Converting to drop bars

samzgaastra

Hi Guys, long time "courier" bike rider, I'm now converting my Specialized Sirrus to drop bars. I've asked around in the local shops and had varying degrees of succes from blase "we can do it" attitudes to those who say it's impossible but I've done my research and I'm going for it.

The plan is to test a few road bikes with similar geometry to my bike and pick a set of bars that feels good (my shoulders are pretty wide). I've just picked up brand new Shimano sora shifters for a song on ebay and I've discovered I need a new stem as well.

Everything else - brakes specifically - I'll tackle as I come to it but I just wanted a heads up from anyone out there who's done similar. Are there any pitfalls I need to watch out for?

Thanks to all in advance.

Sam

Ben6899

Depends on the frame geometry of the Sirrus... drop bars might stretch you out a little too much.

samzgaastra

Sorry, should've said that I've mapped the geometry of the Sirrus against my brother's Lemond bike and, give or take a mm here and there, it's the same including angles.

keef66

I once considered putting drop bars on a slicked up rigid mtb. I gave up on the idea once I'd worked out I'd need to replace most of the drivetrain and the brakes might not work. I bought a road bike instead.

Your Sirrus might be a cheaper / more practical proposition.

Mister W

You can do it but it can be expensive, although the biggest cost is the shifters and I see you've already picked some up.

You need bars (obviously), bar tape, shifters, cables (including outers) and new brakes.... no, take that back. I've just checked the spec of the Sirrus and it already has mini-v brakes which will work with drop bar brake levers.

It's all pretty straightforward. Remove the old levers and cables then the old bars. Fit the new bars. Fit the new shifters. Run the new cables. Adjust the gears. Adjust the brakes. Fit new bar tape. Job done. The trickiest part of adjusting the gears but have a look on the Park Tools website for some tips on how to do it.

markshaw77

Mister W wrote:

You can do it but it can be expensive, although the biggest cost is the shifters and I see you've already picked some up.

You need bars (obviously), bar tape, shifters, cables (including outers) and new brakes.... no, take that back. I've just checked the spec of the Sirrus and it already has mini-v brakes which will work with drop bar brake levers.

It's all pretty straightforward. Remove the old levers and cables then the old bars. Fit the new bars. Fit the new shifters. Run the new cables. Adjust the gears. Adjust the brakes. Fit new bar tape. Job done. The trickiest part of adjusting the gears but have a look on the Park Tools website for some tips on how to do it.

It depends - not all models of the sirrus (particularly the older ones) have the mini-Vs so make sure you check. My 2008 Sirrus Comp has ordinary V brakes.

I have just been through something similar with my sirrus (see the blog in my signature) and the whole lever-brake issue was such a pain in the *ss with so much conflicting information that I ended up buying a SH road bike F&F and building that up instead!

That's not to say that you can't or shouldn't do it as everything apart from the brakes is all doable with some common sense.

ride_whenever

If you have v-brakes rather than mini-v's just fit a travel adjuster, works fine. Then all you need is the bars and levers and tape. Although i'd fit new cables whilst you're at it.

vorsprung

You could just fit some of these - drop bar bar ends