straight bars on road bike

vim147
vim147 Posts: 120
edited June 2011 in Road beginners
Anyone switch between straight bars and drop bars on their road bike?

Am looking to get a specialized allez. Was originally looking to get a hybrid.

Would it just be a easy swap or need new brakes and gears?

Comments

  • night_porter
    night_porter Posts: 888
    It is fairly simple to do but if you buy new parts it will be expensive. You could seach ebay for the right parts and it might work out a lot cheaper.

    The brakes and gears can stay the same but you will need new brake levers and gear levers and probably new cables. You will need to know how to change these things and setup the gears and brakes afterwards.

    You must buy gear levers that will match the number of gears you already have and if you decide to use mtb levers you will probably need to change the front mech too.

    If you buy an allez why not try riding it for a while with the drops and you might find you like them anyway? Or seeing as you asked the question probably better to go with a Sirrus in the first place.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I really can't see the point in this - just get used to drops.
  • topdude
    topdude Posts: 1,557
    Just done this myself, cost about £80 if you source the bits carefully :D
    Bars
    Brake levers for caliper brakes (not V brake levers)
    Gear levers (MTB)
    Front mech (MTB)
    Bar grips / bar ends.
    If you want a nippy light road bike with flat bars instead of a Hybrid it is a great conversion to do :D
    He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy !!
  • night_porter
    night_porter Posts: 888
    Whilst I agree with topdude it is still only viable if you know what components you want and how to do it! I did the opposite and added drops to my flat barred roadie.

    The Specialized Sirrus is a flat barred road bike bars not an mtb/hybrid it has been built specifically to cater for the people who want a fast roadie with flat bar comfort.
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    cougie wrote:
    I really can't see the point in this - just get used to drops.
    There's plenty reasons people may not want to use drops, from simple preference to any number of neck and back injuries, etc. If you can't or don't want to use drops but you still want to take advantage of the low weight of a road bike then why not?

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