Trebien21

So, I have been riding bikes since I was a wee lad, and in my home city of Cleveland OH we have an excellent network of bike trails that will get me to and from home work and school. I have some money saved and have been researching my dream bike. I have the most experience with mountain bikes but like the performance of road bikes. I have decided to go with a cyclocross frame but I would like a MTB riser style handlebars. The crankset will be a Shimano Ultegra crankset for road bikes. My question is can I use MTB shifters with the road bike crankset?

This will be my first bike build.

simonaway427

I wouldn't see why not....

reptilezs

depends what FD you use

LarDasse74

You can use the road crankset. The only problem you will encounter is if you try to use a 'road' derailleur with mtb style shifters. Shimano makes (or used to make) flat-bar-road bike shifters but I believe these actually were designed to work with flat-bar-road bike specific front derailleurs and I don't know if these were the same as mtb front derailleurs, the same as road front derailleurs, or something altogether different.

HillRider

MTB shifters don't play well with road front derailleurs as the cable pulls are incompatible. MTB front derailleurs are set up to work with much smaller chainrings than typical on road cranks (large chainrings of 42 or 44T rather than 52 or 53T) so their cage curvature is too tight.

So, using an MTB front derailleur with a road crank will result in poor shifting since the fd will have to be set too high and a road fd won't shift well with MTB indexing shifters.

Now, if you use barend or thumb shifters, which are friction front shifting, you are golden. You can use a road fd with your road crank and everthing will work fine.

Bezalel

AFAIK the flat bar road FD is designed for the chainline and sprocket sizes of road cranksets with the cable pull of MTB FDs.

CCrew

Ultegra FD with the Ultegra crank and SL-R660 flat bar shifters if 9 speed or 6700 shifters if 10 speed. Run MTB or road for the rear depending on cassette sizing. Won't work with new Dyna-sys 10 speed MTB in the rear, but regular top-normal 9 speed shimano goes to 10 speed just fine.

https://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/...r-road-shifter

blamp28

I have a set of SRAM X.9 Trigger shifters working beautifully with a 105 front derailure and an X.9 rear on a recumbent tandem.

fietsbob

seems the business calls this a Fitness bike, setup .. a flat bar road bike.

Your desire is just changing the brakes from a side pull caliper to cantilever.

Campag had a groupset for that , may still, but not in the US .

skilsaw

It would probably be less expensive and far fewer headaches if you just bought a complete cyclecross bike and then swapped the handlebar and shifters. You could have difficulties with this option if you can't find shifters that work with the derailleurs. Also, purchasing MTB shifters would work well with a triple crank.

How about some research on the urban bikes available at your local bike stores. (Important to get to several stores carrying different brands because individual stores will only carry one or two models) If you still want to build your own, you will have a better idea of professionally configured bikes.

FastJake

Have you considered just buying a new bike like this?

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/fx/75fx/

Lots of manufacturers make them, I just picked the Trek. Seems like what you want from your description. IMO it would be more hassle than it's worth to buy a new 'cross bike and swap the bars, brake levers, and shifters. You may need a new stem too to get a good fit.

lwrncc

How about a wait for the new CT belt driven, Alfine 11 29ers with a lock out fork and some nice semi slicks?

Might be a couple more months but that's what I'm waiting for!

goatalope

Cyclocross frames generally have a slightly shorter top tube than flat bar bikes to account for the extra length from the drop/road handlebars. If you put a flat bar on a cyclocross frame, it might feel a little cramped. Just a consideration.

bloom87

i don't want to sound cocky but I am considering my current version of the technium olympian to be a golden urban speed bike



perfect for jumping potholes, curbs, etc.
braking on a dime, two types of calipers, etc.

CHenry

I would agree with what was written above, about going with a cx bike from the start, provided it isn't devoid of practical fittings like bottle bosses and some means to attach a rack, the sorts of things essential to making a useful commuter. A rigid 29er MTB or a CX frame and a 29er xc drivetrain with MTB shifters and flat bars might do very well for you. You mentioned wanting a road crank, is that a deal-breaker if the large chainring isn't a 53 or 50t? You can build up a nice and versatile commuter with a 46t xc triple and keep your components in the same class without having to source expensive or hard-to-get components. I recently built up a CX frame with all MTB components and a flat bar, and it all works well. If your frame had the braze-ons for racks and fenders, you would have what you need for a commuter (except lights and bags and all the other commuter stuff.)

Kimmo

Fail, IMO - MTB bars are way too wide for urban use. Use bars as wide as your shoulders FTW.

motobecane69

it's easy enough to cut bars down. I built up an ultimate urban commuter with a road crank and flat bar and as others mentioned you need the shimano flat bar FD either the 440 or the 660. I built mine with the nashbar touring frame and nashbar cyclocross fork. it's the shiznit

CHenry

Nice build. Do you like the disc front/linear rear arrangement?

Infidel79

Is Cleveland hilly? If it's not too hilly, a 1x9 set up might be an easy solution.

fietsbob

Ultimate? one that comes in with you everywhere , so as to not get stolen?
it would need to fold .. Bike Friday's Tikit is customizable in the factory

Kimmo

Perhaps not so easy to get riser bars down to shoulder width.

AEO

you'd best start off with an older MTB, because all the new ones won't work at all with any road crankset. Well, maybe a compact double might fit.