Flat Bar Road Bike

I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Ian

On Jul 5, 4:13 pm, Ian wrote:
I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.

I'd explore other options if you were to keep it. Conversion is
doable, especially if you find shifters on sale, but not the
cheapest---or likely even the most comfy.

I'm guessing the problem is that you don't want to bend over? If you
have a quill stem, then a Nitto Technomic will get your hands up:
http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.asp?PART_NUM_SUB='1173-10'
If you've got a threadless setup, grab a Delta stem extender. I use
one on a bike, and they're solid as a rock. Usually $20, but I think
Nashbar has them for a tenner now. You'll might need longer cables
with either method.

For the bars, you can keep the originals if they're comfy higher, or
when you get the stem, choose a shorter reach and try something like a
moustache bar or On-One midge bar (this will require a mtb sized stem
clamp). Both will let you use your brifters.

If you want flat or riser bars, you'll need a new stem, shifter pods,
and brake levers--make sure to get the ones that are for cantilevers
or calipers, like the Tektro RT354AG, which has adjustable pull.

I've become partial to moustache bars myself over the past few months--
especially as I got them up high enough. Super on the road, and
brilliant on fire roads. Probably not so great for centuries.

On Jul 5, 2:13 pm, Ian wrote:
I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Ian

If the bike is in good enough shape, and you'll be able to get the
positioning you want out of it, and you can do the work, and you can
get the new components together at a price that's alright for you,
then it's worth it and really pretty straightforward. But plan on it
being a pretty significant project to DIY it. Also make sure that the
frame will give you what you need in terms of tire/fender clearance
and carrying capacity, or lack thereof.

If you need to have a shop do it using new components at full retail,
this kind of thing is rarely all that worthwhile.

Ian wrote:
I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Ian



Raise your current drop bar one way or the other and you are done. Flat
bars are less comfortable IMO.

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

Lou Holtman wrote:
Ian wrote:

I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Ian



Raise your current drop bar one way or the other and you are done. Flat
bars are less comfortable IMO.

Lou

I find flat bars are nice for riding in town, my hands are always in
position to stop and shift, which is done more frequently in town. I
don't like riding drop bars in city situations, feel less in control of
making quick turns and such. I have drop bars for touring and road ,
but for my commuter it is a flat bar with a slight curve so the grips
are closer to my body, that reminds me that I am not on my mountain
bike and I can't jump anything, therefore saving my wheelsets.


I have converted several old raod bikes to flat bars, you need the
cable stop thingy on the downtube, if they were downtube shifters.
I never really paid attention to type of mountain bike style brake
lever, they all worked with the road brakes. I also didn't even change
the stem on some. good luck

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:42:10 -0500, futrino wrote:

I find flat bars are nice for riding in town, my hands are always in
position to stop and shift, which is done more frequently in town. I
don't like riding drop bars in city situations, feel less in control of
making quick turns and such.

Your hands shouldn't be on top of the bars if there's any possibility
that you'll need to brake or turn in a hurry. If you're not comfortable
on the hoods indefinitely, you should change their position (raise
the bars, shorten the stem or move the shifters up the bars).

Ian wrote:
I have an early 90's Trek 2300 Alu / Carbon road bike which I haven't
riden now for a good few years now and want I now want is a flat bar
bike to ride to work, is it worth me converting the Trek from drop to
flat or am I better off selling the Trek (if its still worth anything)
and buying a new bike ?? Any advice and recommendations (components
etc) very much appreciated.




What is uncomfortable for you now about riding with your hands on the
hoods?

On 2007-07-05, landotter wrote:

[ flat bar road bike conversion]

I'd explore other options if you were to keep it. Conversion is
doable, especially if you find shifters on sale, but not the
cheapest---or likely even the most comfy.

[...]

If you want flat or riser bars, you'll need a new stem, shifter pods,
and brake levers--make sure to get the ones that are for cantilevers
or calipers, like the Tektro RT354AG, which has adjustable pull.

The OP will also need a new front derailer if he wants indexed front
shifting, since the cable pull differs.

On Jul 5, 8:52 pm, Steve Gravrock wrote:
On 2007-07-05, landotter wrote:

[ flat bar road bike conversion]

I'd explore other options if you were to keep it. Conversion is
doable, especially if you find shifters on sale, but not the
cheapest---or likely even the most comfy.

[...]

If you want flat or riser bars, you'll need a new stem, shifter pods,
and brake levers--make sure to get the ones that are for cantilevers
or calipers, like the Tektro RT354AG, which has adjustable pull.

The OP will also need a new front derailer if he wants indexed front
shifting, since the cable pull differs.

Indeed. If the bike is Shimano-equipped (highly likely), it will need
a FD-R443 front derailleur to work with "road" size chainrings and
"mountain" type indexed shifters. I have this setup on a couple of miy
bikes and it works perfectly.

Jeff

On Jul 5, 6:01 pm, Michael Warner wrote:

Your hands shouldn't be on top of the bars if there's any possibility
that you'll need to brake or turn in a hurry. If you're not comfortable
on the hoods indefinitely, you should change their position (raise
the bars, shorten the stem or move the shifters up the bars).

Unless the bicycle has auxiliary inline brake levers, e.g.
http://sheldonbrown.com/images/interrupter-levers.jpg.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful