bar changes

[honesty]

Im thinking of changing back from a flat bar on my tourer to drop bars. I'm planning on lifting the bar, brakes, etc. directly from another bike (and doing a sneaky upgrade on that bike) and transplanting them onto the tourer. I've not change cables before though, so is this possible, can I just remove them from one bike onto another or will I need to get completely new cables to do this? Or is it just a case of snipping off the end off the gear cable and threading it back through?

[Edwards]

I think that both inner and outer cables may be too short. Outer at the bars inner in overall length.

Personally I would fit new cables as the cost is not that much and then I know that there will not be problems with bends and corrosion.

[honesty]

I thought that was going to be the answer, but wanted to minimise costs as much as possible. Oh well.

Next question then. Chainsets, I have a 9 speed M771 chainset. Can I run a 10 speed chain and set up on this chainset? The difference looks to just be the small gap between the chainrings is slightly different.

[gaz]

Cables. If you are lifting a set of drop bars, levers and cables for the transplant you might get lucky with the cable lengths. If they are not long enough the rear inner wires can be cut down for use on the fronts (subject to condition) which may save a few quid.

If you aren't lifting the cables then the brake inners from the flat bar set up won't work with drop levers regardless of length.

Shifters. If you have indexed shifting things could get complicated, especially indexed front shifts.

[Valbrona]

Chainsets: Lots of people say you can run a 10 speed chain on a 9 speed chainset without problem. You will only find out how well yours works once you try it.

[andrew_s]

If you are lucky, you can transplant handlebars and cables in one go. Drop bar bikes generally have open cable runs for both mechs and the rear brake, apart from the gear cable outer loop at the rear mech and the rear brake outer for the run from the top tube to the brake caliper. If you are very lucky, you will have slotted cable stops on both bikes and not need to unthread the two sections of outer, but normally both will need to be rethreaded. The front brake will only need the cable inner threading through the cable clamp.
To rethread an inner cable through an outer, you generally need a freshly cut end on the inner, with none of the inner crushed by cable clamps. This will usually mean cutting the cable an inch or so above the previous clamp point, and also cutting two or three inches off the cable outer somewhere in the cable run. Whether you can do this and still retain enough cable to allow for turning the handlebars etc will depend on the sizes of the two frames.

If your flat bar shifters are MTB shifters rather than flat bar road shifters, you'll also need a new front mech to match the front shifter on your drop bars (if it's an indexed shifter).

If your brakes are full size V-brakes, they won't work well with drop bar levers - you'll have to keep the blocks adjusted within a gnat's whisker of the rim (and keep the rim accurately true). Swapping to shorter mini-Vs will work, but will restrict your tyre size to maybe 28mm + mudguard.

[honesty]

Ah. Hadn't thought of the front mech. Yes it will need changing. Not the zero cost option I was hoping it would be. Oh well.

[MikeF]

Will the stem be OK eg right length, height etc?
You say changing back. Did the bike originally have drops?

[honesty]

Yeh stem position is fine, the flat bar is the same distance away from the saddle as the flat part of drop bars on my other bike, and yes it originally had drops and the original stem was too long.