Mountain Biking - drop bars on a hardtail?

Im using my hardtail for mixed off and on road touring, and was wondering if anyone has tried to fit drops to a mtn bike? Right now im running a fairly long stem and some 31.8 bars with 25 degrees of rise. It seems like I could swap these with some really wide CX bars, in conjunction with a higher angle stem, and still be okay on off road handling. tried this?

Back in the old days John Tomac raced his mountain bike with drop bars.

On One Midge bars or WTB Dirt Drops

You'll probably need new shifters and brake levers. Do you have hydraulic disc brakes? Those probably won't work. If you have V-brakes it will also be a problem, most drop bar brake levers require an adapter to work with them.

I have heard that the front derailleur cable pull is different for road and MTB shifters. That may be another issue.

You'll probably need new shifters and brake levers. Do you have hydraulic disc brakes? Those probably won't work. If you have V-brakes it will also be a problem, most drop bar brake levers require an adapter to work with them.

I have heard that the front derailleur cable pull is different for road and MTB shifters. That may be another issue.


I was thinking about using the stock brake levers. these run to avid mechs. I dont know if the shifters would fit. i would probably set these all on the top if i can find wide enogh drops, then just bar tape bars. I suppose I could use bar end shifters if the standard ones dont fit.

If it is good enough for Johnny T, them it must be o.k. for us mere mortals.

http://www.ciclismetordera.org/fotos/tomac.jpg

http://www.mtb-classic.de/mtb/yeti/tomacfrodrop300.jpg

http://www.mountainbikes.net/carbon/1990_tomac_Yet_c26_riding.jpg

http://www.mtb-classic.de/assets/images/yetic26tomacgross.jpg

that is AWESOMe!

that double chainring is crazy

Yeah, But Tomac has been well quoted that he only did it to emulate his road position off-road. I think 'Totally sketchy' is how he described it.

Probably the biggest (modern) proponent of drop bars off-road is Matt Chester (mattchester.com), although personally I've tried almost all bars (except the lastest On-One and Jones bars) and keep coming back to 'regular' mountain bike bars.

It's fun trying different bars though, so go for it.

It's called a cyclocross bike.

Or is it?

Drop bars on a full suspension to throw you all of guard a bit:

All my MTBs get drops. I bought a Novara MTB in the nineties that someone had outfitted with drops, and I've never liked flat bars as well since then. My new Trek MTB is about to get some Nitto Moustache Bars, though.

It's called a cyclocross bike.

Or is it?

Drop bars on a full suspension to throw you all of guard a bit:

Hey, last time I saw that bike, Johan Museeuw was chucking it into a field in northern France :)

I JUST switched to flat bars on my trusty old Bridgestone MTB, you guys are gettin me all inspired to switch back to drops...

I've found that normal threadless stems put drop bars way too low on mountain bikes. You need some kind of extender to get the bars up high enough to be comfy off road.

If you run STI shifters, you can use the Avid [BB7?] Road discs. They modified the amount of cable required to pull the brake, so it works with standard road brakes. If you stay with Shimano shifters and derailleurs, you should be able to swap road and mountain back and forth no problem. Ultegra shifters work fine with XT ders, so you can use damn near anything.

The stem could be a pain, but you should be able to find some cheap hi-rise stem at your LBS for $20. It might be tougher if you stick with the 31.8 OS bars. The older 1" stuff shows up more often in the weird sizes.

If you run STI shifters, you can use the Avid [BB7?] Road discs. They modified the amount of cable required to pull the brake, so it works with standard road brakes. If you stay with Shimano shifters and derailleurs, you should be able to swap road and mountain back and forth no problem. Ultegra shifters work fine with XT ders, so you can use damn near anything.

The stem could be a pain, but you should be able to find some cheap hi-rise stem at your LBS for $20. It might be tougher if you stick with the 31.8 OS bars. The older 1" stuff shows up more often in the weird sizes.


That could be a problem, im running a headshock.

That could be a problem, im running a headshock.
Headshok!? Dag yo! Your C-dale dealer might be able to find you a low-rise stem that you can flip and make into a hi-rise stem. You never know...

I still am in utter shock... that is so crazy
drop bars on a MTB!
i need to try that some day...

Here's a riser 30deg 31.8mm riser stem that might do your os bars http://store.interlocracing.com/f4rist3.html.
The Ritchey adjustable riser I used on my off-road bike is only available 25.4 and 25.8.
The Marin is used as a touring/commuting, not off road, bike so has a road like position and the fit only needed a flip to a normal road stem.

Once you try the drops, with cross levers for off-road, you won't look back.

why are the wheels so small on that one bike?

why are the wheels so small on that one bike?

I *think* it's because it's a folding bike.

Better yet drop bars with the rapid fire shifter clamps milled out and run up top!

someone try drop bars on an all-out dh/fr bike

someone try drop bars on an all-out dh/fr bikeAre you finacially able/willing to pay for the medical bills?

hell no!