MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Thinking of fitting some drop bars to my swift. Currently running a 50mm stem with 760mm bars, if i put 400mm drop bars, what sort of length stem would i aim to start with? Also, what do folks to with the brakes. Was thinking of keeping the 10yr old hope monos on it, but do'nt want to run them on the drops as i doubt the seals would be happy run at such an angle, would need to keep them on the flat bit, is this a bad idea really? so should i be looking at changing to a set of road biased brakes?
Very few mtb brake levers fit a dropbar because that has a larger diameter.
Of the cable levers, the only mtb one I can think of that will fit a dropbar is Dia Compe because it comes with shims as standard. Their lever shape doesn't really suit curly bars though.
As for hydros, I can't think of any.
oh hadn't considered that, may need to rethink a little then..
you will likely want to go shorter on the stem partly because the drop bars will increase your reach by around 80mm and also to mitigate the front end flop feeling which will be dependent on your bikes head angle, and can be particularly noticeable if less than 68 degrees. i would also consider 500mm bars for the same reason.
brakes, well you will probably have to invest in some 'road' or 'gravel' brakes.
plenty of people do this especially for ultra long distance stuff but i guess you already know this. Lael Wilcox is a good example.
What are you doing re: shifting, given 10+ speed road and MTB systems have all sorts of incompatibilities mixed in?
Sam has some pictures up from recent outings, looks like a Swift with drop-ish bars, might be singlespeed though.
I'm thinking the OP's might be singlespeed, too, or he'd have factored it into lever/brake choice.
Road hydraulics would be expensive. Might get a deal on a used hybrid TRP set?
TRP Hy/Rd brakes use cable levers to actuate a hydro caliper
Another option would be mech discs. Either way the lever cost would be negligible. I had TRP Spyres on a monstercross and the (Promax/generic) drop bar levers were about £12 a pair! Nice too. Not so taken with the Spyres. Great idea but spongey in use, even with semi-sintered pads. Got rid before experimented with sintered and fettling so who knows, they may be good setup right?
Monster-crossing is only safe in the drops. Bimbling is for on the tops. You want your best brakes in the drops. Cross-top levers are just for slowing down, so fitting MTB hydraulics up there would be daft IMO.
(Early days with monstercrosser I tried descending on the tops in the FoD it didn’t end well)
yup, going back single speed for the simplicity in the summer.
I put a Spyre on the front of my current monstercross type thing, after previously running BB7s on the mountain bike for many years. The Spyre was trickier to set up and initially felt awful by comparison - turns out that cable tension seems to be much more critical to the set-up than BB7s, and it's now feeling ok. I'd still prefer a BB7, though.
Never really got the cable/hydraulic combi calipers. Seems to me you'd get the disadvantages of both types (long cable runs getting stiff and graunchy, potential fluid leaks and contamination at the pistons) without really getting the benefits (agricultural simplicity, or the feel of an entirely hydraulic set-up).
Bin done 😉
Really old tiagra 10sp shifter, 10sp casette & XT 9sp rear mech. Worked perfectly. However the long reach of a hard tail even with a 60mm stem & 42cm bars was too stretched out when on the hoods for my old back so reverted to flat bars
I’d still prefer a BB7, though.
I moved on to BB7 from Spyre (this time on an MTB) and was surprised to find that they work well enough (as long as the rotor is perfectly straight as the tolerance is tiny)
Rotor-flexing dependability!
Never really got the cable/hydraulic combi calipers. Seems to me you’d get the disadvantages of both types
I can see pluses and minuses although never tried them. Here’s a self-avowed skeptic who (quite thoroughly) reviewed them back in 2015. YMMV etc:
https://www.ambmag.com.au/news/tested-trp-hyrd-disc-brakes-429311
Interesting that they seem to require less bleeding/PITA-style maintenance than full-system hydro setups
yetidave
oh hadn’t considered that, may need to rethink a little then..
There are bars with a short drop that may do. Basically shaped like North Road bars in that they work either way up. Not such a big drop, but they take mtb levers.
I've used them on quite a few bikes.
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If you are going for a proper dropbar, then take into account the longer top tube of a mtb over a proper dropbar bike because that will affect your reach. The obvious solution is a shorter stem, but also take a look at On-One's Brian dropbar. It has a shorter forward extension than most dropbars, and combined with a shorter stem feels more right on an mtb frame.
As used on my Voodoo 26" mtb converted to 29er gravel (or more accurately RSFer)
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As for brakes, if you have to use cable Spyres are the go, so long as you use good quality compassionless outers. (I use alloy tubing where possible for the fixed parts of the outer).
BB7s are good enough but lose out in convenience to the Spyres.
Have you considered using something like a Jones bar instead of drops? Gets the extra hand positions and uses Mtb levers etc.