Hi,

I've decided I need to set up my 29er charge cooker as a drop bar mtb due to wrist issues. Flat bars are just no good for my wrists and currently even the OG bars with ergons haven't helped . I used it with 32mm tryes on road for a recent family tour and it was really pretty painful. My drop bar road bike set up is fine even for long days due to neutral wrist position on hoods.

I don't really want bar end shifters, so I'm looking at SRAM apex brifters with mechanical disc brakes.

Is there a difference between Road and MTB BB7 caliper's to consider?

Whats the practical difference between BB5 and BB7?

Any other mechanical disc brakes I should consider? Hydro is just far too pricey.

Cheers!

Cable pull different between "road" and "MTB" versions. Caliper needs to be matched to lever.

Edit: I think you can get a gizmo to convert between the two but more widgets is, often, just more sub standard to go wrong

I know that's the case for rear derailleurs, so the same for brakes too?

Just wondering as obviously the SRAM apex double taps are road brifters. So I do need road calipers?

Another option was trp spyres.

Juintech R1 and TRP HyRd might be worth a look - cable actuated hydraulic systems.

Moder-dye wrote:So I do need road calipers?

Yes

Thanks

And I assume braking will be fine for off road ventures with road calipers? I don't do knarly trail centre downhill stuff obviously, just bikepacking/touring.

The calipers are identical save for the cable pull. My bb7s have been utterly reliable and iirc were a bit less of a faff to set up than my work mates bb5s.

Excellent thanks! Roll on payday

I think Avid and Sram are from the same stable. You would need to use the road specific disc brakes. If I remember rightly, BB7 are adjustable on both sides, BB5 only on the one (plunge) side. I've been using BB7s on MTBs for a long long time and have had zero problems other than wear and tear.

BB7s only push one side. Spyres push both and are easy to adjust.

I've replaced BB7s with Spyres on all my bikes and am dead happy with them. A full set with disks can be had from ebay (Hong Kong) for £85 and are normally delivered in 2 weeks.

Thanks for all the replies.

Know what I'm after now and was thinking a alpkit bomber bar and a pretty steep stem, think 35deg was the steepest I found.

I've just gone juin tech r1 being a half way house to hydro, good so far and so much less faff to set up and adjust

"people" also talk about using compressionless outer and good quality cables to get the most out of cable discs (or cable actuated hydros). I've only used the former type and used any old stuff and found it was fine. Your cable routing or experiences may vary.

You might also budget for some inline cable adjusters as some STIs don't have them. They can help setting up and fine tuning the feel of cable discs.

Cheers I have some spare inline adjusters. Not thought about cable specifics yet.

I haven't ever bothered with posh cables or outers and don't feel I've missed out. Fresh ones help but that goes without saying.

Most cable disc brakes have a barrel adjuster on the caliper

I found that decent cable housings did make a minor-but-noticeable difference, both on the BB7s I used to run and on the current set of Spyres. I've tended to grab Goodridge compressionless outer from CRC, not that much more expensive than anything else when you're buying by the metre.

Rather than start another mtb drop bar/monster cross thread I thought I'd put this pic up here of my charge cooker 3 with a trial set up.

Just wondering if it looks right for height of bars before I look at spending money on disks, levers, cables and the rest of it? These are just some standard road bars to try for size along with the adjustable stem, but I'm thinking of getting something with a flare on them when I do it and a one piece stem.

Feels OK sat on it on the turbo, but obviously I can't try it for real until I get the necessary.



BTW the reason for the conversion is due to wrist pain with flat and swept bars, I know its a look only it's creator might grow to love But hopefully it'll keep me off road.

Cheers for any thoughts

Moder-dye wrote: Just wondering if it looks right for height of bars

No idea. It's a very personal choice and will be affected by your physical ailments.

FWIW, I flip the stem on my Amazon - up for off-road - down for on-road.

Doesn't look far off. If you go the flared drop route you'll find that most feature less drop than those fitted in the pic.

Cheers for that.

Yeh, I know you can't tell my bike fit from a photo of a naked bike was just wondering if it looked like the right ball park you'd expect for a 'monster cross' set up. Once I get the bits I'll tweek it from there.

I will go for a flared bar but probably not as extreme as woodchippers as I want to keep my wrists as close to a normal hoods/drop angle as I can.

I will go for a flared bar but probably not as extreme as woodchippers as I want to keep my wrists as close to a normal hoods/drop angle as I can.

The Genetic Digest works for me. Like you say, 'chippers are pretty extreme and a bit Marmite.

Cheers , not picked up on them on SJS when looking

I've been pondering on drops for project Vagabond, at the mo I was going to put
The Jones on off my Salsa, however I've heard great things on the comfort levels
On these drops.....the last time I rode on drops was on a Raleigh Arena and
That was 35 years ago ! I need an uprightish riding position and hand comfort as I've
Arthritus, I find the Jones quite comfy for 2/3 hr trail rides but the Vagabond is going
To be for longer day rides.....I struggle to go back to flat mtb bars now...think I need to
Try one to see, I already have hydraulic discs with mtb levers but could sell them to
Get drop bar ones with cables...

Edit.... I'm quite a wide/large build so assuming I'll need as wide a drop as possible ?

Kevin,

I have a set of SRAM Rival shifters (10 speed) and BB7 road callipers sitting somewhere in the garage unused (from my One One Dirty Disco, which I broke the frame on). They're yours FOC if you want them.

Trp spyres here to on readers digest bars