After much thinking I have decided to convert my flat bar road bike to drop bars. It is a giant ocr. I'm guessing I will need the following:
Drop Bars!
Road shifters
Maybe new gear and brake cables plus some some outers
Bar tape.
Have I missed anything?
Thanks.

Oh, if anyone is selling any bits, its a standard width stem and an 8spd triple shimano!

why the move to drop bars?

By move do you mean replace? if you do then it's because I like the more varied riding positions I can use.

There can be issues with shifter/front mech compatability.

New stem to fit the road bars. EDIT – bar OD may be different and you'll want a shorter stem anyway.

Maybe a different stem to compensate for the change in reach.

STIs are expensive, be prepared for that. You will get cables with them though, so you can strike those off. Otherwise you seem to have it covered.

It is likely you will need to change the front mech to get shifting perfect for a triple. If you are running a double you can probably get away without changing it.

all pretty much as above. However, i did this a few years ago on a nice flat bar Genesis. I recall it cost me well over £200 and at the end of the day I think I would have been better off selling the bike and buying a road bike proper……..I ended up selling it a year later and buying a cross bike right enough 😆

Cheers all. have got a shorter stem ready to use.
Why would the front mech be an issue if it's a road triple that is on there already and all is shimano?

maybe a road stem as above if a mtb diameter stem is already fitted for flat bars (my genesis did!)

road brake levers have different cable ends as well but you probably have that covered – i bought 2nd hand levers with no cables so had a small delay in getting cables that actually fitted 🙁

cupra – Member
Cheers all. have got a shorter stem ready to use.
Why would the front mech be an issue if it's a road triple that is on there already and all is shimano?

If it's a "road" front mech you should be OK, for whatever reason road triples pull less cable than mtb ones. Try it and see.

The front mech on it should be an FD-R443, a flat bar road specific mech. These don't work perfectly with drop bar levers so you may want to change it if you want smooth shifting and no rubbing.

Goes out to garage to check…..

it's a shimano (unknown model) but is a braze on (two bolts into seat tube) which is a road mech, yes?

Just need to find some 8 spd triple shifters now!

By move do you mean replace? if you do then it's because I like the more varied riding positions I can use.

fair enough, on my road bike I have bull horns as a fine the lower drop position to low and bull horns give a few extra positions.

though about just bung a decent set of bar ends on?

Like these (£25), turn flat bars into drops – you could keep your grear triggers on the bars, fit interupter levers next to them then just some cheap drop brake levels as well.:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Origin8-Origin8-Pro-pulsion-Road-Ends–Drop-Bar-Bar-Ends–Black-18606.htm

as for the road triple shifters
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Shimano-8-Speed-Shimano-ST-2303-Triple-Road-STI-Levers-20548.htm

take a look at shimano tech docs lost of info there on pulls and capatibilty

Not necessarily Cupra, it could still be an FD-R443. Check the back of the cage.

Do it with:
£16.99

+
£16.99

+
£25

+

+ keep you old flat bar shifters

£71 all in

just an idea

Wow, thanks for the input, much appreciated.
Front mech is an FD-R443 so should be OK?
Rootes1 – I like your thinking and many thanks. My shifters are the combined bvrake / gear ones RT221/225 so I can't see how your idea would work, but I do like it!

<<Rootes1 – I like your thinking and many thanks. My shifters are the combined bvrake / gear ones RT221/225 so I can't see how your idea would work, but I do like it! >>

awh combined shifter and levers, bit so flexible… as you could not match the interrupter brake levers with your shifters… if you could you coudl ditch your existing levers

you could of course buy some cheap trigger shifters to fit next to the interupter brake levels and then fit the drop bar brake levers.. you can get triggers quite cheap on fleabay

Hmm, maybe I could put some SLr440 shifters on, or maybe I should just buy a road bike!!

or maybe I should just buy a road bike!!

there is that! 😆 sound slike perfect justification for a nice new bike!

You should already have SLR440 on there. I am liking the drop bar end idea for cost effectiveness.

rootes1 – any pics of your "Heath Robinson" / "Frankenbike" steeds? 😉

Nope. Have got those combined brake gear shifters R221 and R225. Can't seem to find a different front mech that is 8 spd braze on and not an r443!

I think I've cracked it!
A pair of ST2300T shifters should work with an FD2303 braze on mech?
I promise, if the answer is yes I'll leave you all in peace!!

When I did this, I used a standard Sora front mech.

Maybe as yet another a try before you buy option:

Dummy levers

+ the Drop bar ends and keep your standard brakes/shifters, see how you get on with the drops riding position without fully commiting, easy to remove, just no working brake levers on the drops…

FD2303 is an 8 speed road mech so will work fine with 8 speed drop bar levers. Lovely job.

Cheers all, very much appreciated. Off to do some thinking and some sums! 😆

Wanna buy some Ultegra 8 speed bar end shifters? they'll cope with a triple front mech, I swapped my roady mtb back to rigid mtb and have these surplus to requirements £20 posted , if interested pm me (email in profile)
bike is in this thread –> http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/show-me-your-mtb-commuter-hybrid-contraptions

rootes1 – any pics of your "Heath Robinson" / "Frankenbike" steeds?

nah there all in the cave and too dark to take a picture 😉

having said that did not think this looked too bad with that set you above:

does it have V-brakes? with road levers not neccessarily ideal…cable pull is different

no it has road callipers, it is basically a road bike with flat bars.

that's a plus then 🙂