Flat bar on road bike - possible?

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible? If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur? Thanks.

Steve

A shy person asked:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Absolutely, this is a very common modification.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur? Thanks.

She will need new brake levers (and shifters, if they're mounted on the
handlebars.)

She'll need brake levers for traditional cantilevers/calipers, not the
brake levers designed for "direct pull" cantilevers.

If the bike has two chainrings, and Shimano shift components, MTB
shifters will work just fine. If she's got Campagnolo stuff, she'll
need a new rear derailer too.

If it has three chainrings, it gets more complicated...let me know.

Some drop handlebars are a larger diameter where they fit through the
stem, so she may need to add a spacer shim, or she might want to replace
the stem with one that is higher or shorter.

If you had provided more information about her bike, I would have been
able to give you more specific advice.

Sheldon "Educated Guesses" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions |
| from insufficient premises. --Samuel Butler |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

A shy person asked:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Absolutely, this is a very common modification.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur? Thanks.

She will need new brake levers (and shifters, if they're mounted on the
handlebars.)

She'll need brake levers for traditional cantilevers/calipers, not the
brake levers designed for "direct pull" cantilevers.

If the bike has two chainrings, and Shimano shift components, MTB
shifters will work just fine. If she's got Campagnolo stuff, she'll
need a new rear derailer too.

If it has three chainrings, it gets more complicated...let me know.

Some drop handlebars are a larger diameter where they fit through the
stem, so she may need to add a spacer shim, or she might want to replace
the stem with one that is higher or shorter.

If you had provided more information about her bike, I would have been
able to give you more specific advice.

Sheldon "Educated Guesses" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions |
| from insufficient premises. --Samuel Butler |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:39:41 -0400, Me may have said:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Often almost painless, always possible. The complexity depends on the
equipment present.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur?

If you have Shimano ders, and they're relatively recent (say, less
than about 10 years old), the chances are good that they'll work with
mtb shifters. Brake levers may be more of a problem; show the guys at
the lbs what you're trying to do, and they can fix you up with the
right kind of levers. You may have to replace the cables to get the
ends to match what the levers need. There is a *small* chance that
you'll need to shim the bar to make it fit in the road quill. Don't
forget to buy grips.



--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:39:41 -0400, Me may have said:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Often almost painless, always possible. The complexity depends on the
equipment present.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur?

If you have Shimano ders, and they're relatively recent (say, less
than about 10 years old), the chances are good that they'll work with
mtb shifters. Brake levers may be more of a problem; show the guys at
the lbs what you're trying to do, and they can fix you up with the
right kind of levers. You may have to replace the cables to get the
ends to match what the levers need. There is a *small* chance that
you'll need to shim the bar to make it fit in the road quill. Don't
forget to buy grips.



--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

A shy person asked:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Absolutely, this is a very common modification.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur? Thanks.

She will need new brake levers (and shifters, if they're mounted on the
handlebars.)

She'll need brake levers for traditional cantilevers/calipers, not the
brake levers designed for "direct pull" cantilevers.

If the bike has two chainrings, and Shimano shift components, MTB
shifters will work just fine. If she's got Campagnolo stuff, she'll
need a new rear derailer too.

If it has three chainrings, it gets more complicated...let me know.

Some drop handlebars are a larger diameter where they fit through the
stem, so she may need to add a spacer shim, or she might want to replace
the stem with one that is higher or shorter.

If you had provided more information about her bike, I would have been
able to give you more specific advice.

Sheldon "Educated Guesses" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions |
| from insufficient premises. --Samuel Butler |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Thanks for the quick and informative reply. My wife's bike is an old Trek -
my guess is around 10 years old. Has Suntour Superbe single pivot brakes
and Shimano 400 rear der - 7 speed, I think. Double up front. On a related
topic, her reason for switching is that with the current brakes, she is not
getting enough leverage to brake properly. Without going to STI, will
replacing the brake levers and brakes to dual pivot give her more leverage?
Thanks again.

Steve

A shy person asked:

My wife would like to change the aero (drop) bar on her road bike with a
flat XC bar. First of all, is this possible?

Absolutely, this is a very common modification.

If so, is there anything I
should be aware of before attempting this? What about shifters - will MTB
shifters work on road derailleur? Thanks.

She will need new brake levers (and shifters, if they're mounted on the
handlebars.)

She'll need brake levers for traditional cantilevers/calipers, not the
brake levers designed for "direct pull" cantilevers.

If the bike has two chainrings, and Shimano shift components, MTB
shifters will work just fine. If she's got Campagnolo stuff, she'll
need a new rear derailer too.

If it has three chainrings, it gets more complicated...let me know.

Some drop handlebars are a larger diameter where they fit through the
stem, so she may need to add a spacer shim, or she might want to replace
the stem with one that is higher or shorter.

If you had provided more information about her bike, I would have been
able to give you more specific advice.

Sheldon "Educated Guesses" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions |
| from insufficient premises. --Samuel Butler |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Thanks for the quick and informative reply. My wife's bike is an old Trek -
my guess is around 10 years old. Has Suntour Superbe single pivot brakes
and Shimano 400 rear der - 7 speed, I think. Double up front. On a related
topic, her reason for switching is that with the current brakes, she is not
getting enough leverage to brake properly. Without going to STI, will
replacing the brake levers and brakes to dual pivot give her more leverage?
Thanks again.

Steve

Yes, yes, yes and yes. Go for it!

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Yes, yes, yes and yes. Go for it!

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 21:09:14 -0400, Me wrote:



Thanks for the quick and informative reply. My wife's bike is an old Trek -
my guess is around 10 years old. Has Suntour Superbe single pivot brakes
and Shimano 400 rear der - 7 speed, I think. Double up front. On a related
topic, her reason for switching is that with the current brakes, she is not
getting enough leverage to brake properly. Without going to STI, will
replacing the brake levers and brakes to dual pivot give her more leverage?

Just the calipers, no need to swap change levers..... and Koolstop salmon pads.