Tech help

Triathlon Forum
1

I have a cross bike with flat bars and alivio(sp) componets. Can I buy sti shifters and drop bars without changing the componets. I want to race it in cyclocross. Also it’s a 7 speed can I put a 8 or 9 speed cog on the back? would I need to also change rear derailure

2

Bump. Please!

3

  1. Shimano STI shifters will work with the rear derailleur but will not index well with the front (MTB) derailleur. STI levers also may need a cable pull adapter (Problem Solver travel agent) to work properly with your MTB-style cantilever brakes.

  2. You cannot put a standard 8 or 9s cassette on a Shimano 7s freehub because the 8 and 9s cassettes are too wide. You can use 8 cogs from a 9s cassette and it should fit on the 7s freehub. It is possible that your bike really has an 8-9-10 compatible freehub and a 7s cassette with a spacer. Your local shop can help you figure this out.

  3. If you get a new rear wheel with an 8-9-10s compatible hub, the rear derailleur should work with an 8s or 9s cassette. You would need to get a new chain if you went with a 9s cassette (a 9s will work well with 8s or 7s, but the 7s will be too wide for 9s).

  4. Cheapest STI solution would probably be to find a Sora or similar 7s STI shifter and get a compatible front derailleur and keep everything else 7s. Also use the travel agent if needed to get the brake cable pull ratio correct to get adequate braking power.

An even cheaper drop bar solution would to use regular non-STI drop bar brake levers and bar-end shifters (either mounted at the end of the drops or on the tops with Paul’s cyclocross mounts). This would work well with any front derailleur because no indexing is involved on the front.

4

Thanks John. I didn’t think anyone was going to help. My next post will be
Send pictures of a cat or Check out this girl or I hate the people who work hard to put on a race.
Questions like my tech help just don’t belong on here : )
Again Thank You . I plan to be cyclocross racing soon because of your help!

5

The tech help that is available here is that which regards aero bars, disk wheels, and the like. You can get general bike tech advice on the Cycling forums equipment forum:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48

Enjoy your cross racing.