Brake Body Shifter on MTB Dropbar OCnversion

Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers

On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:11:16 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers

There are adapters that allow the mounting of bar end shifters on the
handle bar.
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...22-2-23-8.html
Much the same idea except for the $65.00 a set :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On 6/24/2016 8:15 PM, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:11:16 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers

There are adapters that allow the mounting of bar end shifters on the
handle bar.
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...22-2-23-8.html
Much the same idea except for the $65.00 a set :-)

Lots of other adapters, too. http://www.rivbike.com/Shifters-s/132.htm

Sir's method costs approximately zero, which is an advantage. Hope it
doesn't generate discomfort when riding on the hoods.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 25/06/16 02:15, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:11:16 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers

There are adapters that allow the mounting of bar end shifters on the
handle bar.
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...22-2-23-8.html
Much the same idea except for the $65.00 a set :-)

You *******! You sent me to the Velo Orange *again*...

On Sat, 25 Jun 2016 17:50:35 +0200, Tosspot
wrote:

On 25/06/16 02:15, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:11:16 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers

There are adapters that allow the mounting of bar end shifters on the
handle bar.
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...22-2-23-8.html
Much the same idea except for the $65.00 a set :-)

You *******! You sent me to the Velo Orange *again*...

Did you read the URL? It says "store-velo-orange" :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

Nice post. Drop bars on mountain bikes are, in my opinion, friendly. Perhaps because I've ridden mountain bikes with that setup for many years... here's my next project:

My Felt DD30 fat bike and girlfriend's Surly Pugsley:

I am getting the brakes swapped from Felt to Pugsley (had Avid BB7 mechanicals) at the LBS because I don't know how to operate on hydraulic brakes, the Felt has them. And Felt has the rear brake housing inside the frame. I don't want to mess with that.

While the brakes are getting a working, I am going to get this bar: http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...bend-1682.html and just a rear bar-end shifter.

Older bike of mine - the inspiration: http://i.imgur.com/EPNT7Fi.jpg


On Friday, June 24, 2016 at 6:26:12 PM UTC-5, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Some technical stuff.

A new use for those old dropbar suicide levers!

A lot of people would like a MTB to dropbar conversion but hesitate to do one because of the cost or difficulty in getting barend shifters or integrated brake lever shifters.

I had an old aluminium alloy frame MTB given to me recently and decided I wanted to do yet another MTB dropbar conversion. I had an old dropbar handlebar with suicide brake levers on it. I also had a pair of Shimano friction downtube shifters. Inspiration struck!

I removed the suicide lever and filed a flat on opposite sides of the portion of the brake lever pivot that stuck out from the side of the brake lever body. The flats were carefully filed until they accepted the innards of the downtube shifter. Then I simply mounted a shifter on each of the pivots and used the original bolt from the suicide lever to secure the shifter. I tightly wrapped shifter cable housing along the handlebar and had it end at the rear of the brake lever body. Then i added the handlebar tape.

Extensive and hard testing showed no movement of the cable housing and the shifter was easy to use with either my finger or thumb. Here is an album that shows the bike, the rear shifter in various positions and the operation of that rear shifter. Now suicide brake levers have a legitimate use and you can convert an MTB to a bropbar bike even if you don't have barend or itegrated brakelever/shifters.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57669609219192

Cheers