@@georgemartinezjr you'd LOVE a rehabbed 90s MTB! You could configure it kinda cruisery like your Huffy, but it would be made of livelier, more reliable stuff. But if the Huffy gets you on the bike several times a week, it's more than doing its job.
Andy, I had the same thought process on the front derailleur. Glad I wasn't the only one that went insane, shoulda given you a heads up. Was stuck on it for DAYS until I remembered how it was initially wrapped around all willy-nilly. Some guy before me probably discovered that cable routing... maybe that's how it always was... who knows. Excited to feel the brakes! A "Not bad" and "wasn't terrible" is an honor to receive :) Will be sure to give you a super thanks in person so UA-cam doesn't take a cut.
Repost and let us know how you like the Shock Stop stem. I was looking to purchase the 80 mm 30 degree stem to shorten my reach and to raise my handlebar about 4 cm in addition to smoothing out my ride. You did a nice job bringing this bike back to a new life!
@@joelweinberger3695 Not a cheap part, I think your wallet would be the deciding factor. Nice little bling for my old bike but adds more complexity, more things that can wear, more things to think about. It's not a crazy difference with/without the stem... but does take some of the sting from bumps and holes in the riding surface. Wonderful for the aging country backroads where I *mostly* use this bike. The bike sees longer distance riding so anything for comfort is wonderful. The seatpost saves my body from more of the shock, wonderful peace-of-mind after having a pilonidal cyst a few years back. Kept me off of this bike for a long long time. As for the 80mm 30 degree one in particular, that is what's pictured in the video. Functionally, they all are the same, the angle/length is just for fit.
My thought on the front derailleur. I would check the cable housing. Make sure housing ends aren't missing, and that it has SIS compatible housing ends. I would also make sure the housing is in good shape. I have seen shift housing compress and become damaged from a cable pulled way too tight. 7 speed stuff should be super forgiving. I always approach front derailleur issues by disconnecting the cable treating is as a new install by verifying alignment, then setting low limit with the cable disconnected. Given the age, the cage is almost certainly bent a little which can cause issues when your doing every thing right. Solution is to bend it or replace.
I assume Bikefarmer called these housing ends ferrel or smth like that. I once had used plastic housing ends and they cracked after a while, especially at the rear derailleur cause of the tention of the bow the housing makes. I don't know who comes up with such a crap, most propably only to generate some profit. I have an older front derailleur laying around somewhete, which is worn out, but till I replaced it, it worked pretty much good. Shows me old stuff was more reliable, especially the higher grade stuff.
The front derailleur is mtb specific. Road derailleurs have a different cable pull ratio. One of those brake thingos could sort it out as not sure of any top pull road jobbies.
Flat-bar (MTB) shifters/derailleurs use greater cable pull for the front derailleur. Those drop-bar shifters pull a shorter-than-required amount of cable for this derailleur to work properly.
That cable pulley system part is honestly so fascinating. So clever how it works. Never knew you could use a pulley ratio on a continuous line of cable. Makes sense tho because it only moves a few cm.
When I changed from an Altus 3x9 front derailleur to Sora (for tire clearance), I used a bar-end shifter in friction mode. This way, I can control the exact position of the cage on all three chainrings. Some might argue I should not give up indexing, but I' like being able to finesse the shifter to make it quiet.
I understand the appeal of indexing on the cassette but on the chainrings, who cares? Anyone using a front triple isn't racing, so it's not like we need lightning fast, precise shifts up there.
I get the feeling that I'm one of the last people on earth still using cantilever brakes. They work just fine with road levers and as an added benefit they are a huge pain in the butt to adjust which makes you look cool.
Cantilevers are awesome when running fenders! Also, really good cantis like from Paul are so powerful. You should save some money and try them. A pleasure everytime you use em!
I'll take cantilever over V Brakes. I find they rub less and stop way nicer when you do get them proper. My 96 Rocky Mountain Cardiac was gripshift 3x7 and STX RC cantis would clamp the thing like a trials bike. My Norco Indie with Discs can't hang...
BikeFarmer: Your approach to bike wrenching is nearly identical to mine. Although I don't work at a bike shop any more (I did in the 90's), I do work on my own bikes pretty regularly. You appreciate "bikes for the regular guy" like I do (not the fad-driven 18lb $4k wonder rides). I also love the fact that you play jazz music in the background of your videos. One of my greatest joys in life is to work on my bike projects while drinking a cup of coffee and listening to either jazz or classical music. The key is to not get small parts, debris or lube in my coffee when I do! Cuz that would be a serious "OPE!".
at first I resisted your channel as not my speed but now I'm really loving this channel. to me your like the bob Ross of bike maintenance. thank you for your tricks and tips. it's a learning experience with watching your videos. love it brother.
I sold an early 90s Nishiki a few years ago because after doing a fairly thorough mid-tier modern conversion, I could never get the brakes quite right. Would have been nice to know this trick then! Oh well. Those levers are super nice for the money, though.
Got same problem with fd and microshift shifter. Standard " mountain" fd seams to have slighty off pull ratio. Got old road tiagra fd and then it was working like a charm.
OOO, Redshift Suspension post. Customer splurged on that one. $200+ new. But boy, is that a good quality seatpost. Ope, and I missed the Redshift stem, too. Definitely splurged. I'd love a set of both those.
correct. how absurd. The client could have saved the money and make a decent build from the beginning instead. A 5$ derailleur and a 200$ stem, ridiculous. And to what purpose, if you ride plush tires anyway?!
First of all thank you and I’d like to see more content like this, specifically with DIY drop bar conversions using Microshift shifters on old “Dad bike” hybrids. I did this and had a similar problem with the front derailleur on a 1998 Cannondale H300. Figured it was a compatibility issue so I swapped it out with an actual Microshift front derailleur, and that solved my problem. This was a 3x7 drivetrain. The old rear Shimano STX 7 speed derailleur works fine
As someone who has done the same concept build almost 10 years ago, this video's got it all: spongy cantis, wobbly freewheel (never affected my shifting), the incompatible front derailleur pull ratios, and the oh-so-crippling "do I really want to dump more money into this to make it right???" feeling. In my use case, i used the limit screw to dummy out the granny gear and it worked well enough for my commuting purposes until I restored it back to original and donated it to Bikes not Bombs. Honestly, kind of miss it because of it's unique ride feel, but wouldn't do it again.
How to find the right length crank axle: If it's shimano, check the spec sheet. These parts are made to be selected for bikes based on spreadsheets alone,. For instance the FC-A073 sheet calls for a BB-UN300 with LL113. I put way too many projects together not knowing this, once I started doing what Shimano says things have been working out much better.
yep and sometimes you ignore that and put one 14mm shorter so that 1x can run the amazon gear on the outside. yes always google the crank to get BB specs.
Totally agree. For all of my 2x or 3x setups, I run a friction shifter for the FD. The poor performance of indexed FD's is also why I've been enthusiastically embracing the current trend towards 1x drivetrains (despite being a Certified Retrogrouch who abhors bike industry trends).
I have MicroNEW drop bar brifters on several bikes and they're still running nicely. I use Tektro Oryx cantis to avoid using those cable pull adapters. Problem Solvers was the go-to for that pull adapter but they're no longer made. They're called Travel Agents, if someone wants to try to find NOS online. I've set up a friend's bike with them.
I've done the v brake conversion. Everywhere on the internet, it will tell you that mini v brakes will work with the long travel brake levers. I had to replace the noodles with the ratio adapters. It now works perfectly.
I do believe you've got that backwards. Mini V-brakes are supposed to work with short pull levers, like on all integrated brake/shift levers. However, YMMV. I tried MicroNEW road brifters with Tektro RX-6 mini V-brakes. No dice. The arms are 90mm. On the particular project I was working on needed them that long to clear the 2.2" tires. However they do make v brakes that have shorter arms...even as short as 84mm. But they were twice as expensive (at the time of that buold) as the Tektro Oryx. So I swapped back to cantis.
Now I'm impressed by myself for building a bike up from frame and components without getting anything wrong, didn't even forget to order some little thing. It did take a whole lot of research though, going into it blind.
They've been available since the 1980s. I've used them to fit long pull levers to short pull brakes, but wasn't impressed by the feel in that particular installation.
I thought the install of the brake adapter was the coolest part of this video. Never knew anything like that existed. Never heard of using road brake levers on V brakes either. Great video
Great content for us DIY'ers! Lot's of little tips. I recently installed a MicroShift derailieur and I routed the shift cable to the side of the anchor bolt offering the least resistance of friction based on angle. The shifting was not quite perfect so I took it to those who bail me out...the LBS. They noted that the cable is to be routed on the side of the bolt with the greatest angle and seemingly more cable friction. The lesson is that logic does not always apply.
Looks like DIY bikes can be more problematic than big box stores bicycles. Kudos to the owner for trying though. That looks like a nice bike...cheers mate!
I love the Elroy-Sparta. Have to try to get there this summer. DIY isn't more problematic than big box store bikes, it only is when you ask a lot of the bike like the mixing of road and mountain components. I would never ask that of a big box bike. @@elishmittywerminghanjensen1264
The customer splashed out around $300 for his Redshift seatpost and Conti tyres, but cheaped out on an SiS / Megarange drivetrain combo (if the seatpost is the real deal, that is)… I’m sure the guy has his reasons, but people confuse me sometimes 😅 Fair play to you, Andy, for respecting the customer’s efforts while trying to do your best for him and his bike. The Travel Agent will be a game-changer for his riding experience
@@emilycs8823 Ditto - have done dozens of conversions and the Tektro bog standard Mini-V's are super powerful. Just gives you a little less pad clearance if you ride in a lot of proper mud.
I recommened to use these cable pull converters to generate enough cable pull for 11 or 12 speed cassettes. They can also decrease the bow of the housing at the rear derailleur when put there. Friction Shifting seems to work better with more gears on the cassette, because it is harder to not hit a gear and the space between the cogs is less wide. Some say Index Shifting for front derailleurs is useless.
I just changed the cassette from a friction shifter bike from 6 speed to 8 speed shimano freehub. No adjustment it just worked straight away - tiny bit of limiter screw adjustment but I'm still impressed with how versatile the setup is.
For the cost of that suspension seat and stem they could have bought a brand new pretty decent gravel bike. But I also tend to not want to get rid of my older things and try to refresh them. Loving the videos!
Yeah I was like dude Redshift is actually sick. Their pedals that glow are amazing for just your everyday person, they make you super visible. But they are $$$$
I had same problem changing from flat to drop bar. The road shifter has shorter pull compared to the thumb one using the old front derailleur. One way to solve is to change fd to a road type not mountain or hydrid but then you need to consider the chainline. It might work with the old fd if you only have 2 chainrings but will rough with 3. It took me a while to realize that with quite a few research.
Are you sure the rear v brake mod was fitted correct ( as compared to the front one) The front was fitted around the outer large rout whilst the rear looked like you missed the groove of the large spool rout ( I could be wrong 😀)
I have set up road shifters with Mtb front derailers on three different bikes. The pull ratio is different. You had this problem on another video. I've got it working by moving the cable to a different spot on the derailer. Actually under the nut inside instead of under the bolt head. A lot of mucking around!!
Learned how to set up and fully appreciate 3x set ups thanks to you bike farmer. Single speed has its place, but you have opened up a whole new world for me. Thank you.
Im a big ol jerk who's also been on a mtb to drop bar gravel kick. I just ordered a pair of those brake adapters you used! That's a great tip. Im thinking of doing a 1x conversion in the near future because i was having some similar issues with my AliExpress shifters (thats probably where he got those from) For what i paid for my shifters, im happy with the purchase. Im probably going to work on slack adjustment and dialing in the screws when i put the beake adapters on, because I can only get like 4 or 5 of my gears, and i think its a 9 speed (i coujd be wrong on that, but i know its not a 4 or 5 speed)
I made myself one like this from an ancient Trek 8000. Tektro drop-bar brake levers made to pull cable for V-brakes + Microshift 8 speed barcons (same spacing as 7) work great. My "SuperGravelMonster" has a RockShox Indy fork which still works great even after all these years. My only complaint is the thing's a little long across the top reach-wise...if I run a stem any shorter I risk some dicey steering, so I live with it...but the $couple-hundred I spent on it saved me a lot of money I would have spent on a "real" gravel bike otherwise.
I’m loving the background music! Plus watching you make adjustments, some info as to why or why not you’re doing things is cool. The ‘nerdy’ excitement is also cool 🤓😎😃👍🏼
I have this exact bike from around 1998. Just tuned it up and put on some smoother tires for city riding with a rear cargo mount. It’s a great affordable bike.
When I have had issues like that with the front derailleur I turn it on the seat tube so that its at a slight angle so the rear end is closer to the tire and the front end is further away from the bike frame so that it gives you more room in the granny gear and more room on the big ring. If you look at the chain line inside the cage you will see its not flush and its at a slight angle, it just seems to work, try it next time.
I have the same aliexpress shifters on my hybrid gravel conversion. They are made for road triple though and your front derailleur is probably for mtb. These are fantastic shifters when used with good quality derailleurs, I use them with stx rc rear and 105 front
?Better to make a flat bar than a road bike setup? I refurb old bikes and try to clean up and use the original parts; unless they’re broken or missing then it’s DIY time! (Love the lounge music!)
Nice brake dialing 👌 that definitely feels good ha. Whenever Im working on the front derailleur and I get the chain rub but things are still working, I take some pliers and bend it away to give it some more room I just hate that rub in tall gear when your mashing
The problem was not the MicroNew road shifters which are a very good copy of the comparable MicroShift, but the cheap top pull Shimano MTB front derailleur which has a different cable pull ratio as you have discovered. To increase to the required pull at the derailleur, you need to attach the derailleur cable closer to the pivot - which is what the original builder and eventually yourself did.
I used add on barrel adjusters at the brake hood to take the slack out of my brakes. I didn't know about your option at the time. I may try them the next time I get into that bike again. But the adjusters work pretty good. I got a giant with almost the same setup/conversion. I was fortunate to not have V brakes on it though.
The pull ratio of the brake levers are different than the linear pull "V" brakes, so it is not just about making the cable tighter. That is why that cable pulley is necessary, to change the amount of cable being pulled.
Good pick up, that gear cable as a brake cable! My thought on the bottom bracket binding is the drive side shell needs facing. One of my bbs suffered from this severely until facing. Actual wear mark on the inside of the retaining cup. Upon autopsy naturally! Wouldn't happen on Phill Wood bb because there is no flange.
Personally I think cantis are a more elegant solution for road levers than travel agents and v brakes. Or mini v brakes but then there's no space for fenders.
118 to 110 is quite a jump, If the small cog doesn’t scrape the frame the shorter one might be a better fit for chain line, which is what id want to think about first, i tried to fit a triple to one of my bikes and it scraped, I was looking at changing the bb but found another crank and it fits but If anything its to far out now. I don’t see that bb length should affect derailuer set up as long as the derailuer has that range, i had a lit of trouble with a 3x7 on a Raleigh road bike with brifters and as far as I know all the original parts , sometimes the cage gets a bit squashed and a bit of carful bending is needed. As for the brakes a pair of cantilever would maybe be a cheaper fix than the compensator
Im actually riding the micronew levers for years now on my DIY gravel bike. They work great, but I used a 105 road front derailler, because its not compatible with mtb deraillers. And XT in the back. For the brakes I chose mini V, they have the right pull ratio
My converted hybrid (Trek Verve) is running the 3x8 MicroNew shifters and Shimano Altus derailleurs. They’ve been awesome, no complaints about their performance. Internal cable routing would for sure look better but at half the cost of Claris I’m not complaining. My understanding is the real difference between them and MicroShift is MicroNew are made in China, MicroShift are made in Taiwan.
Would you ever lock it out of being able to reach the big ring or small ring and just adjust it to shift well with only two options up front? Seems like a reasonable solution in a case like this.
Woo, a bike set up with a full RedShift suspension system! I was one of the Kickstarter backers in 2018 when they were developing that original endurance seatpost model. Got two for the price of what one goes for in today’s (2024) money. Couple those with a steel frame and that’s going to make for a really comfy ride that eats road buzz for breakfast and smoothes out baby-head size rock hit bumps very nicely. And @Andy @08:05 - about MicroNEW. Don’t quote me on this, but I seem to remember that MicroShift moved their commissioned production from their China factory to Taiwan some time ago due to the political situation between the countries, but did not want to migrate the original workforce. The Chinese factory was left with the know-how, moulds and the highly complex production capabilities for derailleur components with the staff now out of work. What’s a bunch of skilled people to do? They change their branding enough to skirt on the right side of all the legal stuff and then continue making derailleurs. And thus MicroNEW was born. Judging by an interview I watched with Path Less Pedaled and a small US manufacturer who had insight into the capabilities of that specific factory in China, I’ve at least personally put MicroNEW on my shortlist of ’very likely good quality’ spares. There may be ’internet parts’ on that build and the owner may not have known how to put everything together perfectly, but to me it looks like they definitely did their research. 🙂👍 I would ride that in a heartbeat - and be proud of it.
For those that want to switch to a drop-style bar, but don’t want to go through quite so much compatibility problems, a Surly Corner Bar is a great option. Let’s you use MTB/ hybrid style shifter/brifters, but with the drop feel when you want it. 😁
thanks for saying you don't know. most mechanics on here are experts with lots of editing. this is similar to what im looking at in my garage: "no, that's not right...is that right?."...I have a 17 specialized roll that has has chainlink issues from the start. choices are either slightly rubs derailleur or sloppy gear changes. later found out that a lot of hybrid bikes are a hodge podge of entry level parts that sometimes don't work great but gets the job done.....I ended up ditching the front derailleur for a diy 1x8.
Why does the shim/adapter for the seatpost does not have a slit so it can be compressed? Things may become loose with time or it can damage the seatpost collar.
Hi all my armchair 2 cents Thanks for video and content. Love the problem solver solution. I think shorty v brakes arms would work also. On fd I wonder if it was a chain ring capacity issue. I think mtb and road tripples have a different chain ring gap. Cheers
This was deeply satisfying even though that stem is nuts and the tiny ring in 3x is unnecessary. 3x is a lot of cross chaining and derailleur rub. Would 2x reduce that weirdness with rub?
I bought a Trek 850 sport for urban/new trail/route finding etc. Sourced parts from Specialized, Shimano, Jagwire cables, and will kindly ask the local bike mechanic to assemble it first. Then when it’s October”ish” I’ll kindly ask him to walk me through the dos and don’ts for rider maintenance…but leaving the mid-spring “tune-ups” to him. (same goes for my other 4 bikes;-)
contrary to all the info I've been able to find about it anywhere, in my experience doing these types of conversions there absolutely is a compatibility issue between mountain bike triple front derailleurs and road shift levers. you can fudge it a little by adjusting the clamp angle of the shift cable as you found it set up initially and ultimately left it but that road shifter will never shift that mountain triple properly. I would bet a lot of money that a road triple fd would correct the issue and get it shifting smoothly.
My first bike was a marlin 6 with 2x8 now I have a verve 3 with a 2x9 both a great bikes wanted a 2x10 when I got my Farley 7 2 years ago but had to settle for a 1x12 dealer said it was probley the only farley in the state at that time
Could be an incompatibility between the shifter and the derailleur. That shifter is probably the road standard and the derailleur is the mountain standard which have slightly different cable pulls.
It definitely makes a difference how you clamp the front derailleur cable on these. I learned that the hard way myself. That was before the conversion so it wasn't the conversion's fault.
So apparently there are galvanized steel bike cables and they’re not as high quality as stainless steel cables. The galvanized ones will eventually rust. A bike mechanic told me for those of us who don’t race bikes, any of the stainless steel cables sold by bike shops will be good quality.
I did almost exactly the same conversion on an 1992 Wheeler MTB Tange frame. MicroNEW 3x7 with existing Shimano Altus from 1992?. It's my Zwift indoor bike. I have canti brakes and in theory they work, never tested the bike outside so far 😅
About the front derailleur. The indexing for all front d’s is the same ¿ Maybe a worn / ever so slightly worn Shimano is just going to play nice. Or the bb; 110 to 118… a 110 or something you could shim to something in between ? Or why I liked SRAM GripShift back in the day. There were clicks in between. As for that bike if it were mine, I’d just use the old skool friction shifter. Actually I use a bar version to change gears on a S.A. 3 speed hub, cause it’s half the price.
The vid was great, per usual, instructive and quite clear. That's an interesting trick on the der' and I will be trying it. The music was comatose. Spike Jones,"Hawaiian War Chant" would have been perfect.
There was another company that made the travel agent for V-Brakes. RJ the bike guy turned me onto them in one of his older vids. They were a bit pricey to come by if I recall.
"Problem solvers" as Bike Farmer said in the Video. Litepro, the Brand he used for this bike, is focussing in brompton/folding bikes. They make parts and even a tri-folding Brompton Clone.
It's a refreshing change to see a channel highlighting real world bikes instead of the latest high end hyper bikes.
Oh ya my Every day ride is a Huffy it's cheap bike but does ask for much
@@georgemartinezjr you'd LOVE a rehabbed 90s MTB! You could configure it kinda cruisery like your Huffy, but it would be made of livelier, more reliable stuff. But if the Huffy gets you on the bike several times a week, it's more than doing its job.
God damn, the trick with putting the chain in the second cog before tightening the shift cable sounds great. I'll definetely try that next time!
me too!
Andy, I had the same thought process on the front derailleur. Glad I wasn't the only one that went insane, shoulda given you a heads up. Was stuck on it for DAYS until I remembered how it was initially wrapped around all willy-nilly. Some guy before me probably discovered that cable routing... maybe that's how it always was... who knows.
Excited to feel the brakes! A "Not bad" and "wasn't terrible" is an honor to receive :)
Will be sure to give you a super thanks in person so UA-cam doesn't take a cut.
Repost and let us know how you like the Shock Stop stem. I was looking to purchase the 80 mm 30 degree stem to shorten my reach and to raise my handlebar about 4 cm in addition to smoothing out my ride. You did a nice job bringing this bike back to a new life!
@@joelweinberger3695 Not a cheap part, I think your wallet would be the deciding factor. Nice little bling for my old bike but adds more complexity, more things that can wear, more things to think about. It's not a crazy difference with/without the stem... but does take some of the sting from bumps and holes in the riding surface. Wonderful for the aging country backroads where I *mostly* use this bike. The bike sees longer distance riding so anything for comfort is wonderful. The seatpost saves my body from more of the shock, wonderful peace-of-mind after having a pilonidal cyst a few years back. Kept me off of this bike for a long long time.
As for the 80mm 30 degree one in particular, that is what's pictured in the video. Functionally, they all are the same, the angle/length is just for fit.
My thought on the front derailleur. I would check the cable housing. Make sure housing ends aren't missing, and that it has SIS compatible housing ends. I would also make sure the housing is in good shape. I have seen shift housing compress and become damaged from a cable pulled way too tight. 7 speed stuff should be super forgiving. I always approach front derailleur issues by disconnecting the cable treating is as a new install by verifying alignment, then setting low limit with the cable disconnected. Given the age, the cage is almost certainly bent a little which can cause issues when your doing every thing right. Solution is to bend it or replace.
I assume Bikefarmer called these housing ends ferrel or smth like that.
I once had used plastic housing ends and they cracked after a while, especially at the rear derailleur cause of the tention of the bow the housing makes.
I don't know who comes up with such a crap, most propably only to generate some profit.
I have an older front derailleur laying around somewhete, which is worn out, but till I replaced it, it worked pretty much good.
Shows me old stuff was more reliable, especially the higher grade stuff.
The front derailleur is mtb specific. Road derailleurs have a different cable pull ratio. One of those brake thingos could sort it out as not sure of any top pull road jobbies.
LOL, I love it
"It's good enough for who it's for"
I appreciate all your expertise...keep up the great content!!
Flat-bar (MTB) shifters/derailleurs use greater cable pull for the front derailleur. Those drop-bar shifters pull a shorter-than-required amount of cable for this derailleur to work properly.
Same thing he said 😅😅😅😅but thanks when u start making videos lmk 😅😅😅
That cable pulley system part is honestly so fascinating. So clever how it works. Never knew you could use a pulley ratio on a continuous line of cable. Makes sense tho because it only moves a few cm.
Those things are a bit of a hassle to set up, but they don't make long pull brifters, so what else can you do?
When I changed from an Altus 3x9 front derailleur to Sora (for tire clearance), I used a bar-end shifter in friction mode. This way, I can control the exact position of the cage on all three chainrings. Some might argue I should not give up indexing, but I' like being able to finesse the shifter to make it quiet.
I understand the appeal of indexing on the cassette but on the chainrings, who cares? Anyone using a front triple isn't racing, so it's not like we need lightning fast, precise shifts up there.
FD’s needs friction imo. Good choice.
I get the feeling that I'm one of the last people on earth still using cantilever brakes. They work just fine with road levers and as an added benefit they are a huge pain in the butt to adjust which makes you look cool.
I got Avid Shorty's on my 90's mtb build right now. Also have some cheap i think Altus canti's on another build. There are tens of us!
Cantilever may be a problem though with those mudguards?
I have cantis on two of my bikes and centerpulls on my vintage gravel conversion.
Cantilevers are awesome when running fenders! Also, really good cantis like from Paul are so powerful. You should save some money and try them. A pleasure everytime you use em!
I'll take cantilever over V Brakes. I find they rub less and stop way nicer when you do get them proper. My 96 Rocky Mountain Cardiac was gripshift 3x7 and STX RC cantis would clamp the thing like a trials bike. My Norco Indie with Discs can't hang...
BikeFarmer: Your approach to bike wrenching is nearly identical to mine. Although I don't work at a bike shop any more (I did in the 90's), I do work on my own bikes pretty regularly. You appreciate "bikes for the regular guy" like I do (not the fad-driven 18lb $4k wonder rides). I also love the fact that you play jazz music in the background of your videos. One of my greatest joys in life is to work on my bike projects while drinking a cup of coffee and listening to either jazz or classical music. The key is to not get small parts, debris or lube in my coffee when I do! Cuz that would be a serious "OPE!".
at first I resisted your channel as not my speed but now I'm really loving this channel. to me your like the bob Ross of bike maintenance. thank you for your tricks and tips. it's a learning experience with watching your videos. love it brother.
is your speed faster or slower? or do you mean watching speed or cycling speed?
MicroNew leaver/shifters! The cable pull distance compatability really messes people up. Glad to see I'm not the only one that's been through this.
I sold an early 90s Nishiki a few years ago because after doing a fairly thorough mid-tier modern conversion, I could never get the brakes quite right. Would have been nice to know this trick then! Oh well. Those levers are super nice for the money, though.
Got same problem with fd and microshift shifter. Standard " mountain" fd seams to have slighty off pull ratio. Got old road tiagra fd and then it was working like a charm.
OOO, Redshift Suspension post. Customer splurged on that one. $200+ new. But boy, is that a good quality seatpost. Ope, and I missed the Redshift stem, too. Definitely splurged. I'd love a set of both those.
Mad lad to cheap out on the brakes after dropping so much on the stem and seat post...
Redshift are a small British company who make a small selection of really good stuff, that seatpost is pretty expensive and pretty unique.
Stem, too. I guess it's also a shock absorber stem
Yeah. These two parts together cost like a decent entry all-Shimano MTB.
Pretty sure they are U.S. based. Philadelphia I believe. Cool products for sure
I stand corrected looks like they are@@Conor_Ryan
correct. how absurd. The client could have saved the money and make a decent build from the beginning instead. A 5$ derailleur and a 200$ stem, ridiculous. And to what purpose, if you ride plush tires anyway?!
First of all thank you and I’d like to see more content like this, specifically with DIY drop bar conversions using Microshift shifters on old “Dad bike” hybrids. I did this and had a similar problem with the front derailleur on a 1998 Cannondale H300. Figured it was a compatibility issue so I swapped it out with an actual Microshift front derailleur, and that solved my problem. This was a 3x7 drivetrain. The old rear Shimano STX 7 speed derailleur works fine
Thanks hey!
As someone who has done the same concept build almost 10 years ago, this video's got it all: spongy cantis, wobbly freewheel (never affected my shifting), the incompatible front derailleur pull ratios, and the oh-so-crippling "do I really want to dump more money into this to make it right???" feeling. In my use case, i used the limit screw to dummy out the granny gear and it worked well enough for my commuting purposes until I restored it back to original and donated it to Bikes not Bombs. Honestly, kind of miss it because of it's unique ride feel, but wouldn't do it again.
How to find the right length crank axle: If it's shimano, check the spec sheet. These parts are made to be selected for bikes based on spreadsheets alone,. For instance the FC-A073 sheet calls for a BB-UN300 with LL113. I put way too many projects together not knowing this, once I started doing what Shimano says things have been working out much better.
yep and sometimes you ignore that and put one 14mm shorter so that 1x can run the amazon gear on the outside. yes always google the crank to get BB specs.
Front derailleur blues - friction shifter makes everything so much easier
Friction rocks
Totally agree. For all of my 2x or 3x setups, I run a friction shifter for the FD. The poor performance of indexed FD's is also why I've been enthusiastically embracing the current trend towards 1x drivetrains (despite being a Certified Retrogrouch who abhors bike industry trends).
I have MicroNEW drop bar brifters on several bikes and they're still running nicely. I use Tektro Oryx cantis to avoid using those cable pull adapters. Problem Solvers was the go-to for that pull adapter but they're no longer made. They're called Travel Agents, if someone wants to try to find NOS online. I've set up a friend's bike with them.
I've done the v brake conversion. Everywhere on the internet, it will tell you that mini v brakes will work with the long travel brake levers. I had to replace the noodles with the ratio adapters. It now works perfectly.
I do believe you've got that backwards. Mini V-brakes are supposed to work with short pull levers, like on all integrated brake/shift levers. However, YMMV. I tried MicroNEW road brifters with Tektro RX-6 mini V-brakes. No dice. The arms are 90mm. On the particular project I was working on needed them that long to clear the 2.2" tires. However they do make v brakes that have shorter arms...even as short as 84mm. But they were twice as expensive (at the time of that buold) as the Tektro Oryx. So I swapped back to cantis.
Now I'm impressed by myself for building a bike up from frame and components without getting anything wrong, didn't even forget to order some little thing. It did take a whole lot of research though, going into it blind.
Pretty freaking cool device that fancy noodle is. Mechanical advantage in its simplest form. Where were these when I couldn't stop in 98??
They're called 'Travel Agents,' but I'm not sure that's the only manufacturer that makes them.
They've been available since the 1980s. I've used them to fit long pull levers to short pull brakes, but wasn't impressed by the feel in that particular installation.
I thought the install of the brake adapter was the coolest part of this video. Never knew anything like that existed. Never heard of using road brake levers on V brakes either. Great video
Great content for us DIY'ers! Lot's of little tips. I recently installed a MicroShift derailieur and I routed the shift cable to the side of the anchor bolt offering the least resistance of friction based on angle. The shifting was not quite perfect so I took it to those who bail me out...the LBS. They noted that the cable is to be routed on the side of the bolt with the greatest angle and seemingly more cable friction. The lesson is that logic does not always apply.
Looks like DIY bikes can be more problematic than big box stores bicycles. Kudos to the owner for trying though. That looks like a nice bike...cheers mate!
Thanks! Not sure if "Nice" is the word I'd use, but a nostalgic bike for me. Can't wait to hit up Elroy-Sparta again on my old bike.
I love the Elroy-Sparta. Have to try to get there this summer. DIY isn't more problematic than big box store bikes, it only is when you ask a lot of the bike like the mixing of road and mountain components. I would never ask that of a big box bike. @@elishmittywerminghanjensen1264
Thanks!
Thanks hey!
The customer splashed out around $300 for his Redshift seatpost and Conti tyres, but cheaped out on an SiS / Megarange drivetrain combo (if the seatpost is the real deal, that is)… I’m sure the guy has his reasons, but people confuse me sometimes 😅 Fair play to you, Andy, for respecting the customer’s efforts while trying to do your best for him and his bike. The Travel Agent will be a game-changer for his riding experience
Cool derailleur cable adjustment trick at about 19:40. Never seen one that before. Definitely gotta try it
That brake cable modifier/adjuster looks wild. Lots of potential for user error on those.
They are kind of spendy too if you get the name brand ones. I would just switch to mini V brakes, or even canti's.
@@emilycs8823 Ditto - have done dozens of conversions and the Tektro bog standard Mini-V's are super powerful. Just gives you a little less pad clearance if you ride in a lot of proper mud.
The more I watch your videos the more I appreciate friction shifting
I recommened to use these cable pull converters to generate enough cable pull for 11 or 12 speed cassettes.
They can also decrease the bow of the housing at the rear derailleur when put there.
Friction Shifting seems to work better with more gears on the cassette, because it is harder to not hit a gear and the space between the cogs is less wide.
Some say Index Shifting for front derailleurs is useless.
I just changed the cassette from a friction shifter bike from 6 speed to 8 speed shimano freehub. No adjustment it just worked straight away - tiny bit of limiter screw adjustment but I'm still impressed with how versatile the setup is.
For the cost of that suspension seat and stem they could have bought a brand new pretty decent gravel bike. But I also tend to not want to get rid of my older things and try to refresh them. Loving the videos!
this jazz music goes so well with this type of video... very relaxing.
The Redshift stem is a very decent and expensive part compared to the cheap AliExpress brakes, brake pull adapters and shifters
Yeah I was like dude Redshift is actually sick. Their pedals that glow are amazing for just your everyday person, they make you super visible. But they are $$$$
I had same problem changing from flat to drop bar. The road shifter has shorter pull compared to the thumb one using the old front derailleur. One way to solve is to change fd to a road type not mountain or hydrid but then you need to consider the chainline. It might work with the old fd if you only have 2 chainrings but will rough with 3. It took me a while to realize that with quite a few research.
Are you sure the rear v brake mod was fitted correct ( as compared to the front one)
The front was fitted around the outer large rout whilst the rear looked like you missed the groove of the large spool rout
( I could be wrong 😀)
You're not wrong, rear is installed incorrect.
I'm attempting to do this exact same thing with my Giant Roam. This gave me a good idea what's involved. Thanks
Just woke up after falling asleep during the video. Now I have to go back and watch it again. :)
🤑🤑🤑🤑
Your videos are very relaxing just like you intended. You are the Bob Ross of bicycles!
I have set up road shifters with Mtb front derailers on three different bikes. The pull ratio is different. You had this problem on another video. I've got it working by moving the cable to a different spot on the derailer. Actually under the nut inside instead of under the bolt head. A lot of mucking around!!
Learned how to set up and fully appreciate 3x set ups thanks to you bike farmer. Single speed has its place, but you have opened up a whole new world for me. Thank you.
Im a big ol jerk who's also been on a mtb to drop bar gravel kick. I just ordered a pair of those brake adapters you used! That's a great tip. Im thinking of doing a 1x conversion in the near future because i was having some similar issues with my AliExpress shifters (thats probably where he got those from)
For what i paid for my shifters, im happy with the purchase. Im probably going to work on slack adjustment and dialing in the screws when i put the beake adapters on, because I can only get like 4 or 5 of my gears, and i think its a 9 speed (i coujd be wrong on that, but i know its not a 4 or 5 speed)
I'm trying to do the same with my MTB. I wanted to ask if I would need ratio adapters for brakes and gears or just brakes?
I made myself one like this from an ancient Trek 8000. Tektro drop-bar brake levers made to pull cable for V-brakes + Microshift 8 speed barcons (same spacing as 7) work great. My "SuperGravelMonster" has a RockShox Indy fork which still works great even after all these years. My only complaint is the thing's a little long across the top reach-wise...if I run a stem any shorter I risk some dicey steering, so I live with it...but the $couple-hundred I spent on it saved me a lot of money I would have spent on a "real" gravel bike otherwise.
I’m loving the background music! Plus watching you make adjustments, some info as to why or why not you’re doing things is cool. The ‘nerdy’ excitement is also cool 🤓😎😃👍🏼
Fantastic video for bike mechanics
I have this exact bike from around 1998. Just tuned it up and put on some smoother tires for city riding with a rear cargo mount. It’s a great affordable bike.
When I have had issues like that with the front derailleur I turn it on the seat tube so that its at a slight angle so the rear end is closer to the tire and the front end is further away from the bike frame so that it gives you more room in the granny gear and more room on the big ring. If you look at the chain line inside the cage you will see its not flush and its at a slight angle, it just seems to work, try it next time.
I have the same aliexpress shifters on my hybrid gravel conversion. They are made for road triple though and your front derailleur is probably for mtb. These are fantastic shifters when used with good quality derailleurs, I use them with stx rc rear and 105 front
Afaik 7 speed Road has the same pull ratio as mountain, even for FDs.
@@FuchsHorst you are correct that front mech had a lot of slop
I salute your patience
V-brake works fine with tektro RL520 levers but you need to get bar-end shifters.
Also I really like this content as I'm a new DIY guy with some flip bikes and low budget projects. Thanks! 👍👍
Per the front derailleur shifting issue, on my 3x9 I friction shift. Seems to work well.
This bike is teeming with low-end parts...but those Shimano pedals...and Red Shift parts! Nice and spendy! 👍
27:23 i feel you on that one with the sigh. Crankensteins is the devils work! They are a nightmare to deal with indexing.
?Better to make a flat bar than a road bike setup? I refurb old bikes and try to clean up and use the original parts; unless they’re broken or missing then it’s DIY time! (Love the lounge music!)
Nice brake dialing 👌 that definitely feels good ha. Whenever Im working on the front derailleur and I get the chain rub but things are still working, I take some pliers and bend it away to give it some more room I just hate that rub in tall gear when your mashing
best guide to adjusting bicycle derailleurs ever! thanks!
Glad you think so!
The problem was not the MicroNew road shifters which are a very good copy of the comparable MicroShift, but the cheap top pull Shimano MTB front derailleur which has a different cable pull ratio as you have discovered. To increase to the required pull at the derailleur, you need to attach the derailleur cable closer to the pivot - which is what the original builder and eventually yourself did.
I used add on barrel adjusters at the brake hood to take the slack out of my brakes. I didn't know about your option at the time. I may try them the next time I get into that bike again. But the adjusters work pretty good.
I got a giant with almost the same setup/conversion. I was fortunate to not have V brakes on it though.
The pull ratio of the brake levers are different than the linear pull "V" brakes, so it is not just about making the cable tighter. That is why that cable pulley is necessary, to change the amount of cable being pulled.
I like how you share your personal, life stories like your sobriety🫡👍
Love the videos! I thought it was normal to get a little chain rub when you cross the chain big-to-small and vice versa especially on a triple
It can be a good indicator for which gearing not to use.
i had an old worn front derailleur like that ... gave me lots of shifting issues ... changed it and got rid of all the issues
Good pick up, that gear cable as a brake cable! My thought on the bottom bracket binding is the drive side shell needs facing. One of my bbs suffered from this severely until facing. Actual wear mark on the inside of the retaining cup. Upon autopsy naturally! Wouldn't happen on Phill Wood bb because there is no flange.
that redshift stuff is lovely, give it a try
Yes, both the suspension seatpost and handlebar stem are expensive, well-made parts. Keep up the good work!
Personally I think cantis are a more elegant solution for road levers than travel agents and v brakes. Or mini v brakes but then there's no space for fenders.
Cantis are fine, but such a bitch to set up right, especially if you don't want them squealing like a dog...
118 to 110 is quite a jump, If the small cog doesn’t scrape the frame the shorter one might be a better fit for chain line, which is what id want to think about first, i tried to fit a triple to one of my bikes and it scraped, I was looking at changing the bb but found another crank and it fits but If anything its to far out now.
I don’t see that bb length should affect derailuer set up as long as the derailuer has that range, i had a lit of trouble with a 3x7 on a Raleigh road bike with brifters and as far as I know all the original parts , sometimes the cage gets a bit squashed and a bit of carful bending is needed.
As for the brakes a pair of cantilever would maybe
be a cheaper fix than the compensator
Im actually riding the micronew levers for years now on my DIY gravel bike. They work great, but I used a 105 road front derailler, because its not compatible with mtb deraillers. And XT in the back. For the brakes I chose mini V, they have the right pull ratio
I love the fenders and tri flow I I use that on my bikes good stuff
Its the Sarcasm x Jazz for me. Love this channel
I agree it seems like when they started making more of the upgraded frames carbon fiber and all that there's less like the Trek 7500
The adapter you put on it's different in the back then the one in the front.
In the front seems it was put on correctly.
My converted hybrid (Trek Verve) is running the 3x8 MicroNew shifters and Shimano Altus derailleurs. They’ve been awesome, no complaints about their performance. Internal cable routing would for sure look better but at half the cost of Claris I’m not complaining.
My understanding is the real difference between them and MicroShift is MicroNew are made in China, MicroShift are made in Taiwan.
Would you ever lock it out of being able to reach the big ring or small ring and just adjust it to shift well with only two options up front? Seems like a reasonable solution in a case like this.
Woo, a bike set up with a full RedShift suspension system! I was one of the Kickstarter backers in 2018 when they were developing that original endurance seatpost model. Got two for the price of what one goes for in today’s (2024) money.
Couple those with a steel frame and that’s going to make for a really comfy ride that eats road buzz for breakfast and smoothes out baby-head size rock hit bumps very nicely.
And @Andy @08:05 - about MicroNEW. Don’t quote me on this, but I seem to remember that MicroShift moved their commissioned production from their China factory to Taiwan some time ago due to the political situation between the countries, but did not want to migrate the original workforce. The Chinese factory was left with the know-how, moulds and the highly complex production capabilities for derailleur components with the staff now out of work. What’s a bunch of skilled people to do? They change their branding enough to skirt on the right side of all the legal stuff and then continue making derailleurs. And thus MicroNEW was born.
Judging by an interview I watched with Path Less Pedaled and a small US manufacturer who had insight into the capabilities of that specific factory in China, I’ve at least personally put MicroNEW on my shortlist of ’very likely good quality’ spares.
There may be ’internet parts’ on that build and the owner may not have known how to put everything together perfectly, but to me it looks like they definitely did their research. 🙂👍 I would ride that in a heartbeat - and be proud of it.
For those that want to switch to a drop-style bar, but don’t want to go through quite so much compatibility problems, a Surly Corner Bar is a great option. Let’s you use MTB/ hybrid style shifter/brifters, but with the drop feel when you want it. 😁
thanks for saying you don't know. most mechanics on here are experts with lots of editing. this is similar to what im looking at in my garage: "no, that's not right...is that right?."...I have a 17 specialized roll that has has chainlink issues from the start. choices are either slightly rubs derailleur or sloppy gear changes. later found out that a lot of hybrid bikes are a hodge podge of entry level parts that sometimes don't work great but gets the job done.....I ended up ditching the front derailleur for a diy 1x8.
Why does the shim/adapter for the seatpost does not have a slit so it can be compressed? Things may become loose with time or it can damage the seatpost collar.
Hi all my armchair 2 cents
Thanks for video and content. Love the problem solver solution. I think shorty v brakes arms would work also. On fd I wonder if it was a chain ring capacity issue. I think mtb and road tripples have a different chain ring gap.
Cheers
This was deeply satisfying even though that stem is nuts and the tiny ring in 3x is unnecessary. 3x is a lot of cross chaining and derailleur rub. Would 2x reduce that weirdness with rub?
I bought a Trek 850 sport for urban/new trail/route finding etc. Sourced parts from Specialized, Shimano, Jagwire cables, and will kindly ask the local bike mechanic to assemble it first.
Then when it’s October”ish” I’ll kindly ask him to walk me through the dos and don’ts for rider maintenance…but leaving the mid-spring “tune-ups” to him.
(same goes for my other 4 bikes;-)
contrary to all the info I've been able to find about it anywhere, in my experience doing these types of conversions there absolutely is a compatibility issue between mountain bike triple front derailleurs and road shift levers. you can fudge it a little by adjusting the clamp angle of the shift cable as you found it set up initially and ultimately left it but that road shifter will never shift that mountain triple properly. I would bet a lot of money that a road triple fd would correct the issue and get it shifting smoothly.
For triples,I just adjust it such that the both extremes are well set. Sometimes because of chain line and gearing sizes,there's gonna be a bit of rub
I just recycle them 😂 life's too short to have to deal with that shit.
I had a very similar issue on my front derailleur I just did a delete and stick to the biggest gear
I love 2xs I have1 and 4 1xs wish it was the other way around great video
My first bike was a marlin 6 with 2x8 now I have a verve 3 with a 2x9 both a great bikes wanted a 2x10 when I got my Farley 7 2 years ago but had to settle for a 1x12 dealer said it was probley the only farley in the state at that time
I dont always see eye to eye with the presenter but I do like the content, editing, and background music..
I enjoyed this video would a new front derailer have been an option?
Could be an incompatibility between the shifter and the derailleur. That shifter is probably the road standard and the derailleur is the mountain standard which have slightly different cable pulls.
It definitely makes a difference how you clamp the front derailleur cable on these. I learned that the hard way myself. That was before the conversion so it wasn't the conversion's fault.
What’s the difference between a regular cable and a nice cable if they’re both new?
So apparently there are galvanized steel bike cables and they’re not as high quality as stainless steel cables. The galvanized ones will eventually rust. A bike mechanic told me for those of us who don’t race bikes, any of the stainless steel cables sold by bike shops will be good quality.
I did almost exactly the same conversion on an 1992 Wheeler MTB Tange frame. MicroNEW 3x7 with existing Shimano Altus from 1992?. It's my Zwift indoor bike. I have canti brakes and in theory they work, never tested the bike outside so far 😅
The Travel agents work great with my LX V-brakes and Microshift brifters.
Love the cocktail lounge background music
Really appreciate your honesty!
Redshift is an excellent brand in general, and for seatposts and stems in particular.
I definately try out the cable tension tip the next occasion.
Travel agents cheap can get from aliexpress or eBay if you don't want to wait for shipping. A must if switching to road levers.
About the front derailleur. The indexing for all front d’s is the same ¿ Maybe a worn / ever so slightly worn Shimano is just going to play nice. Or the bb; 110 to 118… a 110 or something you could shim to something in between ? Or why I liked SRAM GripShift back in the day. There were clicks in between. As for that bike if it were mine, I’d just use the old skool friction shifter. Actually I use a bar version to change gears on a S.A. 3 speed hub, cause it’s half the price.
I have an older giamt boulder 510 great bike! Giant is such underrated quality for the money
The vid was great, per usual, instructive and quite clear. That's an interesting trick on the der' and I will be trying it. The music was comatose. Spike Jones,"Hawaiian War Chant" would have been perfect.
I'd certainly recommend you shop get a low-power electric impact wrench for the long threads on BBs!
Hello bikefarmer, What kind of lube do you use in the cables? I mean the one you fill in with the long needled one. Thanks and regards
Looks like Triflow
There was another company that made the travel agent for V-Brakes. RJ the bike guy turned me onto them in one of his older vids. They were a bit pricey to come by if I recall.
"Problem solvers" as Bike Farmer said in the Video. Litepro, the Brand he used for this bike, is focussing in brompton/folding bikes. They make parts and even a tri-folding Brompton Clone.