Non conventional build ideas

[thirdgenbird]

I would love to see and hear some of your odd build ideas.

I’m slowly building an old Eddy Merckx Alu Cross and I sort of want to to a 1x build but also have an appreciation for Campagnolo. It doesn’t have to make sense.

Idea:
Centaur 11 cranks w/ 1x chainring (found an option for 4- bolt Campag)
Centaur 11 egos (gutted and used as brake levers)
Campagnolo cantilever brakes (I’ve already secured these)
Campagnolo chain
Campagnolo (or fulcrum) wheels
Deore 5100 rear derailleur
SLX 11-46 cassette
Microshift bar end shifter for s11mtb

A shiftmate does make it possible to use 11spd ergo levers with a 10spd shim mtb derailleur but this limits range unless you modify the cage. Alternatively, you can use 12 speed ergot and a shiftmate with a 12spd mtb derailleur and cassette but that comes at more cost and brings in more obscurity with non-compatible chains and freehubs. Not insurmountable, but 11spd is easy. The bar end also offers a friction option (see angryscientist)

Maybe Campagnolo will make things easy on me and refresh Centaur as a budget 12 speed group. Dedicated 1x would be cool but a subcompact option may broaden appeal. Think Grx600 with a rim brake option. Rim brakes may be dead on new bikes, but tons of older frames could use a groupset with modern gearing options.

Anyone else setting on odd ideas? Anyone want to buy new takeoff 11spd Campagnolo chainrings and shifter guts

[oliver1850]

Lots of odd builds here but none that modern. No way I would gut a working pair of Ergo levers just to use as brake levers. Tektro brake levers look and feel pretty similar to C10. I probably have new ones in black and silver.

[thirdgenbird]

The sensible option is TRP RRL levers and a GRX600 crankset. That’s what currently in my cart…

[shoota]

Don’t gut the levers, you’ll regret it down the road.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by shoota

Don’t gut the levers, you’ll regret it down the road.

I’ve done it before. Putting them back together isn’t a problem if you keep the parts.

[oliver1850]

Is the 1X build a given?

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Is the 1X build a given?

I’ve not committed to anything yet. I sorta regret passing on that record 12 group clean sold a few weeks ago. 1x or single speed would make it less redundant to my yeti.

[thirdgenbird]

I also debated finding some Topolino wheels and doing a mix of obscure and boutique parts. I’ve already got a Cinelli Alter stem installed.

[osbk67]

I tried Campagnolo 11-speed bar end shifters on two different 2x setups with Chorus and Potenza rear changers and shift cables both fully along the handlebar and exposed from the front of the drops (traditional style). All were pretty tedious to set up and eventually I put the bar end shifters in a box and went back to Ergopower on one bike and down tube friction in the other. Both so much simpler.

My least conventional current setup is now a pretty straightforward gutted Ergopowers and Simplex Retrofriction down tube levers across a 10-speed cassette with c. 1984 Super Record rear. I gave up on a 9-speed Ergopwer/vintage Super Record/8-speed freewheel combination which would otherwise have been a triumph of optimism over common sense.

It might not pass the unconventional test but I'd leave things 11-speed Ergopower RHS with whatever rear changer worked and gut the LHS Ergopower if committed to 1x. Still a convoluted hat tip to Andy Hampsten's RHS STi/LHS down tube-shifted climbing bikes and the 1x cyclocross bikes of way back when.

If you're fully committed to the bar end shifter disregard the above.

[auto_rock]

Campy 10, Jtek Shiftmate 5, Shimano 10sp MTB rear. IRD Defiant 46-30
Front. Drop bar ergos with silly short gearing. That's non-conventional! Not 1x and only barely Campy though.