Tricross - Swap Drops to Flats

Stuww

I've had my Specialized Tricross for 3 weeks or so and I really love the bike, although I am starting to have reservations about drop bars!

Having not used drops for many years, I new the transtion from flat bars would be tricky.

I'm tending to find that moving from the hoods or across the tops of the bars down to the levers every time I need to change gear or brake very tedious. Having thinner tyres and bigger wheels than my old 26" Giant means any change of hand posistion makes the bike twitch a bit.

I will give this a few more weeks to see if I can adjust to this style of riding, but then may consider putting flat bars on the bike. I see Pinnacle do a flat bar and drop bar version of their crosser so I assume it's feasible?

What sort of job would this be to do and what would the shopping list of parts comprise of. I'd like to keep a similar level of groupset as is currently specced on the bike.

Thanks for any advise.

Regards

Stu

attica

Have you tried braking whilst on the hoods? I find this to be better than going down to the drops and only ever use them when descending (more for aerodynamic effect than anything else).

If you do decide to change, you'll need to buy new levers, shifters, cables, cable outers, grips, the bars themselves and maybe a new stem. The shifters should work as long as you get shifters for the right number of gears and the brake levers will need to have a pull appropriate to the sort of brakes you've got, LBS should be able to advise.

dirk_van_gently

Hands on the hoods, brake and change gear from there.
Try raising the stem 5mm or so, amazing what a difference it can make.
Stick with the drops, you will get used to them.

marcba

Attica pointed the great amount of expense you'll have to make for such a switch.
I also think that additional brake levers should do the trick (some cycle bands sell their cyclo cross bikes with such components). Or you can switch your drops to a flat aero or tandem stocker handlebars, and keep your current levers (they should be easier reachable).

But, as you write in your message, keep riding with your curent setting. You will surely been more used to your drop bars after a few weeks.

BentMikey

I changed one bike the other way, from flats to drops. My conclusion was it was expensive and not as good as starting with a drop barred bike from the beginning. All good advice in the posts above.