Is it Possible to Combine Drop Bar Shifters with Cross Brake Levers to the Outside?

I am wondering if anyone has ever tried to or if it is possible to make the following setup workable:
Reasonable width flat handle bar (maybe 680-720mm range) with minimal sweep
Mount Origin 8 Drop-Ends a few inches inboard on the flat bars (maybe 4-5" or so; I have small hands)
Mount road-style mechanical brake integrated levers (specifically SRAM Rival 22 mechanical) to the Drop-Ends
Mount cyclocross-style brake levers OUTBOARD of the Drop-Ends
Get all of the above to work with mechanical disc brakes (specifically TRP Hy/Rd calipers)

My end goal is to have the hand positions with shift and brake controls of the hood and drop positions of road bike bars, while also having the hand position and brake control of flat bars, all in the same combined setup. Has anyone tried anything like this, or know if it's possible? I imagine the resulting brake cable run is the biggest problem.

-Ed

It would be easier to use a time trial brake splitter to run a normal pair of flat bar brake levers. Problem Solvers makes one.

drwelby wrote:It would be easier to use a time trial brake splitter to run a normal pair of flat bar brake levers. Problem Solvers makes one.

\n \nHoly cow; this is amazing! I had no idea such a thing existed. Thank you kindly for this suggestion! \n \n-Ed

Do you(we) think it matters whether flat-bar levers are cantilever pull leverage ratio or “V” brake pull . I’m thinking cantilever which is like road brake pull leverage ratio.

Yes, you absolutely don't want V-brake levers, they don't have enough leverage.

If you want to be matchy-matchy, Sram makes a flat bar road lever for their road brakes. 

Skldmark wrote:Do you(we) think it matters whether flat-bar levers are cantilever pull leverage ratio or “V” brake pull . I’m thinking cantilever which is like road brake pull leverage ratio.

\n \nSRAM makes the S-700 flat bar road brake levers and Shimano makes a few options including BL-R3000 (Sora level), BL-R550 (Tiagra level) and BL-R780 (Ultegra level). \n \n-Ed

Okay, here we go. I have received the vast majority of the components for this project. I have in hand the S-700 flat bar brake levers, the Origin 8 drop-ends, the Problem Solver's cable doublers and I bought a cheap, 685mm flat handle bar just to assemble a mock-up and test cockpit to experiment with lever and component positioning. Here are some pics of the temporary test setup--hoods are perfectly workable for braking and shifting, and flat part grip positions are good for braking. I am finding that the cable run for the flat bar brake levers makes braking/shifting from the drops/hooks kind of difficult, but this is partially due to the overly narrow bars that I chose for this and also partially due to the fact that I have...really short fingers (the drop shifters in the test mock-up are NOT the final shifters--they are just being used for the mockup because the final shifters are, well, in use on the recipient bike); I used extra-short grips to simulate wider bars:
 
 
 

I am awaiting the JTek double control (long) unit, which is on its way from England, and an Apex 1 flat bar shifter, and I am in touch with a friend who is a hand-built bike frame maker, who is making a set of special flat handle bars precisely to my specification for this application. This is a not-to-scale diagram of the bars that I asked him to make for me. The point of the custom bars is to have the straight, center section wide enough to place the drop-ends a reasonable distance apart and keep the drops parallel, while having the swept flat bar grip/lever section be wide enough to fit everything and be a comfortable angle:
 
Once the shift lever comes in, I'll mount that up and see how everything fits together. Then, it's just a matter of tweaking things, talking to my mechanic to make sure everything will function as expected with the components, and then waiting for Mark Weaver to come through with my custom bars.

-Ed

Would using a cyclocross interruptor lever (at the end of the cable, not interrupting) move the cable out of the way enough?

Or you could use an inverse lever, though I think the ergonomics aren't very good:

 

Or even better, dig up some Dia Compe 290 brake levers on eBay:

 

Not sure if you saw, but I have decided to utilize the Problem Solvers Cable Doubler modules so that I am able to utilize standard flat bar (road brake) levers, instead of relying on interrupter levers.

-Ed

Yes, I was the one who recommended the doublers .

I'm suggesting the interruptor as a standard brake lever to move the cable away from your hand. It doesn't need to go in the middle of a cable - you can also use it at the end like a normal lever. A lot of cheap fixie bikes are sold this way.

Hmm...I'm trying to picture how this would work.

I actually already have a set of interrupter levers (they're already in use on the bike this is going on, a set of Cane Creek cross levers); the only potential problem I see is that they have 31.8mm clamps, but it's not like shims couldn't be used. The main thing is I am unable to picture in my head how this reduces the problem at hands, unless the cable is run the other way, towards the sides of the bike, which then creates really huge and wide cable loops. Unfortunately, that is probably even less ideal than currently.

I appreciate all of your help so far, though! Great ideas all around.

-Ed

You run the cable the "normal" way, but the housing runs closer to the bar, so you're not fighting with the housing and barrel adjuster as much.

I like this, thanks for posting pics.  Interested to see how it turns out!