[rileyrg]

Need advice on upgrading my 2002 Roberts Roughstuff

 

It’s a bit of a frankenbike, but I love it. Picture link below. Campag ergo levers on drop bars with 9s rear racing t, and racing t front. Schmidt dynamo front, xt rear on 26″ Mavic rims, avid shorty cantis. I’ve a compact 3x sugino crank on a Shimano BB. Cassette a Shimano 11-28 and 9sp chain. Campag seat post. I’ve done thousands of miles on it the last 20 years. Never a buckle, never a problem. I did stick a new BB in and grease the xt rear hub a couple of years ago at the same time I replaced the old Shimano cantis from my long gone Dawes galaxy with the avid shorty pair. The Schmidt has never been touched…which is remiss of me.. it’s the older beer barrel one. 

 

Here’s the thing.. I’m getting older and planning a long long trip. I’d much prefer to move to a 2×11 setup for support, weight and modernity ? I wouldn’t be happy in a remote place with broken ergo levers. I know my wheels are close to retirement too.

 

 Shimano 105 appeals and a lot of “randonneur” type tourers use that. Unfortunately my frame doesn’t have disk brake mounts so they’re out as I don’t like the look of these adapter clamps.. can you advise different? If I’m told they are reliable then great.. I intend to invest in new wheels anyway: then the 105 set has all I need. I quoted “randonneur” as most are more than suited to 4xpannier heavy touring. 

 

Assuming I can’t move to disk brakes, I’d love to move to Shimano brifters on my drop bars but I’m getting lost in the amount of combinations. Can I use a 105 combo and retain my avid cantis using a pair of Shimano brifters? Or will I need separate thumb controls for the derailleurs and dedicated drop bar canti levers for the brakes? I’m truly lost in the different things that come up courtesy of net search.

 

When I start to look at the costs I also wonder if it’s just a better idea to jump in with a new bike ..many from the vsf company appeal. But this frame is something I treasure and I’d love to keep it in service for my lifetime at least…alas Roberts is now no more.

 

So, is there anyway to use 105 2×11 set with cantis using Shimano drop bar brifters?  

 

Or any other advice? All welcome.  

 

Can budget (with wheels + son) about 1500 Euro, 2k at a push. 

 

[Roberts Roughstuff ](https://i.imgur.com/2RbGmIf.jpg)

Topic

[rileyrg]

The tiagra ten speed sounds

The tiagra ten speed sounds an option.  I could use those levers with any long cage Shimano 10sp derailleur?  Excuse my lack of knowledge… I’ve read so much, I’ve got lost ?

10sp would be fine.

Im thinking those tiagra brifters, I couldn’t see any xt ones , and xt 10sp rear and 3x front, classics, over the cheaper tiagra derailleurs. Your thoughts? 

 

Btw my current chainset is compact 3x with a 26 inner ring.

 

 

 

 

 

[Backladder]

Another vote for trying to

Another vote for trying to keep it original but if you feel like you have to upgrade then to my mind the old brakes are a worse liability than the gears, on a steel frame you could have a disk brake mount welded on and swap the fork for a disk fork, you may have to cold set the rear triangle out to 135mm depending on what it currently is but I’ve had this done on an old tandem frame and it works brilliantly.

[Creakingcrank]

I’m as guilty as anyone else

I’m as guilty as anyone else of upgrading things for the sake of it, but if this lovely bike was mine, and everything is working OK at the moment, I would not do such a big upgrade. 9 speed parts are strong and relliable, there is nothing wrong with triple chainsets, brifters don’t break very often, and upgrading to 105 won’t save much (any?) weight.

Why not just rebuild the wheels with new rims and strong, single butted spokes? Probably replace the cassette and chain too. 

If you are worried about gear failures in remote places, you could buy a pair of down tube friction levers and stick them in your tool kit as an emergency backup – ~50g and the frame looks like it has braze ons for those already. Then you can use the €1500 you saved to extend your trip. I’m jealous!

Or, if determined to modernise, Shimano Tiagra is available with cable levers and would operate cantis. It is 10 speed not 11, but that is probably an advantage for touring. You could even keep the triple chainset as there is a Tiagra 3x shifter. 

[Author]

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