# Resurrecting old Obed; dropbar content



## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

I'm rebuilding my '94 Obed, and will want to ask for advice as the rebuild progresses.

It's going to be more of a resto-mod rather than restoration, as I want to use as much as my old parts as possible.

To start off with, a photo.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

First off: shifters and brakes. I keep going back and forth on this one. You'll see I have 105 brifters on. I think they are 9-speed. (I accumulated some of the parts 3-4 years back but couldn't work on the bike until now.) I have a pair of new M900 cantis, which will work well for the rear, but not for the front, as there is no cable stop on the fork. I've got a pair of Travel Agents, which will allow me to use linear-pull brakes like V-brakes, so at the moment it looks like cantis for the rear and v-brakes for the front.

Is there a better solution? Is there a direct pull brake with cantilever leverage ratios?

The shifters: I'm not completely sold on the idea of the 105 brifters. Thumbies can't mount on the Midge bar, so I can't use the XT II and XC Pro thumbies that I have. Is this correct? I seem to recall seeing people with thumbies mounted on drop bars.

I can use 9sp bar-end shifters, but will have to purchase a pair online. If I did that, I have a choice of using V-brake compatible Cane Creek brake levers (which I have), or getting a pair of vintage road levers and sticking with the cantis rear and travel-agent adapted front.

I have a pair of M900 brake/shifter combos and had planned to use them with some gorilla billet pods, but for the life of me I can't find where I put the pods. :-(

Suggestions?


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

I went through my parts bin and found a pair of Kelly's Take-Offs. They feel and look pretty clunky. I triend mounting them on, but the flare of the Midge bar seems to make them stick out at an unergonomic angle. Either that or I am doing something wrong, which has also been known to happen. Regularly.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

A photo of a scan of a drawing that I made in '08 for Rody to make me an LD in Ti. Unfortunately he wasn't able to, and in 2011 I subsequently asked Joel of Clockworkbikes to make me one in Fe. As you can see, the D is not very L.


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## crossracer (Jun 27, 2004)

For the front, cantis do work really well with road levers. Here are some quick visual ideas I have seen work fine on other bikes


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## crossracer (Jun 27, 2004)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## joeduda (Jan 4, 2013)

the 105 shifters are problematic for the front derailuer. they wont work with a mountain triple. buy a set of these and you will be able to run the v brakes and it will shift properly.

Shifters - Gevenalle


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## Retro Dude (Jun 7, 2010)

"Thumbies can't mount on the Midge bar, so I can't use the XT II and XC Pro thumbies that I have. Is this correct? I seem to recall seeing people with thumbies mounted on drop bars."

There are options:


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

joeadnan said:


> First off: shifters and brakes. I keep going back and forth on this one. You'll see I have 105 brifters on. I think they are 9-speed. (I accumulated some of the parts 3-4 years back but couldn't work on the bike until now.) I have a pair of new M900 cantis, which will work well for the rear, but not for the front, as there is no cable stop on the fork. I've got a pair of Travel Agents, which will allow me to use linear-pull brakes like V-brakes, so at the moment it looks like cantis for the rear and v-brakes for the front.
> 
> Is there a better solution? Is there a direct pull brake with cantilever leverage ratios?
> 
> ...


I solved this issue on my resto-mod Phoenix by running Avid BB7 _ROAD_ disc brakes up front. You can run your M900 XTR out back (great brake by the way), disc up front with the Fox fork (great fork as well) and the road brake levers. Pull and modulation disparity won't be too much. A bit firmer out back, a little mushy up front, but plenty of brake power.










Another solution to your shifting...while exceedingly difficult to find, would be the DKG shifter adapters. You can run your M900 in a very natural position on your drop bars.




























Looks like you're off to a good start on that project. Clockwork LD was a good move for overall aesthetics and functionality.


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## Uncle Grumpy (Oct 20, 2005)

Another option is the Pauls Mini Moto, a linear pull brake that works with short pull levers such as cantis and road levers.

MiniMoto from Paul Component Engineering

I've never used them so can't vouch for their clearance with 2.1" knobbie tyres though.

As for the shifting, there are road triple set ups so you might be able to track down a shifter suited to that,

Grumps


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## car bone (Apr 15, 2011)

Rumpfy said:


> I solved this issue on my resto-mod Phoenix by running Avid BB7 _ROAD_ disc brakes up front. You can run your M900 XTR out back (great brake by the way), disc up front with the Fox fork (great fork as well) and the road brake levers. Pull and modulation disparity won't be too much. A bit firmer out back, a little mushy up front, but plenty of brake power.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I made my own mount here https://forums.mtbr.com/frame-building/project-xtr-strada-870954.html


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Thanks for the replies.

Rumpfy, those DKG mounts look ideal. Sounds like they might be difficult to track down, though. Patience and money, I guess... It would be the best aesthetic solution, with the M900 shifters and some period correct NOS Dura Ace/Ultegra brake levers.

Good suggestion on the BB7 road, but that would mean a new front wheel.

Uncle Grumpy, thanks for the link to the MiniMoto. That might be just the ticket for the front brake, although I'll need to check if there will be sufficient clearance for my tyres.

I also see that Pauls make thumbie adapters in road bike bar sizes. Bar-con adapted thumbie on the left and brifter on the right might be a solution.

joeduda: thanks for the link to the Gevenalle shifters. The only downside is that they don't look retro. I like the simplicity and minimalism though. Ought to be a durable solution for hard, inclement-weather riding.

The 105s have a 9-speed road triple shifter, which was what I bought. It didn't occur to me that they might not work with a mountain triple. I'll just have to see if I can get it to work.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Progress so far...

The only item original to the bike from the day I brought it home on 10 December 1994 is the front derailleur.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

An aside: it's been some time since I used cantilevers, having converted to V brakes for the last 20,000 years. Boy, I'd forgotten how fiddly things can get! 8mm spanner in one hand, 5mm allen key in other and holding the pad in place with my third hand...

The brakes sure look purty though.

Of course, I forgot to install the in-line cable adjuster, so I'll have to graft that in next.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

*No luck with the Mini-Moto*

Got a reply from Paul Price this morning, who says that the Mini-Motos won't have sufficient clearance for a mtb tyre. Too bad.

Paul attached a pic of his bike. It's nice to know that he rides a dirt drop too!


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

*Travel Agent*

Here's a pic of the front brake set up. Please excuse the Tektro vbrakes, they are only a temporary solution. I have a pair of Avid Single Digit Ultimates, but unfortunately I kept the brake noodle guide in a "safe place". Spent much of yesterday evening looking for them, with no luck.

The feel of the front brake lever doesn't match the rear. Let's see how they fare once I've ridden the bike in anger this weekend.

Happily, in my search for the brake noodle guide, I found the pair of NOS Gorilla Billet shifter perches that I kept away in a different safe place. I won't be able to use them for this bike though.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Incidentally, Paul from Paul Components says he is running a SRAM XX1 drivetrain with a prototype shifter mount/adapter. Interesting tidbit for those running drop bars.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Almost done. Just need to wrap the bars and change to a more uncomfortable saddle


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## 70sSanO (Nov 20, 2013)

Since you already went with the 105 brifters, you may not be interested. Last year I was looking for a way to mount some LX560 7 spd shifter pods and happened upon these Delta mounts. They are a poor man's version of the DKGs, not nearly as nice and less positioning flexibility...









I haven't put them on my drop bars, but I think using a left mount on the right side will work. The bike is nowhere near to what you are building. It is basically a mid 80's Cannondale road bike that I have used as my fat boy bike until I lost 65 lbs and now I want to make it a little more versatile. I tried the bike out on hard packed dirt and DT shifters even on packed dirt are way too scary so I am going to try these. Only issue may be positioning and compatibility to a Sachs Aris 7 spd freewheel. We will have to wait and see.

If you are interested, here is a link to a thread where they were for sale. Don't know the current availability. Between the pound to dollar conversion and shipping they cost more than they are worth, but I am using one on my Trek, so in some ways it was worth it.

Shimano XTR M900 Shifter Pod Mounts | Retrobike

John


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Thanks John. I might pick a pair up, since I have a pair of M900 shifters/levers in the parts bin. It'll be useful to resurrect them for use with a flat bar and 8-speed drivetrain.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Wrapped and ready to rumble. I ought to have changed the direction of the wrap for the tops of the bars, but it only twigged after I had done one side. This is probably only my 4th time wrapping a handlebar in 25+ years of tinkering with bikes, and it went decidedly better than the previous times.

Just a few observations:

1. The Travel Agents work better than I expected them to. Pretty smooth, although I have set the spring tension on the vbrakes pretty high.

2. The 9-speed 105 brifters work well for a mountain triple. I've found out that they were designed to work with BOTH 2- and 3-chainring drivetrains, so they have intermediate clicks that allow you to trim the position of the FD.


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## joeadnan (Oct 21, 2003)

Oh, that serial number is the reason why I had resisted selling the bike through the years. I know the Obed is "an entry level" high-end bike, and doesn't have the cachet of some other brands.

At that time (circa 1993-4), Litespeed was relatively unknown in these parts, and the frame sat in a local bike shop's display for many months. I only picked it up after much hand-wringing, and only after the bike shop owner hinted that he had a buyer for the frame...


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

2 words> rigid fork.


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## Spitch Grizwald (May 21, 2017)

*I know this is an older post, but . . .*



Retro Dude said:


> "Thumbies can't mount on the Midge bar, so I can't use the XT II and XC Pro thumbies that I have. Is this correct? I seem to recall seeing people with thumbies mounted on drop bars."
> 
> There are options:
> View attachment 900864
> View attachment 900865


Can you tell me who the manufacturer of these is? They look perfect for a project I'm working on. Thanks!


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## Retro Dude (Jun 7, 2010)

I designed and 3D printed those, shoot me a PM.


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