Originally Posted by
DorkDisk
Thanks, I had the same concerns as you re chainline but it turned out to not be a big deal in real life. So this one has a 135mm rear with a 130mm wheel, which makes the chainline worse with a spaced out modern MTB crankset. I put the BB spacers on the non drive side to not make the issue worse and the shifting is fine in all combinations with no rub or odd noises anywhere. Chainline is visibly not great but functionally I don't have any issues, aside from a wide MTB Q factor.
The crank is a
Deore M6000 10sp 28/38 170mm. The shifters are
Sora 3000 9sp. My first attempt with using a M737 XT front derailleur was a no-go. The modern Sora shrakes use a 10+ speed cable pull up front; so I used an Ultegra 6700 10sp front derailleur; it swung out far enough without issues even though the height / chainring curve match is not ideal. Rear is a 737 XT derailleur and 9sp XT 750 11-34 cassette. Chain is 9sp KMC. Shifting is perfect in this setup.
Stem is a
Nitto UI-12 70mm 90deg 31.8 with removable front plate for modern bar compatibility. I wanted to use a modern compact flared drop bar (EA50AX). This was an expensive part of the build but I needed a 70mm extension to match my other bike.
Hope this helps.
Thanks! This was really helpful. As I suspected, getting the front shifter/derailleur/crankset combo just perfect can be a huge challenge when mixing Shimano road/MTN components.
But it also sounds like 5mm difference in chainline isn't a huge deal in real-world usage. Some bikes probably come with road front derailleur and 135mm rear spacing stock from the factory. I guess at this point I just have to experiment in order to get a proper STI brifter setup to work.
I definitely like the look of the silver Nitto UI-12 in 70mm at 0degrees on these vintage Treks. I'm actually running a similar stem on my Trek 520, a
Crust x Nitto UI. The main differences are longer extension and stem angle is 15 degrees. I really like the look of the silver better though. If only it had taller extension it would be the perfect stem. Another similar stem I have found is the
Discord Fingerling Stem, which essentially acts as a beefier Nitto Technomic with a 31.8mm bar clamp and costs a whopping $195.
Anyway, here is my retro gravel tourer on some Panaracer Gravelking SK 700x43c tires. Shimano 7-speed bar end shifters are mated to a Deore crankset (50-45-28t) and a 12-32t cassette which provides a pretty nice range of gearing. The 46cm Salsa Cowchippers also offer some control in the rough stuff! Steel is real but the newer bikes in this thread are so tempting haha
