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I noticed that Paul's Components make an adapter that enables SRAM shifters to be mounted to a road bar by exploiting the Matchmaker system. I live in England so anything from Paul's is très expensive, and I cant help but think... isn't it just an appropriately sized clamp with a screw thread? therefore can't any 31.8mm braze on adapter for front mechs be used in the same way?

My overall aim get a 10 speed shifter onto my bullhorn bars, and I have some time trial brakes already so cant use bar end shifters. The appearance is very important to me, I don't want anything that looks messy or completely bodged which is why I don't want to have multiple bar ends or anything.

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  • So - you're trying to get some brifters to mount on bullhorn bars? How does the front mech mount relate? What are "time trial brakes" ? A couple of clear photos might help explain your thoughts better - used EDIT to add them.
    – Criggie ♦
    Nov 7, 2016 at 21:43
  • @Criggie I am trying to get brakes and a shifter onto a bullhorn bar. Time trial brakes are bar end brakes or reverse pull brake levers, I thought that would be obvious since they are the brake levers generally found on time trial bikes. And the idea of the front mech mount was that I am wondering if it can be used in place of the expensive Paul's Components item
    – Paddy Livingstone
    Nov 8, 2016 at 8:52
  • Sounds like you need regular brifters, except they have to have the brake cable coming out the bottom not the top. Would that work ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Nov 8, 2016 at 8:58
  • @Criggie Sorry I'm not sure I understand. Does "regular brifters" mean STI style, drop bar, brakes and levers? If it does then I cant really mount them on bullhorn bars in any way that looks elegant.
    – Paddy Livingstone
    Nov 8, 2016 at 9:12
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    @Criggie Yeah that would be simple...but... that just doesn't look nice to me
    – Paddy Livingstone
    Nov 8, 2016 at 19:03

2 Answers 2

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The Matchmaker interface has a little bit more going on than that. As you can see in this illustration from the SRAM Shifter and Brake Lever User Manual, the mating surfaces of the mount and the shifter are profiled for a secure fit.

Matchmaker

It is true that you could probably make something that does the same job. A braze on FD adaptor with a flatted section filed on doesn't strike me as putting the shifter far enough away from the bar, but that's just a guess.

If a little metalworking doesn't bother you and running a mountain shifter is what you want to do, just filing a normal 22.2 shifter mount so it clamps reasonably on your presumably 23.8 main bar diameter is also probably an option. Depending on what bullhorn you have, this may put the shifter in a more useful section of the bar.

My vote for best present-day way to do what you're after here is run it di2 with a climbing shifter only. You can pair it with any current di2 RD you want, mountain or road. Super clean, super functional.

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  • Thanks, I will see what I can do with my friends dremmel. I feel like there must be a way to get trigger shifters onto a bullhorn bar (mines actually a triathlon base bar) without having to pay too much.
    – Paddy Livingstone
    Nov 8, 2016 at 9:02
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http://forums.mtbr.com/commuting/installed-trigger-shifters-31-8-drop-bar-today-829347.html

Finally stumbled across this. It turns out it can be done with very basic DIY so I'm going to have a go

Update

I bought a BBB BSP-90 - ShiftFix Derailleur Hanger 31.8mm. It only cost about £8 and is widely availiable although I'm sure other BB adapters would also work. I only have very basic files and not much DIY experience and yet I was able to easily turn it into a shape that fits the shifter well (SRAM GX 10spd). It took me about an hour to do so. I filed down the curved side of the hanger so that a bolt head could sit flat on it, and I filed a section so that a protusion on the shifter was able to fit in nicely. I also used some friction paste so that I didn't need to tighten the bolt as much whilst still ensuring the shifter is firmly in place. The structual integrity of the component will not have been affected.

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