is it possible?

[rowan 46]

To use road sti's on an mtb chainset. I am thinking about putting some midge handlebars on my commuter
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HBOOMI/on_one-midge-handlebar

 

[spandex]

You can but you will need one of these there not cheep but they work. I have used over makes but I dont know who the suppler is sorry

Shiftmate

 

[rowan 46]

Thankyou that seems to be what I'm looking for

 

[Oddsos]

I am pretty sure that all the Shimano mechs and shifters have similar cable pull ratios. So if you are using Shimano STI and front mech there should be no compatibility problems. If you are using a mix of brands for shifters and mechs the shift mate options is a good suggestion.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Imho, any optimistic response to your query is premature without knowing which brake and drivetrain components you have and are planning to use.

Firstly road sti's don't pull enough cable for V brakes or cable disc brakes for V brake levers.

Secondly Shimano road and mtb/flat bar front mechs require different cable pull for indexing.

Just to make it more fun challenging, mtb/flat bar brake or shift levers generally won't fit road bars such as the midge because mtb/flat bars OD are smaller at 22.2mm.

To address the above there are various kludges/workarounds such as using travel agents, mix/match Campag sti's, or using canti's etc., but not all are ideal solutions. You might want to check out some links I provided here.

 

[Oddsos]

As RecordAce pointes out brakes are a different compatibility problem to shifters. When I made a Frankenbike for winter I used Tektro V brake compatible aero levers to keep the V-brakes on the frame. I then used bar end shifters for gear changing. If you want to use STIs Mini Vs are an option, as are canti brakes. Look at cyclocross bikes for inspiration.

The Midge bar you are proposing is fine for road shifters/brakes and MTB stems. There are other 25.4mm diameter drop bars out there, though often you need to get lucky on Ebay.

It is only really worth making the conversion if you have a realy pressing need for something "special". I wanted an ice commuter with drop bars and had a donor hybrid that was taking up space. If I had been less tight I would have been better off buying a cyclocross bike to fit my ice tyres to and saved a lot of research time trying to find work arounds for the incompatibilities.

 

[rowan 46]

will be using the avid bb7 road discs for brakes, and probably shimano R500 levers and it looks like the jtk 7 pulley for the front deraileur. I am proposing to make something to have a "play" with on the canal footpaths. I just like the idea of making a fun bike. I have just bought a new commuter to replace this one. I will be getting a road bike in the spring when the weather is a little better and I just don't have the heart to throw out this old bike as it's given me such good service over the years. I have hardly spent a thing on it and it deserved a little more respect I thought the midge handlebars not only look good but they would start getting me used to a more dropped attitude. the frame on this is a trekking frame but the geometry is as close to a tourer as to make no difference. I will be keeping the mtb gears would love to see if I could make a tourer out of it.