drop handlebars on hybrid? would it look stupid?

dustinseymourhoffman

Hi everyone this is my first post so please go easy on me!

I am a new commuter and have a Carrera subway 1. Its a nice enough bike but recently i have been thinking i much i would love drop handlebars. I dont really want a new bike so was wondering is it possible to do a conversion? I have gripshift gears so obviously they would have to come off. does anyone know if this is a massive job?

if anyone can help thanks!

The Rookie

Its a fair bit of work
1/ New brake and shift levers (and Subway use MTB V-brakes so getting the right pull ratio will be hard/impossible and you may well be swapping the brakes to canti's)
2/ 25.4mm clamp on a subway, so new stem and 31.8 bars or shims needed
3/ Geometry may be all wrong, flat barred bikes usually run longer top tube lengths so you may find your stretched out somewhat

Yes its a big job and really not worth it in my opinion.

Simon

PS welcome to Bike radar

dustinseymourhoffman

Thanks Simon! Yeah I think i will leave it then. That sounds like a lot of work!

Neil.

Salsa

I was considering something like that on my SS MTB commuter & it is possible, if I could have found a hi rise stem cheap I might have done it. Trouble was as stated it wasn't going to be particularly cheap or easy.
I was going to use a few parts from On-One>
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/BLDC287V/di ... ake-levers
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HBOOMI/on-o ... -handlebar

sc999cs

A colleague at work did just this with a Subway 8 (the one with the internal hub gear). He mounted the grip shifter on an extension bracket. I think he decided that it wasn't worthwhile because he has put the drop handlebars back on the road bike he owns. I'll try and find out what he thought.

cyberknight

you can get bar ends in the shape of a drop, but it would be a very wide grip and i doubt it would be comfortable.

The issue with conversions have already been stated and you have to consider you will probably need a different stem length as flat bar bikes have a different length top tube as they are generally designed for a more upright riding position.

For a subway 1 it is going to cost you a fair bit and imho is not worth it as you could probably pick up a second hand bike off fleabay for the same amount.

I had a subway 1 and with normal bar ends and slicks it could shift for its size .....

dustinseymourhoffman

Thanks for your help everybody. I have decided to stick with my bike the way it is for now and look into the possibility of barends. my commute is only 4 miles each way so i suppose my handlebars are fine for that journey anyway.

buy_my_cookies

I kind of did this to a MTB,

started with front sus MTB, knobbly tyres etc,

changed to slicks
up'ed front rings to 28 38 48 (was max that frame would take)
decided drops would be fun (got 2nd hand sora STI's, bars, riser stem, bar tape etc new cables)
then wanted changed to a rigid fork and at the same time decided to put some 700c wheels onit (so new wheels, forks, brakes, mavic brake adapter thingy for back, tubes, tyres, road cassette)
now looking at a ribble road frame to complete the transformation (and new back wheel needed due to drop out size)

mostly all 2nd hand parts, buts its been costly still!

and what did i learn from it, SHOULD HAVE just got a decent 2nd hand road bike!

rolf_f

buy_my_cookies wrote:

I kind of did this to a MTB,

started with front sus MTB, knobbly tyres etc,

changed to slicks
up'ed front rings to 28 38 48 (was max that frame would take)
decided drops would be fun (got 2nd hand sora STI's, bars, riser stem, bar tape etc new cables)
then wanted changed to a rigid fork and at the same time decided to put some 700c wheels onit (so new wheels, forks, brakes, mavic brake adapter thingy for back, tubes, tyres, road cassette)
now looking at a ribble road frame to complete the transformation (and new back wheel needed due to drop out size)

mostly all 2nd hand parts, buts its been costly still!

and what did i learn from it, SHOULD HAVE just got a decent 2nd hand road bike!

Yes but, assuming you kept the parts, when you get your new frame you can build the left overs into a nice mountain bike

buy_my_cookies

plan is to rebuild using the MTB parts to make a hybrid bike to use as a pub/shop/run around type thing. that will put me to 3 bikes. and after that i think n+1 will kick in again for a winter commuter.