General Cycling Discussion - Change from a riser handlebar to a road bar?

I have a Trek 7500 with a riser handlebar that forces a rather upright riding position. I am now trying to ride more miles and the upright position is becoming a real drag in the wind here in Oklahoma. Is it feasable to change over to a road handlebar to get a lower riding position. I know I would need to change out the shifters and brakes (and stem?). My main concern is whether or not my bike would accomodate a road bar while providing suitable geometry to the rest of the bike? (It has a front suspension fork also)
Note...I don't want to trade bikes. I have the rest of the bike set up with fenders and racks so I can do short tours plus I like it otherwise.
Paul D

I think some heavy weight guys will set a mountain bike up for road, also think i've seen some pictures of it too, check out the Road forums and the clydesdale thread.

More then likely doable, but I'd also consider a rigid fork too.

Actually, this question would probably be better answer in the mechanic's forum.

Did you try to adjust your stem first? You can easily change the angle and lower stem on 7500.

I have seen people with aerobars on their mountain bikes and hybrids. I would look into that first before changing to traditional curved bars. If you went with curved bars, you'd have to change your derailleurs and brakes, because they're not compatible with brifters. Nashbar also sells touring bars, which I've also seen on hybrids.

I did it on my old bike. Here's the journal entry about it. (http://sozepiggytails.livejournal.com/196702.html)

I think there is a thread or two in the Commuting forum about converting to drop bars. I think that one of them was authoered by Huhenio.

Also, if cost is an issue and you are creative, you nay be able to keep riser shifters on drop bars. After all at least one *Mart road bike uses twist grip shifters...

Your current stem should also work as long as the new bar has the right clamp diameter (probably 25.4) It son't look like a road stem, but road stems look the way they do for style more than functionality.

If your bike has V Brakes, you either need to get the right road levers for V (Diacompe I think is the manufacturer) or use something like travel agents.

If you want a full road bike with brifters, you may just want to buy a new bike... it would probably be almost as cheap.

I also add a vote for a rigid fork. I am changing to one on my Sedona, even though I am not going to drop bars... just because all of my riding is on the road.

Thanks for the comments. I think I will try out a straight mountain bike bar first. That will drop me a good bit over what I have now plus I can use all my existing components.
Paul D

I have seen people with aerobars on their mountain bikes and hybrids. I would look into that first before changing to traditional curved bars. If you went with curved bars, you'd have to change your derailleurs and brakes, because they're not compatible with brifters. Nashbar also sells touring bars, which I've also seen on hybrids.

I agree with the suggestion to slap aerobars onto your flat bar. The drops on the traditional curved bar are mostly useful only for sprinting in races. I use aerobars on my flat bars for my commuting bike, so I've got all the ease of use that flat bars offer and a more aerodynamic position that any drop bar provides.
Cheaper and easier than the curved-bar conversion, too.

This may be a dumb question, but is it possible to just flip the bars around 180 deg. so that they are lower than the stem?

I agree with the suggestion to slap aerobars onto your flat bar. The drops on the traditional curved bar are mostly useful only for sprinting in races.

Bollocks. Curve or Drop bars offer the most versatility and varied hand positions of any bar out there. In fact, the were invented to overcome the defficiencies of flat bars.

I use my drops for sprints...but also for slow crawls into a headwind, and sometimes simply to alter my riding geometry a bit so my back isn't always in the same place.

Aerobars are terrific for the wind, if you are on long straightaways with little to no traffic. I would never try to use them around traffic or in group rides...and if you don't have shifters on the ends of them, you will constantly have to climb at least one arm out to shift. So, one could argue there that aerobars are mostly useful only for sprinting in races.

I'm not going to necessarily advocate that you switch to drops, due to the prohibitive cost of the conversion. I know, I did it myself. Should never have bought a "flat-bar road bike"...but at the same time I love the versatility of that frame, and I love mechanical tinkering, so maybe I wouldn't change a thing.

I will, however, strongly encourage a look at the Nashbar Trekking bar, which I put on my ATB, and which I am so far rather happy with. Not as wonderful as a drop bar, but many more hand positions than a flat bar. As a current riser bar rider, you may find the Trekking bar to your liking.

I did it on my old bike. Here's the journal entry about it. (http://sozepiggytails.livejournal.com/196702.html)

Nice job on the conversion. It really looks good. I especially like the use of the SRAM GripShift at the end of the drops. I'm glad to see someone else has done that. I did it on a then-brand-new Specialized Allez back in the early 1990s because I wanted something that didn't require me to reach all they way to the downtube to shift, STI brifters were in their infancy and thus prohibitively expensive for me and I didn't like bar-cons.

Here is what I did to a 7500fx

http://bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1878741&postcount=12

Hope it helps some.

I too ride a Trek 7500 and quickly grew to dislike the stock handlebars. I was lucky when I took the bike in for it's 100 mile tightening because my LBS had just sold a 7500fx to someone who did not like the Bontrager Crowbar that came stock on the bike. They swapped my "big" riser for the Crowbar (at no cost!). With a few adjustment to the height and angle, I am very pleased with the flatter bar (still has a slight (25mm I believe) rise and 5 degree sweep) and was able to keep all the existing componets.

You may want to check with the shop where you purchased the bike to see if they can do the same for you.