Brittain

I was looking at the specs for the 2011 Norco Cabot and I noticed that they use a Deore crankset (48/36/26) with Tiagra brifters.

I was under the impression that brifters don't index correctly with MTB gearing (on the crankset).

Has anyone tried a setup like this before?

This question is really just academic for me, but I am curious.

Cyclesafe

Almost right. Drop bar brifters don't work with MTB front derailleurs. The M591 obviously works on this bike. So....

GeoKrpan

If you put on an MTB crank you would be able to shift between two of the chainrings but not all three. You'd have to choose between the inner and the middle or the middle and the big.
The gear inches for 22, 24, and 26 tooth chainrings on the 34 tooth rear cog are 17.5, 19.1, and 20.6.
In my opinion it's not worth making any changes.

Nigeyy

I didn't think it was the gearing that was an issue (though it can be) but rather the amount of pull is slightly different for front mtb ders vs road ders. I've experienced this first hand in the past when I tried to use an mtb front der with an STI shifter, but had problems with getting that alignment just right. It never quite worked.

Anyone got the scoop on this? Or was I just hallucinating and having a bad day?

cyccommute 

I've heard people say that they can make it work but I've never had any luck when I've tried...and I'm usually damned good at making stuff work on bikes. They apparently seem to feel that it works and they can make it work well enough.

Brittain

Thanks for the responses. Like I said, I was really just asking out of curiosity since I don't think I'd ever try to rig up something like that. Seems like too much fine-tuning (and therefore too much chance for mistakes to be made).

Philly Tandem

With 48-36-24 chainrings you can use an Ultegra or even Dura Ace FD with STI levers. I currently have this setup running on three bikes in my garage (well, one has a 50-36-26, but close enough).

fietsbob

48/38/28 is a mountain bike crank ,just like in the 80's, that's what they shipped with..

now its a 'trekking' set, and current stuff for MTB's has gone 'compacter' 44/32/22
old and also new .. under a new name..

2Fer

I'll second this with first hand experience. On my Nashbar Touring frame, I'm running Shimano Ultegra STI 10 speed brifters, DuraAce# 7703 10-speed triple road front derailler, and Sugino Impel mountain 22-32-42 crankset/chainrings. Smooth as butter..........
2Fer