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I'm a mountain bike who also rides a road bike for fitness, usually on my own. I'm not a massive fan of drop bars and usually only use them if it's a big head wind.
I ride mostly on the hoods though
For the last few years I've been using areo tt bars which puts me in a similar position to on the drops but I find it a lot comfier so I use them a lot more, almost to the point where I wouldn't miss the drops.
I'm toying with the idea of a new road bike but instead of buying drops, getting straight bars and putting tt areo bars on but there's a lack of options out there. They seems to be classed as hybrids and have sora or tiagra gears on. Ideally I want shimano 105 groupset. I'm not looking for a gravel bike to use on the road.
Are there any decent options out there? Or will I have to buy a road bike and sell the drops and brifters and buy straight bars, shifters and brake levers?
If I do swop the bars over will the stem be wrong? How are road bikes that are designed for drops with flat bars?
Has anyone else done this? I can't be the only one. 😂
This is all I could really find but the recent giant thread has put me right off the brand.
Thanks in advance.
I have a Giant Fastroad, I found mine secondhand but unused so not fussed about warranty. The stock wheels are hefty and the bike benefits hugely from lighter wheels, including a tyre change I dropped 800g off the wheelset weight with Ksyrium SLs and GK Slicks for about £380 and then shifted the stock kit for £100.
I use Cane Creek Ergo bar ends & SQ Lab inner bar ends with ergo grips which offers lots of alternative hand positions but is definitely a WTF thing when you ride with roadies.
The frame you linked to takes 35c easily, if you want more the 2023 Fastroad AR takes 42c according to the Giant website so you'll likely squeeze a little more in.
A drop bar bike top tube will be shorter than a flat bar, so not ideal, but you can add (a lot) of stem length or go up a frame size or two.
You may also run into compatibility issues with road mechs and flat bar shifters.
You may also run into compatibility issues with road mechs and flat bar shifters.
I've never done it before but I just assumed these would work
Compatibility: Shimano road 11-Speed derailleurs (eg. 105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace)
I’m the same as the OP- hate drops and only really ride on hoods if I use a road bike.
So, I just use a fast XC mountain bike, (ti frame, carbon fork) with rigid fork and larger chainrings. Works fine for me. You could add TT aero bars easily I guess.
I don’t group ride with roadies, so no problem with what anyone else thinks.
A drop bar bike top tube will be shorter than a flat bar, so not ideal, but you can add (a lot) of stem length or go up a frame size or two.
Yes, I need to research more about this and understand it better. I know what size of road bike frame and stem works for me now so I was just going to go off that.
I’m the same as the OP- hate drops and only really ride on hoods if I use a road bike. So, I just use a fast XC mountain bike, (ti frame, carbon fork)
I've thought about this but I'd want a 50/34 chainring and I need the bike to be able to take full mudgaurds. Sorry, forgot to mention that.
When I looked into it the Giant was the "raciest" of the bunch, lots of others had very long head tubes for a more upright "hybrid" position.
@damascus
Yeah, I use clip on guards but they’re not full length ones. Pretty effective though.
I’ve never felt the need for a 50t chainring. I’m just not that into it. 😜
Edit- server double post.
Planet X used to do loads, which were same frames as their London road, space chicken etc but flat bars.
Canyon used to, not sure if they still do.
Personally I'd go something light and fast xc race type and throw carbon forks on it. Keeping nice brakes on there.
OP I was wanting too do this good few years ago with my ti lynskey rd bike,at the time if I remember I couldn't source the shifters/compatibility without spending a fortune,in te end I bought a 'gravel' bike as it had more scope of use at the time for my riding.
Still have the roadie now,full Shimano 105,disc with a Hope pro2/Stan's gravel rims gathering dust.
DM if interested for more details.
Specialized Sirrus and Trek FX ranges are similar to that Giant. They might, at least, off a better starting point for adaptation than a straight-out road bike.
Specialized do a Diverge 'Evo' with flat bar. Another niche option could be the Ti Enigma Escape flat bar. Neither technically what You'd call 'fast' road bikes, but with normal road bikerists now running 32/34c tyres and calling it normal - you could put skinny tyres on something like this and not be far off. Worth looking at how they tweaked the geo of the Enigma Escape frame from drop bar to flat spec, it looks just right to my eye. To just swap bars/ stems without altering frame reach often ends up a bit wrong. Or get a steel custom builder to fashion you something that works.
Alpkit/sonder certainly do a flat bar Camino, with fast wheels could be an option?
have you tried massively flared bars? i'm quite happy with over wide bars with flares even though i'm short arse, i still rarely use the drop position but its much more accessible and normal feeling, saves the complication of having to swap levers etc around
Alpkit/sonder certainly do a flat bar Camino, with fast wheels could be an option?
The drop bar and flat bar bike has exactly the same frame.
I currently have a ribble cgr SL 105. It's a great bike but 105 isn't designed to go off road. Nearly trashed my front mech.
But a camino with grx 2x is definitely a consideration. The camino was on my shortlist before the cgr. Hmmmm.
I think I need to look at a geometry comparison website between the cgr and camino.
What flat bar shifters work with grx? Or would I just replace the mechs with shimano deore/slx/xt etc
Riding mostly on the hoods and only using drops when going downhill speeds/into a headwind is (imo) pretty optimal use of curly bars. Ride on the tops when going up hill. What don't you like about them.
Canyon Roadlite
Supposed to be great bikes.
I was after similar and went with a Boardman Hybrid Pro and stuck some better wheels on it.
Personally, I'm hoping to get an Enigma Escape flat bar on cycle to work later in the year to replace the Boardman...
https://www.enigmabikes.com/products/escape-flat-bar
See also the BMC Alpenchallenge, sounds like a hearty breakfast but is in fact another really good flat bar option. A bike snob friend bought one for commuting and said he was surprised how good and quick it is, which is as good an endorsement as any... his other tarmac bike is some full pro level Dogma Fwhatever.
On my self built bamboo road bike I was never happy in the drops. Went first to bullhorns using the existing brifters (was a little sketchy but worked). Now still on the set up in the photo. Slightly longer stem, flat bars and bar ends mounted inboard for a not-quite-TT cruising position.
On Tektro rim brakes, so just chucked some old MTB levers (Avid Speed Dials) on. Work absolutely fine.
Not fussed about weight or finesse as I don't ride road that much, so rather than try and find a mix-n-match shifters for the existing mech, I just got a cheap Decathlon mech and shifter.
What about a full tt or triathalon bike?
You’ll have the hoods equivalent position for steering and braking, and tt bars to use as you do now
I got a Boardman Hybrid around 10 years ago that would have fit the bill perfectly. Although it called itself a hybrid there was nothing hybrid about it apart from the flats. Skinny tyres, very twitchy, carbon fork etc etc.
Looks like this is the closest thing to it nowadays but probably too cheap for your target?
I built my wife one of these for her 50th. Used a bargain freeranger frame some wiggle carbon wheels and rival XPLR / gx axs mix. Fit in board bar ends to replicate the hoods position.
Prior to that she had the Boardman hybrid pro which was a great bike.
If you're happy using the hoods position on a road bike when not using the TT clip-on bars, even if not terribly happy using the drops, I'm struggling to see the benefit of buying a flat bar road bike over a standard road bike or a TT bike.
Depending upon the geo and your flexibility, the hoods position can be pretty aero on a road bike, if you can bend at the elbows to put your lower arm roughly parellel to the ground. But it can also be quite upright, if you keep your arms barely bent.
I'm not a huge user of the drops myself, spending loads of time in the hoods and probably even less time on the bar tops. But the drop bar gives me hand options depending upon how my old lower back injury feels and despite my Cube Attain's aero-brick stack of 610mm, it's hell of a lot quicker than my Marasa hybrid that doesn't have TT bars fitted.
I've never been pulled over by the roady police for not using the drops. 😉
I’m struggling to see the benefit of buying a flat bar road bike over a standard road bike
I've used road bars for the last 25 years but off the top of my head here's 10 reasons why I'm considering flat bars.
1) I rarely use the drops. Its just extra weight.
2) Ive to be careful using road bars as I get hand problems when I've ridden too much. I currently have double wrapped bars to help prevent it.
3) I find mtb brakes easier to use and more powerful. They are easier to bleed. For me It's a more upright position in road traffic so I feel safer.
4) I find straight bars with ergon grips, bar ends and/or aero bars give me far more flexibility and I find it a comfier position on longer rides. Reminds me of my touring bike I spent months on and never had an issue with lack of hand positions.
5) Road brifters are expensive. Shimano grx rx810 2x11 disc brake set are £660 rrp. A pair of road flat bar shifters are under £50 in the sale. Xt brake levers should work (i think) and are under £100 a pair.
6) I'm 6ft3 and I like climbing with narrow straight bars. I can swing the bike and not worry about hitting my knees on the drops.
7) I've got a narrow pair of carbon bars in my spares box. So obviously the sensible thing is to look at a new bike to put them on 😂
8) I've not tried it before and I like to experiment. There's only one way to find out.
9) if I do go for a camino, flat bars are better off road than drops.
10) tt position is as aero as being in the drops.
What about a full tt or triathalon bike?
Find me a link to a full tt bike with discs and mudgaurd mounts and ill definitely consider it. Apparently mudgaurds can be more aero if done right but I doubt any tt bikes have eyelets.
I’m running a procaliber with rigid carbon forks, gravel tyres and 36 ring, absolutely love it. Might not be the quickest on the road, but I care not a jot.
Saying that, if I had the money I’d have one of these https://www.enigmabikes.com/products/escape-flat-bar/a >
Find me a link to a full tt bike with discs and mudgaurd mounts and ill definitely consider it. Apparently mudgaurds can be more aero if done right but I doubt any tt bikes have eyelets.
yeah you’ve got me there, mudguards are unlikely to feature.
The new ones are disc braked though, so hydro brake levers on a bullhorn and tt bar setup is a thing that exists.
I’m toying with the idea of a new road bike but instead of buying drops, getting straight bars and putting tt areo bars on but there’s a lack of options out there
If you just want TT bars then just do what TTers do and fit this kind of thing - there are endless variants to suit your pocket:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/3t-vola-pro-complete-aerobar
I don't think there will be compatibilty problems with road bike stuff.
A drop bar bike top tube will be shorter than a flat bar, so not ideal, but you can add (a lot) of stem length or go up a frame size or two
I've generally found the difference to be around 30mm, which is not that bad
How about the Tifosi Rostra?
I’ve got the frameset and currently dithering between building up as flat or drop bar
Op have you looked at either a TT base bar with skis and then bar end shifters, or a bullhorn bar with the stis on the horns? Not pretty but has long been done.
bar end shifters
I've had bar end shifters years ago. Didn't like them then. I'm happy with bar shifters.
Alpkit replied to my camino query.
Its £159 to upgrade from grx x2 road shifters to bar shifters and you don't get the road shifters included. This is because they don't sell straight bar shifters so don't get bulk discount and it would be a 1 off purchase.
So, if I do go down this route I'd buy the stock bike, swop them over and sell the road shifters.
They also have a camino sale on at the moment 🤔