converting to flatbar advice sought

[Trickymac]

so im thinking of putting a flatbar on my roadie (merida scultura) as i hate dropbars
need some help/advice on brands.... so ill need new brake levers, shifters and of course a flatbar
suggestions/links please

 

[pistonbroke]

I won't be much help but someone who know what they are doing will want to know what drivetrain you've got on it.

 

[Trickymac]

I won't be much help but someone who know what they are doing will want to know what drivetrain you've got on it.

shimano 105, 10sp

 

[The Duckmeister]

You'll also need a new front derailleur. R770 is what you want. Flat bar left shifters have a different leverage ratio to drop bar "brifters", and won't agree with the standard derailleur. The rear one will be fine though.

Can I ask why you don't like a handlebar that gives you a greater range of hand positions?

You'll also find that changing to a flat bar will bring your hand position back (effectively shortening your virtual top tube length) & sit you more upright, unless you only ever ride on the straight part of the bars.

 

[frensham]

This:

http://www.shimano.com.au/publish/content/global_cycle/en/au/index/products/road/flat_handlebar.html

Assuming you have 31.8 drop bars, you will need any 31.8 flat bar. You won't need the ultra wide MTB bars (now approaching a metre). I would recommend about 600mm. You can always cut a bit off if too wide.

 

[Trickymac]

You'll also need a new front derailleur. R770 is what you want. Flat bar left shifters have a different leverage ratio to drop bar "brifters", and won't agree with the standard derailleur. The rear one will be fine though.

Can I ask why you don't like a handlebar that gives you a greater range of hand positions?

You'll also find that changing to a flat bar will bring your hand position back (effectively shortening your virtual top tube length) & sit you more upright, unless you only ever ride on the straight part of the bars.

i never ride on the drops, only ever just resting hands just near the hoods, so i was just thinking why not a flatbar, always liked that posn when id commute on my mtb, yeah did think about them brinign my hand posn back, but i can counteract that with a longer stem?
check these out...http://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bar.html
i think jd uses them, they look a bit wierd but mighty comfy, they are very swept back so they could totally wreck my cockpit geometry
just thoughts im throwing around at the moment

 

[Pastavore]

i never ride on the drops, only ever just resting hands just near the hoods, so i was just thinking why not a flatbar, always liked that posn when id commute on my mtb, yeah did think about them brinign my hand posn back, but i can counteract that with a longer stem?
check these out...http://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bar.html
i think jd uses them, they look a bit wierd but mighty comfy, they are very swept back so they could totally wreck my cockpit geometry
just thoughts im throwing around at the moment

It sounds like you have too much drop and/or reach to the bars. Before investing in a flat bar set up, can I suggest you try a shorter, raised stem with your existing bars, maybe add shallow drop bars as well? Drop bars are awesome on the road, but you should be able to comfortably ride with your hands in the drops.

 

[wombat]

Yeah if you've still got the standard bars on there, try a set of compact bats instead, fsa do some cheapies with a great shape.
Made a massive difference on my setup.

 

[g-fish]

Shimano sell Flat bar road shifters, 10spd mtb shifters won't work with your rear derailleur. You'll probably find 105 equivalent (I think R550 series) for $120ish online for the set + $40 for a pair of brake levers (again, BL-R550). You'll need new cables as well. These are road bike specific flat bar shifters and levers.

Good drop bars make a difference though, but a lot of people can never get use to them.. I'm running my new commuter which is designed around drop bars as a flat bar.. It's great, still very quick.. but I rip some mad wheelies too.

 

[sedifus]

Shimano sell Flat bar road shifters, 10spd mtb shifters won't work with your rear derailleur. You'll probably find 105 equivalent (I think R550 series) for $120ish online for the set + $40 for a pair of brake levers (again, BL-R550). You'll need new cables as well. These are road bike specific flat bar shifters and levers.

I have run a deore shifter on a tiagra derailleur and also a sora shifter on a deore derailleur. So long as you stay in the same brand you'll be fine

 

[Big JD]

i never ride on the drops, only ever just resting hands just near the hoods, so i was just thinking why not a flatbar, always liked that posn when id commute on my mtb, yeah did think about them brinign my hand posn back, but i can counteract that with a longer stem?
check these out...http://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bar.html
i think jd uses them, they look a bit wierd but mighty comfy, they are very swept back so they could totally wreck my cockpit geometry
just thoughts im throwing around at the moment

im with ya tricky

I only ride on the hoods - never use the drops and as such have subpar braking with drops. I will be installing my Jones bars and using a short pull lever - like Pauls Components with my cantilever brakes.
The Jones give me all the options with hand positions, are titanium so add some comfort and dont look funny at all (Jeff I am sorry you had to hear that- he does not know what he is saying).

Standard road drops are just dumb - most people never use them and braking on the hoods is weak and inefficient. Now off road drops are better but you really need to be in the drops.

Ideally I would like my commuter to have Jones, discs, really light, SS and light blue in colour - to match my eyes.

 

[g-fish]

I have run a deore shifter on a tiagra derailleur and also a sora shifter on a deore derailleur. So long as you stay in the same brand you'll be fine

9spd and 10spd is a different ball game.

Shimano 9spd is fully compatible across both road and mtb. But you can't mix and match 10spd road and mtb. You can however run a 9spd mtb derailleur with 10spd road derailleur.. or 9spd mtb shifter with 10spd road derailleur. When shimano went 10spd with their mtb line up they changed the pull ratio of their shifters, it royally fucked the whole joint up.

 

[Propagate]

Mate, just do it!

Buddy of mine went flat bar and flat pedals on a Scultura and loved it. He tried for months to get used to drops and hated it, went flat and now enjoys his roadie.

I like drops for my roadie, but I also have a Boardman Team CX cyclocross bike that has drops. I use it for bike path commuting. I flat barred it and it is AWESOME! It's like a super lightweight rigid mountain bike now, the position is way better for the type of riding I do on it and the maneuverability of it with the flat bar is superb.

Brakes and bars are easy, just make sure you get the right diameter bar for your stem and levers that are designed for road calipers. The only thing to be careful of is your mechs, but as long as you check the pull ratios of your mech and get the appropriate shifter you'll be fine.

I just went back to my CRC account and checked for you, this is what I bought:-

Bar - as others said, check your stem. Most road bikes these days use the same clamp size as MTB, (31.8):-

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=71774

Brake levers, (flat bar levers for road calipers and these came with the cables included):-

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=34695

Shifters, just check the specs for the cable pull ratio of what you currently have. Mine were all 1:1 pull. SRAM website lists the pull ratios for all their shifters and levers. I bought bog standard 2x10 MTB Sram X5 levers and they work flawlessly with my SRAM Apex rear mech and "Microshift", (Whoever the hell they are), front mech:-

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=67861

I can't remember if the shifters came with cables, the brakes definitely did. Maybe order gear cables whilst your at it just in case.

All up, it took me about half an hour to change over. All the cables, levers and shifters on the drop bar stayed on the drop bar, should be easy to swap over at will if I want to go back to drops.

I can't for the life of me find the table listing all SRAM shifter/mech compatibility, but th term you're looking for with the SRAM stuff is "Exact Actuation". I.e. 1:1 pull ratio, which Shimano is not, so you wont be able to use a SRAM lever with a Shimano mechs, unless any of the Shimano mechs are 1:1.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[btr127]

I like drops for my roadie, but I also have a Boardman Team CX cyclocross bike that has drops. I use it for bike path commuting. I flat barred it and it is AWESOME! It's like a super lightweight rigid mountain bike now, the position is way better for the type of riding I do on it and the maneuverability of it with the flat bar is superb.

Got any pics of this?
I'm looking at doing the very same thing on my boardman cx team. My main complaint is the brakes are not as good as my MTB hydraulics so was going to flat bar it and get some hydraulic brakes. Looks like you stuck with the BB5s though or am I wrong?

Thanks

 

[The Duckmeister]

You don't have to go flat bar to get hydro brakes these days.

 

[SF Trailboy]

You don't have to go flat bar to get hydro brakes these days.

It would still be cheaper to change the whole set up to flat bar to get the hydros rather than forking out for roadie hydros at around $600 ish. Or am I missing something??

 

[Flow-Rider]

Microshift make an affordable set of flatbar shifters to suit a roadie groupset..