[Closed] Putting flat bars on cx bike?

Will a 10spd mtb gear lever work on a 105 rear mech?

If not do I need a mtb rear mech too?

No, yes.

Had ago on a mates bike few years back who did this ok on road but off road did not handle half as well as drops he soon changed them back just took the sharpness of the bike have ago see what you think.

Ran one for a short while as a SSCX, but the 'short' position was noticeable - fine for short bimbles, but less so for longer and mixed rides

Won't it make it real twitchy?
What are you going from?
Something like 100mm stem plus an 80mm reach on the bars?

Although, I suppose I guess you keep a long stem?
Then you are only losing 80mm aren't you?
Plus wide bars makes it better?

True, got a short compact reach and 100 stem.

Thought it would be great for some of the more technical races and just mucking about on

Shimano do flat bar shifters which work with road mechs.

I am curious how you get on.
I have little diddy arms and have wondered about going this route.

With flat bars you could well need a stem that is 30mm or so longer than the one used with drops to get the bars in the right sort of place i.e. the grips where you might normally have the hoods. I tried this for while but went back to drops in the end, just didn't find it very satisfactory.

Won’t it make it real twitchy?

No. I switch between risers, bullhorns and drops all the time (fixed gear with no brakes so can swap bars in 2 minutes before I go for a ride based i what I fancy)

I never leave the same bars on for more than a week or so as each have there pluses and minuses. The risers are nice for single track, jumping over things, messing about a bit more but on faster gravel and road I prefer the bullhorns as body is lower, hand position more comfortable, less strain on neck. If I had to stick to one bar only it would be the bullhorns which is pretty much like riding on the hoods.

Tiagra 4700 flat bar shifters will work with a road rear mech.
4700 shifter

you can go for a longer stem but 30mm is too much. In practice 10mm or 20mm is enough.

If you fit bar ends then the aim isn't to put the grips where the hoods are. It's to put the bar ends where the hoods are. I've done this on a few bikes now, for mates. They've all preferred the improved control and braking of the flat bar setup.

I did this with my Croix de Fer- 90mm stem and 580mm flat bars. Road chainset, MTB shifter and mech works grand; however, the best feature is probably the brakes, as you can use a proper MTB brake and gain a lot more leverage & control. I did size up to a larger frame to improve reach, having bought it new with this project in mind. Old skool- it even has little stubbie bar ends!

It’ll work mechanically but may not produce a bike you like as it’ll massively shorten reach and change the riding position dramatically. As CX frames tend to be undersized relative to road frames, it may end up unrideably short. I’d be cautious and ideally demo the idea with parts you already have even if borrowed from another bike before going shopping just in case it doesn’t work for you...

I did this to a Genesis CDF (flatbar single speed CX build) and loved it. It was great fun.

I didn't need to lengthen the stem as much as I expected: I ran a 120mm stem, and it was perfect; I now run the same frame with a 100mm stem and drops.

I found it worked great with alt bars (I ran On One Mary's)

Also ended up with Marys on the Croissant of Iron, using the same stem that came with it, so 100-110. Really bloody like it!

Those flat bar tiagra shifters aren't cheap tho :-/ I'd probably change the mech instead

I have a Kona flat bar CX hybrid. It originally came with a 130mm stem and 580mm flat bars. Fine for commuting and the odd bit of gravel path, but I wanted to ride it more off road so messed about with bars and stems and ended up with 750mm risers with a 70mm stem. They are 25.4mm OD so add a bit of spring to what can be a chattery ride.

Works fine.

It has now been relegated to turbo use. A very posh turbo bike dripping in Hope, Thomson, Race Face, XT. I'll try and post some photos if / when it stops raining.

Flat bar cx? Surely that’s like an ATB from 1992?
And that’s from someone who loved his rigid orange clockwork and currently owns a giant cx bike....

Mate did this to a genesis day one 853.
Carbon dh bars, ergon grips with bar ends.
Alfine 11 hub, so a matching shimano trigger was used.
He didn’t change stem length, but is running quite wide bars.
He loves it, it has transformed a bike that wasn’t quite right for him, into a bike that’s perfect for him.

...cant be arsed now

Flat bar cx? Surely that’s like an ATB from 1992?

It is an evolution from that sort of bike and would be used for the same purpose I imagine. It would now have disc brakes, ahead stem, tubeless wheels, lighter frame/overall weight so same sort of thing but just better.

Re shifters:
You could keep the 105 mechs if you use bar end shifters, you can get adapters to mount them on flat bars so thet they operate just like a thumbshifter.
I use just such a setup, 10spd dura ace shifter, mounted on the bars, pulling a 9spd xt mech across a 10spd cassette.
It works beautifully. https://flic.kr/p/2dD6rtV

I've thought about putting flat bars on my Cannondale CAADX. I don't enjoy riding it as a 'cross bike/off road. It's considerably less fun than my hard tail for all off road riding.

But the CAADX with flat bars would make an awesome super commuter, it has mounts for guards/rack. Flat bars, and flat pedals would be a better setup for commuting through town traffic IMO.

I'm not sure the shorter reach is a concern, as with a flat bar you'd want to sit up a bit, and be less aero/over the bars. So a shorter reach, would position you that way?

I did that to my Giant Revolt . I'd already put a slightly shorter Stem on when I had drops so just put original Stem back on . I learned that there are indeed "flat bar shifters ' but being tight didn't fancy paying well over £100 for them !My LBS got me a Deore rear mech and an XT shifter , I got the other shifter , a pair of 740mm Kona flat bars and I bought a new pair of Clarkes hydraulic brakes a world better than the BB7 cable jobbers . In total I spent £120 , sold some of the old bits for £50 net outlay £70 and I love it ! "Frank" is my go to bike this time of year just get on and ride it nothing precious about it , more than had my money's worth 😎

I’m not sure the shorter reach is a concern, as with a flat bar you’d want to sit up a bit, and be less aero/over the bars. So a shorter reach, would position you that way?

It works that way for me I use the same stem for risers, bullhorns or drops

Mate of mine has built up a Vitus cx frame using a flat bar (685cm) and he laughs at me for riding drop bars off road. He is 70 mind, and does it for the more upright position

Try a pair of wider shallow drop bars first, On-One Midge or similar. I find them much easier than normal drops.

I've done this with a cube cx frame set and tiagra for a one bike does all got carbon riser bar with stubee bar ends gel pads and double bartape wrapped very comfortable.

Drops (and aero position) off road is horrible.

Drops (and aero position) off road is horrible.

Au contraire, being in teh drops makes for most excellent descending off road.

Anyway for the vast majority of riders, on the hoods with straight / horizontal fore arms is moar aeros than on the drops.

2015 CAADX with flat bars, 4600 shifters and Clark hydro brakes
Bit uncomfortable on the shoulders, Still a cracking commuter tho
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RLpgHmqDvyY8vWXC6

Proper photo for above
Additional info
Cannondale flat bars cut to 460mm (similar width to the drops)and some ergo grips