hellopizza

Hi, I wanted to ask for some advice about converting a road bike into a more relaxed ride, something like a city bike. I have a 2001 Lemond Buenos Aires that I love but I got a slightly better road bike from a friend and have no need for two bikes that function the same. Anyhow, I've purchased a new stem, handlebars, and seat. I'd also like to bump up the tires from 700x25 to 700x28 if possible.

The current groupset on the bike is a 9-speed triple (Shimano 105). Is there any way for me to change out just the brifters for a shifting/braking system compatible with cruiser/porteur-type handlebars? I'd be especially grateful if someone offered a link or part name/number for the particular brake/shifter I'd need to buy that will work with my current groupset.

Any help greatly appreciated!

dabac

9-speed, then I’d pick up a set of MTB shifters. And a MTB front derailer. Pay attention to pull direction.
Or posssibly a set of North Road bars, put the brifters at the apex of the forward curve.

hellopizza

I've already picked up the Wald 867 bars and was previously thinking of just trying to mount brifters onto them.

If that doesn't work out, would the Shimano ST-EF65-9 work? Sorry, I'm not allowed to post a link. I'm still trying to figure out what derailleur I can get with them. Is there a reason I only need to change the front derailleur and not the rear? Thanks for the help!

jgwilliams

If you don't want to change the rear derailleur then you need to find the pull ratio and get some shifters that match. The pull ratio is a measurement of how much cable is pulled for a given movement of the derailleur. Unfortunately manufacturers love to mess with the ratio from one year to the next - ostensibly to improve performance. As long as the shifter pull ratio matches that of the derailleur then it will work. The same is true for the front derailleur, of course, but it's not quite so critical.

I rather doubt you'll have a lot of success putting brifters on straight bars.

Wilfred Laurier

Shimano 9sp was, as far as I can recall, compatible across the range and from MTB to road bikes. A set of 9sp Shimano mtb shifters will index perfectly with 9sp road parts.

The front derailleurs from that era, though, were not cross-compatible between MTB and RB.

CliffordK

@hellopizza's album:

https://www.bikeforums.net/g/user/420542
https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/15432096

CliffordK

That Lemond with 853 steel should be a great base to work with.

I think you're already realizing some of the issues with the conversion. Changing brakes and shifters. But, I think the overall result should be nice.

Older bikes have a benefit of having stem shifters or downtube shifters which you don't have to mess with. Also, some brands such as Motobecane often had fender clearance on most of their bikes (especially if you convert from 27" to 700c).

Nonetheless, your Lemond is a good bike.

As @dabac & @Wilfred Laurier mentioned, 9-speed Shimano is pretty compatible across systems. You already have a triple crankset.

As far as clearances for different tires, you have the bike in front of you. Most of us can only give you generalizations of what to look for.

1/4" or so of clearance on all sides of the tires would be nice, but you can go down a bit more, especially if not riding on lot of gravel or fresh tar.

There are other bar configurations that you might look at. For example, people have used a variety of brakes and shifters on "Moustache" and "butterfly bars".




With a classic quill stem, vintage friction stem shifters are also possible, and dirt cheap.

bluehills3149

I've done a few of these conversions and here's what I found.
You can use any MTB 9spd shifters (eg Deore) and the rear shifting will be perfect but the front der will present issues as MTB left shifters pull more cable than road shifters. Here are some options:
1. Get rid of one of the triple crank's chainrings - the smallest is easiest but depends on whether you need it. Now the front shifter will usually be OK as it is only one of two positions so usually works OK.
2. Get one of the 2 front der's Shimano specially designed for this setup (R443 and R453). They were designed for flat bar bikes with road cranks.
3. Most MTB front der's will not fit as the arm will hit your rear tire since MTB usually have a lot more clearance here than road bikes but there may be some MTB der that do fit. I once put a 1980's era Shimano 200GS fr der on my road bike and it fit OK and there may be others.
4 Get a left side friction shifter that does not have clicks so it will be OK with any combination eg Sun RaceM96 Thumb Shifter.

For brakes just make sure the levers are suitable for cantilever brakes and they'll be fine.

canklecat

Swept bars and bar-end shifters. That's what I put on my early '90s diamond frame Univega. Nitto albatross bar, Shimano bar-end shifters, 8-speed cassette. No problem with the front triple -- the bar-end shifter is friction. Right/rear shifter is indexed or friction. The albatross bar shape offers almost as many hand positions as drop bars. And a more conventional brake position. Some folks find the mustache bar brake position awkward -- I know a couple of folks who tried them and switched back to compact drops.

DorkDisk

Friction fronts (thumb shifters) or DT shifters with top clamps are great for these conversions. The EZ Fire shifters will work with the proper front derailleur as mentioned, but make sure you get the short pull brake versions (along with the front derailleur)

These are a modern set: https://365cycles.com/products/new-m...full-warranty?

hellopizza

I think I might try to use some MTB shifters and go to the "bike kitchen" to see if someone can help figure out how to get the front shifters functioning somewhat. Thanks for the input!

hellopizza

If the MTB shifters fail I'll look into the bar end shifters. Thanks so much for the help!

hellopizza

I think I'm going to try the MTB shifters and go from there. I had considered the moustache bars previously but feel like they don't put me as upright and relaxed as I want to be on this bike. Thanks for your help!

Synack42

I'm a huge fan of these Sunrace friction shifters for refurbishing old bikes. I've used them on a couple drop to flat bar conversions as well. They work with everything and they're cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunrace-SLM10...dp/B007QMJH86/

hellopizza

I just wanted to give an update! I ran into a few issues because I bought a set of Shimano ST-EF65-9 shifters on Amazon and when I gave them to the shop to install, they told me they were broken and I got a bit frustrated with the process. Then the pandemic hit and it wasn't until November of 2020 when I would finally get all the pieces together. I've been riding the bike regularly since November 2020 and I love it! I still have a road bike for rides longer than 15 miles but this bike and it's laid back, upright position is exactly what I wanted for quick trips to coffee shops, etc.

Thank you everyone for all your help!!!

hellopizza

And I couldn't post photos until my 10th post so here they are!


The end result!

SkinGriz

Looks great!
What bars are those?

70sSanO

Great job!

John

jdogg111

i've did a few with friction shifters from amazon. like 14 bucks for the set. good cheap way to see if you like it and personally i still like friction shifting better than indexed shifting , i get a purer feel for the gear i'm in.

PDXZach

Looks great. Im
trying to convert my Merlin to commuter

jdogg111

is that bike light? I love the bars and wonder how they would work on my trek 700.

CliffordK

The bike belongs to @hellopizza, however, a Lemond Buenos Aires with 853 tubing should be pretty nice.

hellopizza

They're Wald 867. I believe they call them their "touring" bars.