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  • Cyclocross
  • europeanbob
    Free Member

    Hi guys I have a old carrara
    Moutain bike that I have set up as a cheep commute bike but I’m thinking of putting drop bars and road bike gearshifts on it to get it more like a cyclo cross style is it possible to use the road bike style shifters on a mtb style rear mech and is their anything I need to do to achieve the cyclocross look other than the obviouse

    dknwhy
    Full Member

    It would be possible with a bar end shifter but the biggest difference between road and cx bikes is the tyre clearance really. I don’t know how much clearance your carrera has?
    By the time you price up the parts you need, you could probably buy a second hand cx bike.

    mos
    Full Member

    I’ve done this in the past. To get comfy on the drops I found the front end needed to be pretty high, which meant a 45 deg rise stem and a load of spacers. Then the fork offset just felt weird with Road tyres. For the cost of bars, stem, shifters, bar tape and whatever else you will need to get the brakes to work, you could probably just buy a second hand cx bike on eBay. I saw a decent Scott go for £250 the other day.

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    Spin
    Free Member

    is it possible to use the road bike style shifters on a mtb style rear mech

    Yes. But not with a MTB front mech IIRC. Mos is right that running drops on an MTB frame usually requires a high rise stem or spacers. I use an old Kona with such a set up for touring.

    djflexure
    Full Member

    Just put drops on my Yeti and fortunately the position is great without changing the front end. The Big Top has a reasonably high front end, partly due to external headset. I also use Exotic forks which are a bit longer in the a-c than many others. So you could get lucky with the position, you can probably eyeball what it will end up like.

    DiscJockey
    Free Member

    I’m going to slightly disagree with the above comments here, based on my own experience of doing exactly what europeanbob is proposing.

    My current commuter is an old, but decent MTB (653, full XT, old 8speed). I’ve been able to run road shifters successfully because 8spd Shimano road and MTB derailleurs are compatible. If this Carerra bike is 9spd upwards, then you’ll need to fit a road rear derailleur.

    In terms of cost, I got a pair of 8spd Sora road levers for £21 on eBay. The drops were about £12, bar tape £7 and then a set of Schwalbe Marathon 26″ slicks were about £25 each. I also got some mudguards which were about £25.

    I partly agree that a 2nd hand CX bike might be better, assuming you’ve got the money and space for a second bike. But don’t forget, for commuting you’ll need good puncture resistant tyres, and it’s unlikely you’ll find these on a CX bike. Same with mud-guards. So you might need to factor these into the purchase either way.

    As for bar height, it totally depends on the size of MTB frame, specifically the distance between top of fork steerer and the ground. A largish MTB (e.g. 20″) won’t be much different to a medium CX bike. I suggest you measure this now, as if your MTB frame is small, you’ll end up needing a really daft looking stem to raise the height of bars. Looks do matter 😉

    In terms of feel, my MTB doesn’t feel awkward at all with slicks and drops, but then it has rigid front forks (not sure if this makes a difference). It feels more stable going through big potholes/puddles compared to my CX bike (as you’d expect with 2″ slicks) hence the reason I adapted it.

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