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Tech Converting a hybrid to a road bike

Andy in Tokyo

Maximum Pace
Dec 16, 2012
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Anyone have experience of doing this, and if so, how easy/hard was it? I commute on a hybrid but have started taking a long detour home along the Arakawa, and it's bloody uncomfortable to use flat bars for that length of time.

Currently using a Bianchi Roma II (this one) with full Sora groupset. I imagine I'll need bars, bar tape, new cables and integrated Sora levers/shifters. Anything I've missed?
 
I did it with the list you've posted and it wasn't that hard. I had a few problems with cables but easily sorted out.
In the end mine was fine as a hybrid but too big as a road bike because of the differing riding positions so I got rid.
 
@Musashi13 Cheers for the info. My hybrid is smaller than my road bike (54 versus 56) so it should be ok.

Anyway, I'll give it a shot. If it's no good then I have a good excuse to buy something new and shiny.
 
Mine was a mismatch to start with but manageable as a hybrid. If it weren't for the size it would have worked. I did a Bianchi, too.
 
@Robert Thanks very much for the offer! Unfortunately I've got the 9-speed version and need 42cm handlebars to be comfortable. I'd very much welcome some help putting it all together, though!
 
... I commute on a hybrid but have started taking a long detour home along the Arakawa, and it's bloody uncomfortable to use flat bars for that length of time.
...QUOTE]
Taking a different tack, here--I have three mountain bikes converted for street use (in addition to the Road bikes in my signature)--all with skinny tires, lightweight carbon (no shock or air shock) forks, high skinny road saddles, and so forth--I have always found the straight bars much more comfortable than the drop-out road bars, as there is more space, the grips can be quite soft if desired, and all controls within easier reach than on a road bike. I don't see a heavy converted hybrid with road drop out bars much of a step up in the comfort zone.
 
I have a 9 speed Tiagra shifter that I took off my bike when I upgraded it to 10 speed, if you're interested.
 
it's bloody uncomfortable to use flat bars for that length of time
I know what you mean. I have a matt black hybrid that I started out with two years ago. Great fun to ride but on the longer flat rides I found my hands wanted to rotate to take pressue off wrists and thumb webbing. In the end I got a road bike and since heading to the mountains I haven't looked back.
...until recently... Started to feel sorry for the (not so) old horse and thought I could pimp it up a little for the odd shorter fun ride round town. To address the flat bar issue I looked at trying to get some moustache bars. Hunted high and low for ones that would still allow me to still use MTB hydraulic brakes (found out to my cost after buying the first moustache bar that they tend to come in road bar diameter which is different to MTB by a couple of mm). I could only find them in chrome or silver, never black (or even better, gold). Closest I've managed to find was this which I now have ready to go on. (However wish they did this in MTB bar diameter - wouild be perfect in black or gold).
Anyway its getting pimped this weekend with a nice pair of specially built deep gold alloy rimmed wheels, being converted to 1x10 with this (in black), and adding some gold KCNC bits. Bring on the Bling....
 
Started to feel sorry for the (not so) old horse and thought I could pimp it up a little for the odd shorter fun ride round town. To address the flat bar issue I looked at trying to get some moustache bars. Hunted high and low for ones that would still allow me to still use MTB hydraulic brakes (found out to my cost after buying the first moustache bar that they tend to come in road bar diameter which is different to MTB by a couple of mm). I could only find them in chrome or silver, never black (or even better, gold). Closest I've managed to find was this which I now have ready to go on. (However wish they did this in MTB bar diameter - wouild be perfect in black or gold).
Anyway its getting pimped this weekend with a nice pair of specially built deep gold alloy rimmed wheels, being converted to 1x10 with this (in black), and adding some gold KCNC bits. Bring on the Bling..

If you want I have a set of Scott AT-4 bars your welcome to try, they are MTB sized pipe and multiple grip positions.
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/media/after-edit.6887/full?lightbox=1&update=1403356742
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/media/it-didnt-stay-this-way-for-long.6888/
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/media/it-didnt-stay-this-way-for-long.6888/

before and after pics please.
 
For "flat" bars there are a multitude of designs--all kinds of rise, sweep, and of course how wide they are. And it makes a difference how you mount/position those. A lot of "flat" bars are not at all flat/straight, and it may be that you have the wrong "flat" bars, rather than just having flat bars. (And for the ones that are bar-end compatible, there are lots of choices for those gizmos, and grips, too.)

Same for drop bars--some work okay, some are great, some are horrible. They can be too wide, too narrow, too thick, too thin, and the drops themselves can feel great or horrible. And then where you set your brifters also makes a difference. And do you set the bars tilted up/higher, or turn them down? Personally, my road bike has an extra set of brake levers on top so that I can use it for commuting and not have to stay on the hoods all the time. (I know, bike crime..., but that 'road' bike also has a triple.)

Good luck with your switch, going to drops may indeed be the solution. But with some thoughtful thought, maybe some consideration of overall fit, and a different flat bar (stem?) (& saddle positioning) might also be successful.

If you were to look in general at european vs north american touring bikes, one of the main differences is that the euro ones have some one or another kind of "flat" bar, while north americans most always opt for drops. Both groups are making their choices for day-long, multi-day use, so I don't think it's all that cut and dried kind of thing. Either choice can be comfortable, if chosen and set up correctly.

(ps--I might be prejudiced, two of my three bikes have "flat" bars.)
 
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Well, after thinking about it some more and looking further into my current bike setup, I decided it wasn't worth switching the bars. I'm currently using V-brakes, which apparently don't work with integrated shifters, so I'd have had to buy a new set of brakes as well. The mechanical aspect of it was also getting too complicated for my notoriously short attention span to deal with and... ooh look, a helicopter!

In the end I decided to buy a cheapish road bike from Merlin Cycles for commuting and keep the hybrid for trips to the local supermarket etc.

(PS @joewein Thanks for the offer!)
 
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