flat to drop conversion

nakaji

Hi folks,

I am the proud and loving owner of a 2008 Genesis Day 02 flat bar road bike (bargain at £800). Full Shimano 105 compact componentry, carbon forks, bars and seatpost. It's fast as a bugger and I love it to bits..... but, yes, finally, I've been seduced by drops.

My local shop advises against - wrong geometry, less resale value etc. But I'm not convinced by them. For example, the latest Day 01 drop has the same frame geometry as the flat, I never want to sell it - it's destined for my son after me.

I've tried in vain to get geometry figures from Genesis to no avail but is this really an issue?

I want 105 STI drop shifters and some decent bars but will it really be so bad to convert? There may even be resale value in my current shifters and handlebar, they're mint 'cos the bikes less then a year old.

Thoughts?

Gragi

Cost of shifters, bar tape, inner and outer cables. Possibly a new stem.
You've got caliper brakes so the 105 STI shifters should work fine with these. Can't see any problems with doing it.

I've done it twice on hybrids but these both had V brakes which complicated it a bit more - I had to get canti brakes and do a fudge putting hangers onto the rear of the frame. But you won't have any of these problems. The only factor is cost. In terms of quality of ride I think drop bar wins every time on the road from a comfort perspective - and I haven't regretted converting the two bikes I've done so far.

So I would say go for it.

nakaji

Cheers Gragi, one question, why new stem? Sorry I'm a bit of a newbie.

maddog 2

the position on the hoods is generally further forward than the bar-end position on a flat bar setup, all other things being equal. So if the current FB position is spot-on then the drop version might benefit from a shorter stem.

If the current stem is O/S then try it with your new drops and go from there.

The Genesis Day is effectively a roadie with a flat bar so I wouldn't worry about geometry issues. The main issue is your position on the bike and comfort.

Just sell the FB shifters, bar, levers and replace with drops, bar tape and STI.

ps I'm no fan of drops by the way...

nakaji

Love this forum and love your advice, things are becoming clearer, thanks maddog 2, understand now. actually my stem is rather big.

Why no fan of drops? Am i succumbing to fashion? I'm still in two minds to be honest. I have ergo bar ends to change position but I do like riding as fast as possible.

Also I'm moving to Japan this year to a fairly mountainous town.

I love climbing - drops or flats?

Gragi

Ultimately it's what you find comfortable - so only you'll be able to decide.

What I like with the drop bars is the variety of hand positions and fact the bar isn't too wide compared to flat bar, although you can get around both of these issues by having bar ends (and tri bars?) and cutting the bars so they are more akin to road bar width.

I also prefer the hand position for shifting with the STIs compared to flat bar shifters.

Advantages of flat bars - easier to use V brakes and Disk Brakes (in terms of currently more variety of choice), and I think components are usually cheaper e.g. flat bar shifters versus STIs

I wouldn't fancy climbing a long mountain on a flat barred bike, I would find it uncomfortable when climbing out of the saddle - much prefer the hand position of holding the STIs for this. But again this is personal preference.

Gragi

PS there are many varied shapes of drop handlebar for road bikes which will impact on comfort. So if you decide for drop bars I would try out a variety of different styles in the bike shop to see which feels most comfortable.

nakaji

Great point Gragi. One of the things I hate about my bars is that they're so wide!

I'm not so concerned about price. This will be my last serious purchase and Shimano is about 25% cheaper in Japan, where I'll be soon.

Have you any advice on drop bars? I'm 6 foot 2 inches, the bikes 58cm, I'm 75 kilos and quite slim. My bike is quite 'twitchy', i.e. responds to changes of direction VERY quick. But it accelerates VERY quick also.

I want control and speed, don't we all. I also want them to be strong because I do put a lot of pressure on my bars. Don't feel 100% confident with carbon.

maddog 2

my flat bars are 47cm wide, so they're pretty similar to drops

also I run L-bend bar ends so I have 4 positions basically

you get used to what you get used to. I've never liked drops. I don't like having to twist my hand to hold the hoods, I don't like having the weight on the fleshy bit between my thumb and first finger. I don't like having to descend on the drops, as it's harder to unweight the front end and bunny hop cattle grids etc. I don't like it that it's harder to wheelie. I prefer the control, braking, and descending of flats. Plus you can run Vs, discs, dual pivots, whatever you want.

Each to his own 8)