Has anyone converted their road bike to a flat bar "urban" bike?

I really don’t get on with drop bars and wondered if anyone has done this?
If so, what route did you take? (Shifters etc).

Also, pics people! This is the internet after all.

Sheeeesh.

Specialized Allez with flat bars and bar ends

My only road bike, used for commuting to work once a week, 16 miles each way

isnt a Specialized Sirrus actually an Allez in hybrid mode?

Nope. Went the other way with a flat bar’d CX bike to drops.

Bars, grips, brake levers, (make sure to get ones for calipers or mini-vee’s, standard V brakes pull a different amount of cable) shifters and perhaps a new stem to compensate for a different reach. Might not be too expensive if you have decent STI’s to sell.

…..HYBRID!

Yeah, Sirrus is a hybrid Allez

But I had to start with an Allez, it was crashed by a mate so I converted it. It’s actually too small for me but with flat bars and a riser it fits much better. Hasn’t got much clearance for mudguards and practical stuff but I’m really enjoying riding it. Set my PB for my work commute this afternoon, just crept under an hour for the first time ever!

Converted my BTwin Triban 3 to flat bar with mtb v-brake levers. They pull twice as much cable, so have less leverage. I love it, easy to set up brakes, nice solid feel but still plenty of braking power.

I think the frame in my boardman hybrid is possibly the same as the road bike frame. TBF the only question I was left asking myself, after replacing a drop bar bike with a fast hybrid, was “why did it take so long”. Far happier now.

here

Here’s my Planet X pro carbon with flat bars for commuting on. This was before I cut the steerer down. I find nipping in and out of the pedestrians/dogs etc… that frequent my cycle path route much easier on a flat bar.

I opened this thread out of some morbid curiosity. This is all just so wrong. 🙁

I’m relieved that some pictures haven’t uploaded properly.

if you are wanting to change from drops to flat bars but keep the caliper brakes & road front mech you will need the shimano “R” designated brake levers & shifters – to make sure you get the correct pull ratio for the brakes & for the front sprocket shifting (mtb & road front mechs are different). Shimano Tiagra r440 brake levers & r440 shifters for 9 speed triple for example

So…do you need a longer or shorter stem? My mrs is thinking of doing the same

Yep, converted my Van Nicholas Yukon to flat bars plus bar ends to create The Super Commuter!

I flogged the Ultegra 6600 drivetrain and fitted Shimano R780 levers, SPDs and a 1×10 (44t x 11:36) transmission. To further the sacrilege, I put mudguards on it, plus a Deuter frame bag. I love it. Must post a photo so the flaming can commence!

longer stem – you lose some of the rear that riding on the hoods gives.

My cross bike has gradually undergone this transformation and is so much more comfortable to ride. Part of this is its transition from sort of cross bike to child carrier / poodle / do everything bike.

I went for Carnegies bars that i had in the garage, and a set of £15 Deore LX flappy paddle shifters which are pretty good for this sort of use.

May swap to a normal flat bar soon though, as not convinced about the bendy bars, although nice wide bars help a lot with a 4 year old on the back!

Will try to do photos tonight, but it ain’t pretty

I’ve recently been gifted an old ‘racer’ with drop bars that I want to put flat bars on (and bar ends :op) The gear levers are on the down tube. I keep meaning to go out and measure the dia of the current bar. Are they likely to be a standard size for a bike that old and what is it? where should I look for a bar for it? (the road bike or mtb section of crc for eg.)

I bought a frame I liked from a local bike builder [ Terry Dolan ] and had it built to my spec with tiagra groupset and flat bars.It suits me as I also don’t like drop bars.cost about £700 but could be done cheaper if you based around a winter trainer type frame .

105 has flat bar option. It’s as valid as any other flat bar set-up. I prefer drops myself because I have five hand positions.

When you say you didn’t get on with them, did the bike fit properly? Lots of people ride with drops too low and far away, so can’t ride them properly. To counter this it is common to rotate the bars back that means that it is impossible to reach the shifters on the drops.

two for the price of one

equilibrium by Dicky Boy 500[/url], on Flickr

See i dont ‘get’ the whole flat bar racer thing. Your just putting a flat bar in the same place as the flat/straight bit of a drop bar, losing the extra hand positions which allow you to stretch out on longer rides. Most complaints seem to be based on the fact the rider was uncomfortable before, which is odd sicne they then end up in the same position or make mods to reach/ride without first trying the same on the drop bar.

Not necessarily to do with just the bars though is it? I prefer / am more used to mtb shifters & brakes these days – so prefer a similar set up on my road bike or rather “hybrid” if I am not to offend the purists

I did about 22 years ago…

All my mates went and got MTB, I chucked some flat bars, MX brakes, knobbly tires and a rear mech protector (remember them) on my Falcon racer… which I then painted black.

Happy days

Surely the answer is flat bar road bike with bar ends for out-of-the-saddle stuff.

STATO – Member

See i dont ‘get’ the whole flat bar racer thing. Your just putting a flat bar in the same place as the flat/straight bit of a drop bar,

Probably not, most likely you’ll be fitting a wider bar and you’re likely to want to change the stem too.

I think what I disliked about drop bars is that there’s really only one good position, the drops. But it’s far from ideal for some riding, as it cuts your visibility, so you end up riding on the hoods with a less good position and compromised braking. My flats have only one riding position, but it’s the one riding position I want the most, when it matters most.

I just bought this instead….

I’ve got a load of kit for converting a drop bar to a flat bar if you’re interested – drop me an email.

I’ve got shifters, mechs, cassette, brake levers for canti brakes.

I’ve tried both and I think that flat bars are great for more technical riding in cities and bike paths (getting out of walkers and other cyclists way) as the control is a lot better. Also visibility and ease of getting to the brakes is improved.
I am now on drop bars as I only tend to do longer rides and no commuting – drops are way comfier for long distances BUT I reckon harder to get a good fit – I asked loads of bike shops about which bars to get and what to consider. Didn’t get on with a couple but now have some FSA carbon wing bars which are a dream come true! Loads of comfy hand position, absorb shock but stuff when you need them to be.

Another thing I found when I had flats on my road bike was that I rode my bike like I was attacking some singletrack when in a town, weaving round cars, braking suddenly etc. Made it a bit more stressful and got the back up of a few motorists. Drops mean you have to plan your braking and weaving around isn’t as easy so it made me chill out and calm down a bit. Might not apply to a lot of people but worked for me so I might be a but safer out there now.

Those boardman flat bar bikes are really nice.

Specialized Allez and Specialized Sirrus have very different geometry and 2 models of the same size fit very differently

Sirrus feels short and tall with very long upright head tube

Allez (similar geometry as the carbon fibre Tarmac) feels long and low with short head tube

I own a Tarmac and a Sirrus. Sirrus has mudguards and is used for wet weather riding and wet commuting.

Tarmac for proper road riding and dry commutes when I need to go fast

For the Sirrus I have cut the fork steerer to minimum height, removed the taper headset cap (which is a cover for the flat headset cap underneath) and used a BG Stem set at -16 degrees, all in an effort to get the handlebar as low as possible due to the long head tube.

Its not as fast as the Tarmac due to the more upright position (you feel this going against wind) but its comfortable and great for cruising at a relatively fast pace. Bike is 9.4kg with mix of Tiagra and 105 and road wheel / tires and carbon seatpost / bars / saddle

I’ve converted a good number of drop bar road bike to flat bar bikes for customers who just could not get on with the drop bar positions.

Its not cheap but they all seemed happier afterwards with most commenting they actually rode their bike regularly, which was not the case when their bikes had drops.

Specialized also sell a couple of high end mens (sirrus) and womens (vita) models which actually use the Roubaix and Ruby carbon road frames fitted with flat bars and flat bar shifter / brake levers as stock

Why do so many people scoff at flat barred road bikes because they limit hand positions yet mock bar-ends that seem to offer mtb riders more hand option choice?

Kinda …

My Condor went from Midge ‘bars to Mungo ‘bars (hmm, so no great change). Other than re-doing the cables and swapping the stem about for fit, I reused everything else (Shimano 600 levers, Dura-Ace BL7700 bar-end-shifters).

I wasn’t too sure at first, but they’ve definitely grown on my (on this bike at least).

I’m up on the hoods on my Midge ‘bars anyway 90% of the time, so these don’t feel radically different.
(My flat ‘bar of choice is usually Jones Loop Bars, but I don’t think they’d suit this bike).