Grassroots bicycling

In reply to bastomatic:

Ewww. Yeah--didn't think about the V-brake compatibility.

Tracking down decent 8-speed Ultegra might be tricky. I haven't seen an 8-speed Ultegra bike in a long time.

I've had 8-speed Sora and it's OK. The 9-speed Sora is actually really nice. Less braking power than my 10sp 105 levers (on another bike), but still really nice shifting action. I'll likely spring for the new 9-speed Sora levers (without the thumb buttons) later in the season for my old Trek. I'll still get at least $75 for the old ones on ebay. Trickledown has been VERY good to Sora.

I dunno if I'd be willing to downgrade to MTB cantis. PITA compared to V-brakes. Would cyclocross cantis work on this setup, though???

Cane Creek makes drop levers for v brakes

I look at it this way.. my last Mountain Bike was a $300 schwinn.. it was an ok bike, but beat me up.

My current is a $1200 carbob FibreTrek.. and it is a joy to ride

akamcfly wrote: Cane Creek makes drop levers for v brakes

...and bar end shifters are cheap. Might as well put a new chain/cassette on it and upgrade to 9/10 speed at that point, since the Cane Creek levers are probably all of $40.

Yeah, I was gonna mention the V-brake levers but not sure how into using bar-end shifters the girl would be.

I just watched some 8-speed ultegra units sell on eBay for less than $100. Bought some a couple years ago for $50.

Cyclocross cantis are the same as MTB cantis as far as setup and usage goes. I have a set of Deore XT cantis on my drop-bar bike, they work great and were super cheap.

Another option is retro-shift. They make ones that work with v-brakes.

This reminds me I need to sell my full suspension mountain bike for lack of use.
It's a Gary fisher sugar 2 that has some upgraded components.. will have to pull together list. When I lived in Wisconsin I rode 2-3 times a week. Now riding would require a 45min drive so I just use the road bike.

In reply to nocones:

Do you have to drive all the way out past Peoria to ride?

Thats one option but nearly 2 hours for me (I'm near Champaign). The closest actual single track type is at Kickapoo. In Mahomet there are some gravel type trails with a few "elements" scatered around but it's really just road biking unless I want to drive.

To follow up on converting the Santa Cruz to a road bike:

The Chameleon frame is not light by any stretch.

I've got a 29er that the frame is pretty beat. I'd like to take the components of that bike and throw them on something like a Pake C-Mute or Soma Double Cross. Rack mounts, disc mounts, lightweight frames.

If I can get $300-$350 for the Santa Cruz, that'll buy a frame/fork combo.