Looking For Flat Bar Road Bike

neilvx

Hello everyone,

My cycle to work scheme is coming to an end so I am now looking for a road bike to replace my Hybrid (Scott Sub 45).

My Scott has done me really well but I won't to get a bike as close to a road bike as possible with flat bars. I am stuck to using flat bars as I have a bad wrist which doesn't have full movement.

As I want to take advantage of the CWS the budget is round £1000, I have had a quick look but as to expect most are drop bars and it's hard to find flat bars. I have taken a liking to a 2012 Giant Rapid 2 and I also liked the 2011 Scott Speedster but they have stopped making flat bars version for 2012 .

So please hit me with any information and links to help me out

Many thanks

Neil.

asprilla

Specialized Sirrus springs immediately to mind as an option. Was also going to mention the flat. At speedster but I didn't realise they had stopped it for 2012.

apreading

Sirrus is a very different bike though. The geometry is more sit up and beg than flat bar road bike.

Look at the Boardman Hybrid or Whyte Portobello perhaps - I was weighing both up them up against the Giant Rapid and went for the Boardman. The Whyte and Giant bikes are even closer to a road bike than the Boardman though.

neilvx

I like the look of the Comp but was hoping to get one with either 23c / 25c (hope that is right) tyres, my hybrid is running 32c.

Can you fit the slimmer tyres if required to something like the Comp ???

Stevo_666

apreading wrote:

Look at the Boardman Hybrid or Whyte Portobello perhaps - I was weighing both up them up against the Giant Rapid and went for the Boardman. The Whyte and Giant bikes are even closer to a road bike than the Boardman though.

+1 for the Boardman. Bombproof commuter bike, like mine a lot.

apreading

Neilvx wrote:

I like the look of the Comp but was hoping to get one with either 23c / 25c (hope that is right) tyres, my hybrid is running 32c.

Can you fit the slimmer tyres if required to something like the Comp ???

You can fit slimmer tyres on the Sirrus, but your posts suggest to me that you havent really worked out what type of bike you want yet. There is a massive difference between the Giant Rapid and the Spesh Sirrus - two completely different bikes. So if they were both on your list then you need to put some work into defining what you are looking for - I would suggest some decent test rides on a variety of bikes. You wont be able to test ride the Boardmans but if you have an Evans, they will get a Whyte Portobello and a Sirrus Comp in for you to try - they did for me and I found one is flat out, stretched and racy and the other sit up and beg and designed for comfort. The Boardman was in between the Whyte and the Sirrus but more towards the the racy, road bike feel.

neilvx

I must admit my knowledge is limited and thats why I read a lot of stuff on here

neilvx

Has any one elso got any other suggestions, the more info the better

SaintMark

If you want a bike to be "as close to a road bike as possible with flat bars," then I think the Giant Rapid is probably top choice. My riding buddy has one because he has a neck problem that stops him using drop bars. He loves it, gets out most weekends on the road and has done sportives on it. I have a Specialized Sirrus Elite, which I bought for commuting and to dabble in road riding, it did me fine for a while for both purposes but within a year I got the road riding bug and found myself looking at buying a separate road bike and keeping the Spesh for commuting duties. They look similar but of the two my mate's Giant is the closest to a road bike.

neilvx

SaintMark wrote:

If you want a bike to be "as close to a road bike as possible with flat bars," then I think the Giant Rapid is probably top choice. My riding buddy has one because he has a neck problem that stops him using drop bars. He loves it, gets out most weekends on the road and has done sportives on it. I have a Specialized Sirrus Elite, which I bought for commuting and to dabble in road riding, it did me fine for a while for both purposes but within a year I got the road riding bug and found myself looking at buying a separate road bike and keeping the Spesh for commuting duties. They look similar but of the two my mate's Giant is the closest to a road bike.

Can you say what makes it closer, some people rave about the Sirrus and some say the Giant which means I am stuck in the middle lol. The Sirrus sounds nice on paper and I would love to have the limited edition one :twisted:

apreading

The most crucial thing in this case is that on the Sirrus you sit more upright with the handlebars high and close to you, whereas more road oriented bikes will have you more stretched out and lower body position.

More road oriented bikes will also often come with thinner, lighter frames as they dont need to go off road and thinner, lighter tyres. Road bikes may have a harsher ride too.

Sirrus is fantastic for cruising but the Giant or Boardman will be better if you want to get more out of it - and will make you want to get more out of it as they will invite you to push harder and faster.

Very different rides though - you really need to try both to appreciate them.

neilvx

That is why I asked about the tyres if they can be swapped for thinner road versions, I will have to sort some time like you say to try and see both bikes.

My current Scott Sub 45 Solution is quite a relaxed frame but just want to move up as best I can in to road territory

tarbot18

I have the scott speedster s50 flat bar 2011 and there are some still available on the net if you have a gander.
my local lbs on the wirral still has 1 reduced to £480 from £600.
I
ts a great bike basically identical the normal s50 except for the bars very fast and only weighs 20lb. You could always buy a normal s50 and chuck some flat bars and shifters etc on for less than £60.

SaintMark

apreading wrote:

The most crucial thing in this case is that on the Sirrus you sit more upright with the handlebars high and close to you, whereas more road oriented bikes will have you more stretched out and lower body position.

That is true, but you can also reverse the stem and take out spacers to give you a much lower position, as I have done on my own Sirrus, it is pretty low at the front end now so I don't think that' s a showstopper if you like the look of the Sirrus.

My main observations about the Sirrus vs the Giant is the Sirrus is undergeared, it has "trekking" chainset (48/38/28) and a massive 11-32 cassette, whereas my mate's Giant has a traditional road triple chainset with 52 tooth big ring and more road-oriented 11-28 cassette. Also the Sirrus has mini-V brakes and the Giant has caliper brakes. The Sirrus came with 28c tyres, the Giant came with 25c.

I am now running 23c gatorskins and have upgraded to a compact triple chainset, next upgrade will be the cassette but I'm waiting for the original to wear out before I spend any more on it.

It may come down to personal taste in the end, best bet would be to get a test ride on both - I didn't, I just rode the Sirrus because I simply liked the looks and wanted to own a Specialized; I do now wish I'd tried some others before buying, but I would probably have still bought the same thing ;-)

neilvx

apreading wrote:

Sirrus is a very different bike though. The geometry is more sit up and beg than flat bar road bike.

Look at the Boardman Hybrid or Whyte Portobello perhaps - I was weighing both up them up against the Giant Rapid and went for the Boardman. The Whyte and Giant bikes are even closer to a road bike than the Boardman though.

I happened to be Halfords today and noticed the Boardman Hybrid Pro, on first impressions I must say it did look nice and very tasty lol

DylanM

I recently managed to find a shop that still had some stock of the Scott S20 Flat Bar and I am extremely pleased with it.
Decent discount also with it being a 2011 model.

jejv

> Looking For Flat Bar Road Bike

Don't. A drop bar road bike will be more comfortable. Genesis Equilibrium, with a short high stem (?£15?) if you are nervous about drop bars, or quite reasonably just want a more relaxed position.

The Equilibrium takes sensible sized tyres for the non-racer - folk who don't spend much time over 25mph on the flat.

There's an Equilibrium thread.

Or consider a CycloCross bike, which is a lot more versatile.

Why do you want a
- flat bar
- road bike
?

The whole concept of a flat-bar road bike is fairly strange.
It seems like a way of acheiving some of the aspirational elements of a road bike (narrow tyres, silly high gearing, wheelbase too short) - which are recognizable to bikey types, while avoiding drop bars which are obviously bike-geeky to non-bikey types. The aesthetic simplicity of completely straight bars, with associated wrist and arm strain, help to distinguish a flat-barred road bike from a numpty hybrid, with more sensible swept-back bars.

apreading

> Looking For Flat Bar Road Bike

DO - if you want to...

Mine is perfect for me, really dont want drops - hate riding in the drops or on the hoods and riding on the top usually means you dont have the brakes plus your hands are too close in to the centre.

Bar ends are a must though, to give you multiple hand positions. I regularly do 40-50 milers and no problems with wrist or arm strain.

flappy8

Saintmark said

That is true, but you can also reverse the stem and take out spacers to give you a much lower position, as I have done on my own Sirrus

I have a Sirrus and being not that tall don't have the seatpost extended hugely... I have thought about playing with the stem. Is that easy and does it look wierd afterwards?

London_Falcon

flappy8 wrote:

Saintmark said

That is true, but you can also reverse the stem and take out spacers to give you a much lower position, as I have done on my own Sirrus

I have a Sirrus and being not that tall don't have the seatpost extended hugely... I have thought about playing with the stem. Is that easy and does it look wierd afterwards?

This sounds of interest to me too. Could anyone talk us through it??

apreading

Its pretty easy - guy in the shop did it for me in 2 mins when I was test riding. The specialized stems usually give you a variety of angles to choose from.

You just undo the 2 side bolts and top bolt from the stem, take it off and either rotate the angled shim to change the angle of the stem or unbolt the stem from the handlebars, flip it over and reattach.

To reattach the stem to the headset, you put the top plate on and screw it down, with the side bolts left loose. I dont know what the torque should be - I just tighten until the steering rotates freely but the headset doesnt move in its mount. Once you have done that you tighten the side bolts on the stem and slacken off the top bolt.

This may not be that good an explanation - but if you google it you will get useful videos like this: http://www.ehow.com/video_2360978_remov ... -stem.html

SaintMark

Yeah, easy, exactly as apreading said, undo bolts, flip stem and/or shim, do up bolts.
Here's what it looks like with both stem and shim flipped from highest to lowest setting:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1145531737 ... LTnqCM8AE#

So no, not weird.

apreading

SaintMark wrote:

Yeah, easy, exactly as apreading said, undo bolts, flip stem and/or shim, do up bolts.
Here's what it looks like with both stem and shim flipped from highest to lowest setting:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1145531737 ... LTnqCM8AE#

So no, not weird.

You have your brake levers at a very low angle though? I guess its where you want them but looks a bit odd from this angle.

jejv

apreading wrote:

SaintMark wrote:

Yeah, easy, exactly as apreading said, undo bolts, flip stem and/or shim, do up bolts.
Here's what it looks like with both stem and shim flipped from highest to lowest setting:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1145531737 ... LTnqCM8AE#

So no, not weird.

You have your brake levers at a very low angle though? I guess its where you want them but looks a bit odd from this angle.

Probably so he can ride with his fingers on the brake levers, without bending his wrists.

London_Falcon

Thanks for the instructions, flipped the stem this morning. Also fitted some bar ends. Been out for a lap of Richmond Park and like the new set-up so cheers!

SaintMark

apreading wrote:

You have your brake levers at a very low angle though? I guess its where you want them but looks a bit odd from this angle.

Maybe it's a trick of the camera, it's just the natural angle that feels right for me so I can keep my wrists straight and loose while covering the brakes. Although I am quite tall and the Sirrus has a relatively short reach so I guess it does prove that you still sit quite upright even with the stem down low. It's much more like an XC mountain bike riding position than a road bike, which suits me fine as that's the sort of riding I've been doing for the last 20 years

Glad you enjoyed the ride, London_Falcon.

Mr Will

apreading wrote:

>Mine is perfect for me, really dont want drops - hate riding in the drops or on the hoods and riding on the top usually means you dont have the brakes plus your hands are too close in to the centre.

Bar ends are a must though, to give you multiple hand positions. I regularly do 40-50 milers and no problems with wrist or arm strain.

On a correctly set up bike, the hoods will be basically the same position as the bar ends, so I don't see how you can say you hate one and the other is essential. Not all drop-bar bikes are the same and all can be set up in a wide variety of different positions. Try one that fits you before making up your mind.

Not that this necessarily applies to the OP, as I don't know where his wrists are most comfortable. If they can only be knuckles forwards then a flat-bar bike is the sensible option. If they are comfortable knuckles out though (which is the more natural position) then I'd expect a proper road bike to be possible.

tonye_n

Mr Will wrote:

apreading wrote:

>Mine is perfect for me, really dont want drops - hate riding in the drops or on the hoods and riding on the top usually means you dont have the brakes plus your hands are too close in to the centre.

Bar ends are a must though, to give you multiple hand positions. I regularly do 40-50 milers and no problems with wrist or arm strain.

On a correctly set up bike, the hoods will be basically the same position as the bar ends, so I don't see how you can say you hate one and the other is essential. Not all drop-bar bikes are the same and all can be set up in a wide variety of different positions. Try one that fits you before making up your mind.

Not that this necessarily applies to the OP, as I don't know where his wrists are most comfortable. If they can only be knuckles forwards then a flat-bar bike is the sensible option. If they are comfortable knuckles out though (which is the more natural position) then I'd expect a proper road bike to be possible.

Oh give over!
He prefers flat bar bikes.. end of. :roll:

S2Trash

I have made a few small changes to it but a Sirrus LTD 2012

neilvx

Very nice

stuartturbo

I know when i was tempted by flat road bike i looked at GT's tachyon