GTryder

I know this doesn't sound cool, but I changing from Modolo E2091 drops to Humpert Ergotech trekking bars. Therefore bar end shifters won't fit.

Planning on keeping the road levers for the time being; so instead of vintage Deore thumb shifters, I'm thinking of vintage Suntour stem shifters. Going vintage means friction shiftin,, but that's not an issue for the type of leisurley day touring I'm planning to use this bike for.

My question is will there be enough travel or range in the vintage stem shifters to accomodate the front triple and rear 7 cog freewheel, since they were originally made for ten speeds (2x5)? Would a better choice a New Old Stock Suntour Accushift indexed Stem shifter like this one?

maddog34

yep... just did a similar conversion two months ago.... used an old Huret/Schwinn stem shifter set to replace the twist shifters on a GMC Denali bike... worked fine.

it finally sold, once those twist shifts got removed.

GTryder

Twist grip shifters had been suggested by my son - think he wants them gone off his old mountain bike. Surprisingly they seem quite popular with the trekking crowd in Europe. But a lot of them are riding IGH hubs, so kinda makes sense.

Once I get the Humpert bars figured out and do some day trips this fall, I might go for vinage Deore thumb shifters and nice long flat bar levers. If that happens the stem shifters can replace the plastic Shimano ones on my '83 Free Spirit 10 speed.

hokiefyd 

I just installed a Velo Orange trekking bar on my Trek 750 (it's a MultiTrack, and came with a MTB style bar). I had taken the stock Sram SRT-400 twist shifters off and replaced them with some Shimano triggers that I had before the handlebar project, but I put the twist shifters back on with the trekking bars for two reasons.

First, physical fit was better with the twisters. Cable routing was a little easier and, because the trekking bars are designed for multiple hand positions, I think it's easier to quickly grab a shift with a twist rather having finding your finger or thumb position if your hands are not already positioned there.

Second, aesthetics seemed a little cleaner with the twist shifters. I think triggers hanging down look good on some bikes, and not so much on others. I am going for a "clean" and more "classic" look for this bike, and I wanted the shifters to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Either way, don't apologize for replacing drops with a trekking bar. It'll turn out great!

GTryder

Initially wanting to keep classic looks of a lugged frame touring bike, I had thought about Mustache / inverted Northroad setups to use the existing bar-cons and hooded road levers, but limited hand postitions and mounting area for other accessories led me to the Trekking bars. On the other hand I don't want to overload the Trekking bars and end-up looking like something out of "Inspector Gadget" (lots of those on Google Images) LOL.

Existing hooded road levers will be setup like this photo. If I find my "go to" hand postion ends up being on the lower open flat area of the bars, I'll have to switch brake levers to something flat bar style (classic long levers preferably).

hokiefyd 

Yep -- this is my setup. This picture was taken after I did the first layer of wrap with an old inner tube, and before the top layer (a leather-brown vinyl wrap). I'm using the 750's stock brake levers and stock grip shifters.

I'm sure you are aware that road levers and mountain levers are designed for different bar diameters. Road = 23.8mm and mountain = 22.2mm. There may be ways to adapt a road lever to a smaller diameter bar, but I doubt you could get mountain levers to work on a road diameter bar.

GTryder

Inner tubes are useful for so many things - I'll be doing the same until I'm sure about brake lever placement. Your set up looks good, and will be awesome with the leather look wrap!

My Shimano road levers will clamp tight on a 22.2mm bar, just needing longer brake cables to use them on the top bend of the trekking bars (where I think my hands will be most of the time). If this position turns out to be too high or stretched, I'll replace them with long vintage looking flat bar levers, where you have yours.

Shifters are the issue - my Shimano bar end shifters will fit inside a set of old 22.2 chromoly bars (round tapered head on the tightening bolt may need to be shaved down slightly); they will not fit inside any of the allow bars I have on other bikes. So I'm pretty sure they won't fit inside the Humperts I have coming.

That was why I thought of using stem shifters (while riding my old 10 speed that has them). I recently purchased a silver alloy adjustable stem (similar to yours), so they will fit and keep the vintage look I'm going for. The cable casing between them and the down tube braze-ons may need to be shortened.

Pictures of my stem and the style of shifters I'd like to get.

hokiefyd 

Did you get that stem used, or find new somewhere? That's on my list -- the black stem on my bike is from a parts donor bike and I'm using it to check and set fit. Once all is final, I'd like to fit a silver/polished stem to match with the rest of the trim on the bike.

GTryder

It's new, from local LBS. Made in Taiwan and distributed by 49.N - Canadian company that supplies bike shop with small after market parts.

I was going to buy on line, looking at UNO (Kalloy) and ProMax brands (same or very similar item).

GTryder

Humpert trekking bars arrived damaged!

Likely something heavy was dropped on one side of pacakage, leaving them kinked on the left loop. Good news is, I will get a full refund within 48 hours of proof of return shipping. So before packing them up for return, I did a mock up to see if my hooded road brake placement will be comfortable. A quick test ride (with dangling barcon shifters) and it's safe to say not really . Looks like the best position (for my short arms) is on the open flat sections where most people place them. At least I've learned that I will need flat bar levers (22.2mm fit) along with different shifters to go this route.

I've called around our nearest city and none of the 4 shops there have trekking bars in stock. My favourite shop was very helpful though - after hearing my story - they have offered a set of slightly used Mustache bars to try - cost $20.00 with 3 options: if they work keep them, order new and return these for credit, or just return for credit. Since I'm already going there on Saturday, I'm going to give that a try, and I can use existing brake levers and shifters .

hokiefyd 

Here is my basic finished setup:





I still intend to swap out the black stem and saddle for silver and brown, respectively, but this is the basic setup, and I like how it works and feels. I rode an easy 7.5 miles last night through the park and it was a real joy. I don't wear cycling gloves or shorts, and I think that starts to impact my comfort on a bike after about 45 minutes. If I wore proper gear, this would probably be a very comfortable distance cruiser.

GTryder

That bar wrap looks great - silver stem & brown saddle would complete the vintage look.
Not sure if it's the camera angle, but notice you have the bars sitting almost flat. Most photos I've seen on loaded touring rigs have them tilted more, with the open section being somewhat lower - might be less hand/wrist pressure.
Your Trek definitely is ready for some "trekking."

hokiefyd 

Thanks. They're up at about a 30 degree angle. It might be an odd camera angle (especially on the first photo). Depending on whatever stem I do end up with, I may be able to tilt the rear down a little more.

hokiefyd 

@GTryder, I'm glad you suggested changing the angle of the bar. I changed it to about a 45 degree angle today and then my daughter and I went out for a ride. It actually made a tremendous difference in both comfort on straights and also (a total surprise to me) efficiency in climbing. I felt like I had twice the power or twice the endurance when climbing being able to hold vertically on the outside "straights" of the bar and pulling back toward me. It seemed to give me a ton of leverage on the bike. I don't stand up to climb, and I guess something like this helps a lot. Again, totally unexpected, but I really love the setup now.