of the bars is smaller than a standard bar, and I haven’t taken the end plugs out to see if the hex cross section extends through the length of the bar. Options? Or if not, what clip-ons WILL fit bar end shifters?
In a previous life, I’d have no problem expending large amounts of cash to experiment and find all this out myself (to the benefit of those folks I gave the stuff that didn’t fit the bill for me). No longer in that cash situation, so I need to ferret out the answers in another way.
Problem: Got some Cane Creek 200TT brake levers, and tried to put them in the Airwings – no go. Won’t even go in. Have the Airwings changed over the last few years? Or is there another lever that DOES fit into these bars?
Thanks for any and all input.
Can’t help with the others, but I just found that the old dia-compe levers fit smaller bars than the tektro levers. Therefore the dia-compe levers (without the shim) may fit your bars. They are also available for <$20.
Dia-comps and Visions are probably the two smallest, in terms of bars they will fit.
Plus the dia-comps are cheap. ask around, you might even be able to TSR a set.
I’ve got a set of OLD Dia-compes, the ones with the set-screw (and mandatory internal routing, something I’m very loathe to try) probably circa 1984… No return spring, clunky, heavy, very cheesy looking. Or are you talking the BL 188s?
Never mind – saw that they ARE internal routed. My Airwings are not pre-drilled (as the current ones are) for internal routing. Guess that’s the danger of riding old equipment…
The bar end shifters should work as long as you didn’t wack off any length from your Split Second bar extensions. I learned this the hard way with some old Split Second bars. As you probably noticed, the angled tube flattens as it goes down the the extension part.
Actually, the ones I have don’t change. It’s a constant section (though I don’t know if the hex internal profile continues along the whole length) that has a single bend. So they may not be Split Seconds… Profile doesn’t make them any more.