Lemon_grass

Hello-- so after riding around with my new gravel bike and after this weekends first race with real sketchy and steep downhill decents, I've decided to swap out my drops for risers for more control (I have much better handling with flats/risers in general than with drops to begin with in gravel/mud).

Anyway, I have a 2018 Diverge with Shimano 105 and I can't find a seem to find a level/shifter combo... do they not exisit? I would want to mount the brake and the shift lever on a clamp like on a mtn bike, so if the possibility doesn't exisit what would shifting be like (super awkward)?

On a side note-- I've been able to find the Shimano SL RS-700 shifters and the R550 flat bar lever but apparently they don't clamp together.

Paul Barnard

I think I understand what you are looking for. Are you looking for a Shimano compatible flat bar brake shifter unit where they are a single unit? If so, they only exist in very cheap versions. Why do you want them to clamp together?

Lemon_grass

Maybe I am picturing it incorrectly-- the guy at the shop said they wouldn't clamp together to I assumed the shifter would not be able to go below the lever as it normally would-- that there would be two side by side clamps.

travbikeman

Using the picture below with the Alivio, if that is what your looking at doing, don't think the 105 has this.

Iride01 

Y'all are confusing me with the Alivio. It's a 9 speed group. The 105 group on a 2018 bike I'd think will be 105-5800 which is 11 speed.

RS 700 shifters should work fine for front and rear. The front is 2 speed right?

There are other options. 2018-2019 SHIMANO Product Information Web

Iride01 

It's starting to sink in to me that you want the shifter and brake in one neat and tidy little unit. The quick answer is no. Shimano does not make a flat bar combo of that for 11 speed that I know of.

Go to a shop and try out the hybrids with 11 speed 105. I think you'll see there is no big deal with having separate shifter and brake levers.

Lemon_grass

Yep-- that's what I meant.

Thanks for the info, just wanted to ensure it would all work out.

fietsbob

I've noticed , Shimano has different components for 'fitness bikes' .. essentially flat bar road bikes ,
for eu and au markets than US, so check in on sellers there.

They would be road short pull levers for side pull skinny tire road brakes..



...

volvostephen

Why not try a wider flared drop bar with a shallow drop? This is likely a lot cheaper option and will keep the geometry of the bike more inline with what was intended.

Kapusta

Microshift makes an 11-speed flat bar road shifter set. Looks like it runs around $75
https://www.amazon.com/Microshift-speed-flat-road-shifters/dp/B011F8X8KE

I used the Microshift 10 speed version of these for a flat bar conversion for my wife. They work great.

Shimano makes some flat bar road brake levers (which are basically canti levers) for pretty cheap.

Don’t worry about them not mounting on the same clamp. Many flat bar bikes have the brakes and shifters with separate clamps.

veganbikes

Mine are not connected and that is just fine because it allows me to run my 9 speed XTR shifter. I am using Avid levers and they have been great so far granted I am running v-brakes (Deore) on that particular bike. Paul Components makes some awesome flat bar levers as well if you want some high quality MUSA stuff. The reason I didn't go with them is the bike is a commuter beater made heavily with parts bin stuff or stuff I got for free or very cheaply. However I have thought about building up a super posh version of the bike (which is already pretty nice as is) but I have no need right now and if I did I would go hydro disc anyway.

dsaul

Why not try a set of flared gravel/adventure bars and raise the bars for more confidence on the downhill stuff? I do a lot of gravel and MTB trail riding on my gravel bike and found that I like a lot less saddle to bar drop than I would use on a road bike. My bars are about 30mm higher than my road bike and have a 12 degree flare, which puts your hands/wrists in a more comfortable position for braking from the drops.

Most of the challenge of a gravel bike is riding off road terrain with drop bars. If you switch to flat/riser bars, you just have a rigid mountain bike with skinny tires.

JonathanGennick 

I don't mind if you convert to flat bars, but maybe give it a bit more time since the bike is new. Your bars are flared, right? How wide are they? Salsa makes some mountain drops in various widths. I used to run their widest Woodchipper bar on my Fargo, and the wide bars helped me with control.

Maelochs

I would argue against that unitary build anyway. I found that it was easier to position the brakes and shifters for maximum function and comfort when I could actually do that. Those monobloc brake-shifters work perfectly---so long as you have the exact same hand shape, finger length, hand strength, wrist flexibility, and riding position preference as the guy who designed it.

I'd go more with dsaul's approach, personally ... look for wider and/or flared bars and a taller spacer stack and a longer/more upright stem. The drops might put your weight too far forward on your current bike (with its current set-up) but the tops might be too narrow, and the hoods too far forward also.

Possibly the hoods would be the place to ride if the bar was just higher and closer.

Everyone is different----but i bet everyone int he field was riding drop bars. I have seen cyclocross and I have some friend who ride gravel .... even the guy with a Cannondale Slate (suspension fork) has drop bars.

On another hand ... it is your bike, and if you want a flat bar, why not? But i don't think there are integrated 11-speed road shifters for flat bars.

Call Shimano ... there is the vaguest of tiny possibilities that they know more about what they sell than I do. And maybe there is a way (like a Travel Agent) to adjust cable pull for 11-speed MTB shifters?

Kapusta

If you want to do a flat bar conversion, look at the Microshift shifters I linked to above.

In general, I am pretty non-dogmatic and open-minded about drop bar conversions. I use drops on my road/gravel bike, but totally get why some folks want a flat bar conversion, and I think they work just great.

However, most of the time people are doing flat bar conversions it is for fit and comfort reasons. In your case it sounds like more for handeling in the rough. And in your case I would not be so sure that a flat bar on the same frame is going to help all that much.

When you say you find flat/riser bars better for this, are you basing this on your experience with mountain bikes, or bikes built around mtb frames?

There is a lot going on other than the handlebars and tire size between a mountain bike (even a rigid xc one) and your Diverge .

Compared to a moutain bike, you have a much steeper head angle. Also, compared to a mtb, you have a pretty short wheelbase. Both of these things are going make the bike a bit more sketchy when things get loose and rough.

Going with a flat bar (particularly a wider one) might help, but it is not going to feel like a bike with a off-road geo.

That’s my $0.02.

MikeyMK

Stuff the shifters, any 9-speed groupset by Shimano is gonna feel absolutely fine after 5 miles.

What you need is a good pair of shades. Now you can actually see the world in front of you.