flat bar conversion
I have been commuting 5 miles each way to class on my 7 year old Klein Q Carbon road bike. The exercise is great and I don’t have to deal with the horrible parking situation on campus. Plus, I’m doing my part for the environment ;-)
The only problem I have been having is the lack of confidence my drop bars were giving me in traffic (both on the road and on campus). To keep my hands close to the brake levers and shifters I was spending most of my time on the hoods of the brake levers. While this position works well on a road ride away from traffic, I found that the bent over riding position created was limiting my forward vision. Also, the brake levers are not as responsive when you are going at them from the hoods. So, I decided to convert my bike over to a flat bar for commuter duty. See below for the details:
1: Cheap Ritchey aluminum flat bars (cut down to 22″ wide).
2: ESI Chunky black silicone grips.
3: No-name stubby aluminum bar ends.
4: Avid Speed Dial 7 brake levers.
5: Shimano Deore STI shifter (rear only)
6: Planet Bike SpeedEz strap-on fenders.
7: Serfas 700 x 28C tires (for the Auburn roads).
8: Spot single speed aluminum chainring guard (front derailleur removed).
9: Shimano SPD mountain bike pedals.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Spiffy, but you forgot the MOST important piece of hardware for a bike on campus. Where is the LOCK?
September 13th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I use a cable lock that rides in my backpack. And yes, it is the MOST important piece of equipment ;-)
September 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Close up of grip, brake lever, shifter, and bar end:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2846210626_28306a6ee0.jpg
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
[...] in September I converted my old-ish Klein Q Carbon road bike over to commuting duty. I’ve been logging 50+ miles a [...]
December 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am
[...] arrived back in November I harvested the Avid Speed Dial 7 brake levers that I bought during my original flatbar conversion project and have not had time to put it back [...]
February 21st, 2010 at 9:05 am
Hi Robert
I am looking to convert the drop bar on my bike to flat bar and I came across your page. I have a few questions with regards to the conversion:
1. Were new brakes necessary or you kept the existing ones?
2. Obviously you need new brake levers and cables – are there particular features in these you looked for?
3. Approximate costing for the parts and job?
Your assistance is much appreciated.
Cheers.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:38 am
Yuen, I kept my existing road brakes (Shimano 105) and simply used mountain bike levers. You can find flat bar style levers for use with side pull style brakes (mostly for BMX applications) but I found the Avids I chose work fine. The only difference in the cables I used was they needed to have MTB style ends instead of road bike style ends. Cable housings were the standard type that I cut to the shortest length that allowed full handle bar rotation without binding. The breakdown for the parts were approximately as follows:
1: Cheap Ritchey aluminum flat bars (cut down to 22″ wide): $20
2: ESI Chunky black silicone grips: $12
3: No-name stubby aluminum bar ends: $15
4: Avid Speed Dial 7 brake levers: $20
5: Shimano Deore STI shifter (rear only): $40 (included cables & housings)
6: Planet Bike SpeedEz strap-on fenders: $40
7: Serfas 700 x 28C tires (for the Auburn roads): $40
8: Spot single speed aluminum chainring guard (front derailleur removed) $30
9: Shimano SPD mountain bike pedals: $50
By the way, I re-used my existing road bike stem. I ended up flipping the stem over to get a bit more rise than what is shown in the photo above. Best to cut your cable housings a bit long until you get the fit right so you don’t have to replace them if you need a bit more length.
Labor was free since I did it all myself (I used to be a professional bike mechanic).
Hope this helps. Good luck!
April 15th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Hi Robert, thanks for posting your experience, it’s been very helpful to me. I’m considering converting my road bike to a flat bar. Right now I have a triple crankset in the front (Ultegra 6603) with 59, 39, and 30T rings. This may be a loaded question, but which ring would you keep if you were going to run only one in the front? How many teeth are on your front ring?
April 15th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Sam-
My Shimano double crankset came with a 53X39T set up. I replaced the 53T ring with a rock/pants guard and kept the 39T ring. That set up works pretty well but a 42T ring would probably be a better choice for the relatively flat terrain I ride as I mostly just use the bottom half of my 12-24T rear cassette. YMMV. Hope this helps!
May 7th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
[...] Donovan’s posts that he put up regarding his conversion were very helpful to me: http://www.robertsdonovan.com/?p=98 [...]
October 22nd, 2010 at 4:19 pm
[...] Donovan’s posts that he put up regarding his conversion were very helpful to me: http://www.robertsdonovan.com/?p=98 [...]
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Great writeup, Robert! Got a similar conversion on a Schwinn Fastback Sport in the works, this is very valuable information you have provided!
March 14th, 2013 at 5:45 am
I love Kleins and I love flat bar road bikes – great conversion. I agree that a flat bar works best in traffic. I also think that a 1×10 is a great setup for commuting.
Just wondering, what rear dérailleur are you using? Do Deore shifters work with a road rear dérailleur?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
I have an old 9 speed 105 rear dérailleur. The old 9 speed Deore shifters I found worked fine. Basically, Shimano 9 speed or 10 speed should be the same whether it’s road or mountain :-)