Drop bars on a mountain bike, any experience?

I’ve a recently brought Dialled Bikes Love/Hate frame sat in my spare room which I’m going to build up as a rigid singlespeed, mainly for using when I’m out with my wife and daughter on our bikes at places such as Sherwood Pines but I’m also thinking of using it for commuting to work.

Now having friends who ride road bikes they are always speaking of the benefits of riding on drops over flat bars when commuting etc so I was wondering whether it would be possible to fit some drops to my Love/Hate.

Does anyone ride drops on a mountain bike? Is it more comfortable? Any photos of your bikes so equipped?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Ps, “Buy a proper road frame/bike” is not useful BTW, I want to make use of what I’ve got. If I buy another bike my wife may cut bits of me off while I sleep.

😉

Get hold of Tree Magnet, he does…

Oh, and IIRC so does Druidh..

Damn, I forgot to add.

“Please, no photos of Johnny T”.

Works fine but you’ll want a v short stem. Avid road discs are good.

I’d have thought the two uses you want the bike for will require very different gears?

There was a guy on MTBR.com who was very into this. IIRC he had drop bars on a Kona Coiler with quite a high gnarl-rating. Shiggy, perhaps?

I used drops on a singlespeed (old speccy rockhopper) for ages as a ss commuter. It was fine but looked a bit wrong as you have to use a horrible super short high rise stem to get the bars in the right place (ie. not massively far forward and dropped)

Also brake wise you are limited to rim brakes or cable discs.

Very nice.

I’d have thought the two uses you want the bike for will require very different gears?

Not really. I push quite a high ratio on my Dialled Bikes Holeshot which I currently use a damn sight more than any of my geared bikes at Sherwood and I’m not looking for supersonic commuting speed, just something comfortable. If need be though its easy enough to change a sprocket and fit a different chain for the occasional weekend trip out with the family.

Shiggy’s drop bars

Roger

I know someone who has done it – he uses his old Explosif for commuting duties. He does, however, have a set of STIs on it as he runs it geared.

There’s no real reason why this could’t be done, though as people have pointed out, the TT length on an MTB means that you’ll need a short stem.

You will also probably find that, like most people who ride drop bars, you’re not actually in the drops that much, instead riding with your hands on the hoods or on the tops. However, the option to change hand position is excellent, and a great reason to use them.

For a bit of compromise, look at wider drops (Rivendell, One-one Mary) and also cross drops, which sometime flare in the drop. On the road, I favour a shallow drop bar – you get the efficiency of drops without having to remove a rib like the old Belgian deep drops require. Have a look at the FSA Omega compact when available again.

Otherwise, you need to think about gearing. Off road will need something low-ish (though I note you’re planning on using the bike for family rides). On road, something bigger will be necessary – say 68-72″, depending on how hilly your commute is.

Also, think about wheels – if you’re only ever running reasonably skinny tyres, then maybe a 700c wheel would be a better choice. You could have the rear built up on a MTB hub. If there’s enough clearance in the frame (you may need a 29er fork), then you could probably swap between CX and regular road (say 25c) tyres.

Just a few thoughts….

As well as Shiggy’s stuff, have a look at Matt Chester’s articles on 63xc.com

Someone (is it Ritchey?) is doing a lot of work on “compact” drops which are very shallow for the road.

Don’t the kids these days call it ‘cyclocross’? 😛

this is an old Trek frame with MTB gearing – i fitted 29C wheels but i’ve since ridden with a mate who had very narrow 26″ slicks and couln’t really tell the difference
i wanted this bike so could ride into headwind and thrash along the trans pennine trail – this an old frame with a geometry probably closer to a hybrid or tourer than an MTB frame designed for suspension
big consideration is brake pull – if you use STI’s then without adaptors you can’t use Vees i believe – similar for mechanical discs i would guess

If your actually going to ride in the drops then fair enough, but if not a set of narrow flat bars & some Ergon’s will be just as good.
I cant ride in the drops on my commuter…my stomach gets in the way. 🙂

Don’t the kids these days call it ‘cyclocross’

i just call mine a f’ugly compromise as i don’t race around muddy fields*

*ok i accept the three peaks as an exception

The frame (Dialled Bikes Love/Hate) is disc only so I will probably be using Avid road-specific disc with the appropriate brake levers.

Thanks for the responses so far folks. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the On-One Mary bars but I’ve also seen these advertised and they seem quite well rated. As I’m off to the states soon perhaps it’ll be worth waiting to buy some over there.

I cant ride in the drops on my commuter…my stomach gets in the way

i don’t commute but sometines ride to the gym or shops (to get and get rid of the gut respectively) and riding with rucsac and drops is not at all comfy for me

me on midge bars 😉

oh and avid cable discs are great and the stem doesnt normally need to be mega short but a higher rise . which in turn makes it shorter lol ie my stem was 90mm 15 deg rise so it lifted the bars slightly and the effective length of stem ended up about 70mm. enjoy 😉

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where’s the bucket?!

Don’t bother.
Waste of time and money to try and convert a MTB to run with drops.

Looks wrong.
Rides crap.
Compromised for just about everything.
Shiggy should not be listened to.
Matt Chester builds bikes specifically for use with drops so has some sense.
Tomac was a legend. Are you?
It will give you next to no benefit on the road (your riding a MTB afterall) and give you issues offroad.

Sell it and buy a cross bike as that sounds like what you actually need/want.

Rides crap.
Compromised for just about everything.
It will give you next to no benefit on the road (your riding a MTB afterall) and give you issues offroad.

what a load of cockwash 😉

Funnily enough your riding a bike designed for drop bars.

actually im not the swift was never actually designed around drops the one after it is tho 😉

what a load of cockwash

And he didn’t even read my initial post properly, otherwise he wouldn’t have posted that.

For the less diligent amongst us,

Ps, “Buy a proper road frame/bike” is not useful BTW, I want to make use of what I’ve got. If I buy another bike my wife may cut bits of me off while I sleep.

.

I have most of the parts to build up the Love/Hate. All I lack is handlebars, stem and brakes suitable for a drop bar set-up.

another vote for a proper cyclocross bike/frame. As you have described it this what you actually need! I have a SS crosser on a 42 x 16 ratio with drops. Works really well for commuting and light off road duties.

If you want to keep this frame then the midge or mary bars seem like an ideal compromise. Onw word of warning on your SS ratio though. If you go for a 32 x 16 for off road then although you say you are taking it easy it so frustrating on road. You will be spinning for England and getting know where!

32 x 16 for off-road on a singlespeed! Thats the gear ration of choice for little girls.

36 x 16 thankyouverymuch.

The classic and best were WTB Dirt Drops: I believe recently re-introduced, but with changes (anatomic? over-size?). Nearest copies I’ve found of originals are Origin 8 Gary Bars (only from USofA I think). On Ones the next best.

dj6061 – These ones?

I ran a 1997 or 98 specialized rockhopper with rigid forks with drops for years, did not change stem – did not have any problems. Ran it with sora 8 speed stis and avid shorty cantilevers. My only problem came with chainstay clearance when I put a road crankset on. Used a rack and panniers to carry stuff.

I once put BMX handlebars on my mountain bike when I was about 12/13, and that looked just as crap.

I have most of the parts to build up the Love/Hate. All I lack is handlebars, stem and brakes suitable for a drop bar set-up.

Sell the lot and buy a cross bike. Sorted.

And he didn’t even read my initial post properly, otherwise he wouldn’t have posted that.

I did which is why I posted the original stuff.
You pretty much asked for experience and my final statement about buying a cross bike is what you’ll end up doing one day and wishing you had all along. Loads of lovely 1 speed versions around for not a lot of money.

My Gryphon.

My El Mariachi.

And Karate Monkey (now sold)

When I was commuting on road I used inboard mounted bar ends which offered some benefit on long runs into headwinds. I personally prefer flats when riding in traffic as well.

i had drops on my voodoo, proper size wheels though, and an incarnation with cx wheels and tyres, you will need V’s or avid discs though

I toyed with the idea of drops when I built up my old Kona Explosif for commuting but never did, just put wide flat Salsa’s on, wished I’d not seen these pics as am now thinking about it again, that Gryphons lovely

Singlespeedstu – Clent Hills and the Wyre Forest I presume? 🙂