What are these weird bars made for and how are they supposed to be positioned? Are they for those bikes ridden by people who are afraid of derailleurs? I got them for free and they’ve been sitting amongst my bike junk for quite a while now. They either get used or get put in the donation pile today.
Fify
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the garbage
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The much maligned and well hated ergo bars. There’s honestly no good position. Trash em.
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beat me to the most correct answer
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Those are from the era of “ouch my wrists”
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Goal: 46/30 crank and 11s 11:36 cassette. Bar-end shifters. Shimano or Shimano-compatible. It’s a drop-bar bike with V-brakes, hence the bar-end shifters.
What should I use for RD and bar-end shifter?
I see both Microshift and Shimano bar-end shifter options. Microshift makes one that works with Shimano MTB rear derailleurs, so I was initially leaning toward this combination:
- Microshift BS-M11
- Shimano RD-M7000 (42T max cog, 10T front difference, 41T capacity)
Then I realized I’m probably better off with a GRX dangler for future compatibility with shakes, which led me to:
- MicroShift BS-A11 or Shimano SL-BSR1
- Shimano RD-RX810 (34T max cog, 17T front difference, 40T capacity)
Technically, I need 16T front difference and 41T capacity, so neither of these derailleurs is quite right. Which of these is a better bet? Or is there another way to solve this problem that I’m missing?
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I’m running the RD-R7000 SGS with a 46-34T front and 11-40T rear.
The GRX dangler might be the best bet.
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Solid as hell. No shadow nonsense. I like the eariler gen 9 speed ones, which work with 10 speed road shifters. Looks like these do too. Mine shifted into a 36. Not sure what the reference to wide range means there.
Yeah, I was thinking this was all simpler in the 9/10s era.
Do the GRX setup; the GRX RX810 dangler’s capacity is hilariously underspec’d by Shimano. It’ll do 16T difference up front and an 11-40 without breaking a sweat, 11-42 is sometimes hit-or-miss due to max-cog clearance issues rather than chainwrap capacity issues. You will have zero issues with the 11-36 cassette. Peep someone going crosschained both ways on a 46/30 x 11-42 setup here.
Shifter: The Microshift shifters have slightly vague index points, but they do have a friction mode. The Shimano SL-BSR1 is crisp and perfect indexing, but no friction mode. Your choice on what you care about and what you don’t.
If you want to do the MTB derailleur setup, spend $4 more and get the RD-M8000-SGS instead. I’m running one of these on a 44/28 x 11-42 setup with that exact M11 Microshift shifter.
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bordo is the one true way. i’ve seen locks in the “all the others” category come back to the bike shop completely fucking mangled, and the customers bought another to once again lock up the same bike that didn’t get stolen.
i rarely need to think about finding something to lock to, even in bumfuck binghamton
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Wonderful. Thank you. Your encyclopedic knowledge of Shimano compatibility never ceases to amaze me.
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No, it doesn’t, and to be honest i haven’t worked with them much at all, but the previous distro could be pretty difficult at times. The current ones don’t like to help anyone directly and make them go to shops which made adds another layer of difficulty.
I moved off bordo lock after seeing broken/defeated ones lying beside bike racks. The weight vs security ratio wasn’t there for me. But they are really convenient for locking awkward shapes. I’ve gone hexlox on my bike bits, so now just carry a New-U mini 7 evolution and don’t worry about snaking the lock through the wheels.
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If you plan to really get stupid, the SRide 530c is GRX pull, clears a 50, and has an overlength cage for some absurd capacity. And it’s clutched. All that for about $80.
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Seconding all of this, especially the GRX talk. Your goal here is the exact drivetrain I have on my Endpoint and it’s great! I’ve also gotten a lot more crisp indexing out of Shimano bar ends than Microshift ones, but the Microshift clicky friction is really nice. Depends on whether you value the option to friction shift the rear, if you don’t want that, probably Shimano is your huckleberry.
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Thanks, all. This is for my wife’s touring bike which is currently set up with a 42/32/24 triple and 11-30t cassette. She’s looking to maintain the same gear range but switch to a double for narrower Q-factor and shorter crank arms (155mm!). Going with a Rotor Aldhu, 11-40t cassette (now that I know that’s a thing with a double setup), GRX derailleur, and the Shimano bar-end shifters. I spot-checked chainring clearance last night and it looks like everything should work.
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Hey y’all, what are the best looking low step-through frames you have seen? Kona Dew is a bit taller than I’m looking for, but that’s a decent example.
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