Leatherfeathers

I want to use bullhorns on a 2x9 speed bike I'm building. I've tried drops and I'm not really into them. I feel like I'm twisting my wrist forward to apply brakes while on the hoods and I spent no time in the drops. I know I probably just have to get used to it but I'm a much better rider with bullhorns. I thought of using bar end shifters like Shimano dura ace 9 speeds and here are my thoughts:

The only options I've seen so far are cross levers either on the uprights or and the flat. I have a problem with them on the flats because I like having them close to where I ride most. The only accidents I've been in were caused by me not being able to hit the brakes fast enough. That may be stupid to some of you and you may be right but that's how I work. The problem I see with having cross levers on the uprights is nearly speculation because I don't have any experience. I've looked at photos of that orientation and it seems that the levers are really far away from the bars like you'd have to make a reach for them from where you're riding. That's why I love TT style levers. The only problem is that they're bar end so I'll have to find another solution for the shifters.

Here are my questions:
Do cross levers on the uprights have a further reach than TT levers?
Do any cross levers have an adjustable reach?
Is there a better shifter situation on bullhorns for a 2x9 that I'm not thinking of? (Trigger, thumbies, etc)

Thanks for the help

Viich

Did you try raising and rotating up/back your drop bars?

Or look at Shimano Metrea- sti groupset for bullhorns.

veganbikes

If I was going Di2 or Metrea (as suggested above) then a bull horn bar would be an excellent choice but I wouldn't want to add mechanical shifters to the bike that weren't designed for bull horns and hate the look of bar end shifters on those bars. Thumbies could potentially work but sadly my favored bullhorns wouldn't work because of almost no space for thumbies by the stem. I absolutely hate hate hate those cheap round bar bull horns or really most any round bar I like a flat top section or good ergonomic grips (like Ergons)

My Langster has a Zipp Vuka Alumina bar with ScRAM TT levers and it is such a nice set up but that is a fixed gear.

Kontact 

Why not regular STI on bullhorns? You can add interrupter levers to them.

fietsbob

The Triathlon market spawned reverse levers (for use in cow horn ends),
with the shifters mounted alongside them..

....

Kontact 

Alongside them on the aero bar the OP isn't going to have?

MikeyMK

My trike has reverse upside-down road bars under the seat, resulting in hip-placement bullhorn grips. Shimano made MTB shifters that mount to the bar mounts in a way they can be turned, so i have these mounted at the ends, and the finger triggers are perfectly positioned for my thumb/finger - these work with separate bar-end brake levers by Tektro.

The result is unorthodox but near ergonomic perfection. Not the lowest profile set up though, if sleek cosmetics are more your thing.

I'll try and remember a pic when I can get one.

Kontact 

If they are MTB shifters, they aren't going to fit over larger diameter road bars. 23.8 for road, 22.2mm for MTB.

carlos danger

There are many options for this. if your bars are 22,2mm mtb standard its quite easy to get regular triggers on there and TT levers.

if you have 23,8mm bars you need to diy stuff. or get road brifters or brake levers with downtube shifters mounted on them.
Like the genavelle.

All those options are highly unelegant though compared to reverse levers and triggers.
You can build a suitable mount for triggers in 2-3h with only a cordless drill/hacksaw/sandpaper/tap/a piece of alu.
I've done it several times both with xt and xtr shifters. Mostly for drop bars but the same principles apply to bullhorns.

questions?

Kontact 

Yes - why? Those look hard to reach from anywhere but the drops and the noodle is extremely vulnerable. And couldn't you have just filed open the MTB clamp?

carlos danger

those are nitto rm014 and can only be ridden from the drops. And thats what they were designed for.
I only ride that bike in the drops.

No the mtb clamp positions the shifter at totally wrong angle and distance from the bars. You need to space it out much more when using it on a tt/dropbar. especially when using winter gloves.

the angle and distance is what takes time to figure out when building them. the first iteration of the xtr shifter turned out it was too close to the bar in the winter so i spaced it out even more.

carlos danger

the xt adaptation to tt bar required only longer m4 or m3 bolts and some nuts as spacers. took like 30 minutes. was at a good angle too for that bar.

Viich

I didn't mention it earlier, but is downtube shifting an option? I prefer it to STI on bikes that have the braze-ons. Stem shifting too, but that's mostly if you have a quill stem.

Leatherfeathers

I have the sram tt500s on my single speed right now and I was hoping to use them on this build but my main issue is that I want the shifters and levers close together so no shifters in the flats and I hate the look of sti's on bullhorns. I've seen thumbies near the end of the bars. Am I just doomed to using drops? I'm not a fan of the look of bar ends on bullhorns but I can't think of any other non diy way of doing it. I've seen jtek's aero brake lever that attaches to Shimano bar end shifters and I like the idea but it looks like they only have it for one side as it's designed for TT bikes.

Leatherfeathers

No downtube shifting or stem shifting but even if there was I'm not into moving my hands away from the brakes that much. Just preference.

Leatherfeathers

I would love that groupset but it's waaaaaaaaay outside my price range. Probably always will until it's 10 years old on eBay or something.

Leatherfeathers

Correct. Unless we're not understanding what they mean by "along side".

Leatherfeathers

My other thought is that the hinge on the back of cross levers would be where your hand is going to be while shifting. Seems uncomfortable. The main issue with the idea I have with this is that the balance between compatibility, comfort, and look are proving to be extremely difficult. Welcome me to the world of bike building I guess.

Leatherfeathers

I did some more research on metrea and they only have options for disc brakes. The frame doesn't have any disc mounts.

Troul 

hydraulic only too i think

Viich

Thumb shifter and bar end brakes seems like it might be the only way to get where you seem to want to go.
https://www.amazon.ca/MicroShift-Dou.../dp/B00CJXMFK4

Would you try something off the wall like trying to put a downtube shifter boss on your bullhorn bars and use the tt-style bar end brake levers? Never seen it done, but seems like it might work and be a bit cheaper and/or cleaner than some other options. A cable stop becomes an issue though.
https://framebuildersupply.com/colle...oducts/downtub

Toespeas

i run this but im thinking of putting the shifter on the left to clean up the cable ?!?!

The Chemist

I did exactly that for a long time on my bike. But then I got interested in having an actual drop bar so I've since converted mine to a full drop and I prefer it. But brifters on the end of the bar like this actually work pretty well, IMO.