Road Cycling - Would i be commiting a crime if...

...i replace the drop bars and black 105 STIs on my pinarello with narrow, 2" riser bars and down tube shifters?

Need you ask? Of course that's a mortal sin.

You cannot be convicted of a crime if you are legally insane. With what you propose I don't think there will be much doubt that a conviction would be legally impossible. :D

Get the rope Cookie!! We've got a lynching to attend to! :p

go with the down tube shifters (simplex or campy) but forget about the rise bar...just raise your stem.

i'd rather not raise my stem...it looks ridiculous...my problem isn't so much with bar height as it is with hand position and comfort while riding. i like the sweep and feel of risers, and the feeling that i'm grabbing something substatial when i grip the handlebars.

i use risers on my "classy" track bike because it feels right, it's fun, and i can fly on that bike. plus the front end is dropped about 2" lower than my other track bike.

i spend most of my time riding on the hoods and after a while my hands start to hurt, i wear gloves so it's not that...also my shoulders, wrists, and elbows start to hurt after a while too. oh, and braking too...i want the levers to be "right there" when i need them.

i'm switching it because i'm probably looking at spending 7-8 hours a day/5 days a week riding it in a couple weeks if all goes well and i get my new job.

i just want to be comfortable while i'm delivering packages to the folks in their iron towers and the pinarello makes much more sense as a work bike in SF than my brakeless track bikes...plus i like the look of a pimped out road bike with risers. soooo sleek....soooo sexy.

*GASP*

Die!

:D

Do what's comfortable for you. People may laugh and comment, but at the end of the day, if your comfort level goes up, I bet your riding level will increase too, and pretty soon, people will stop laughing at you.

Koffee

Hi,
1)Brakes "right there" I hear ya. I had the same concern. STI shifters will accomdate two sets of brakes. I have drops/Ultegra and Pauls Love Levers as my 2nd set of brakes. My personal take is that it is a very cool setup.
2) I just got a Nitto Technomic for my Fuji so I could raise the stem high enough to be comfy. If it works, it will come to look right
3) If you're hurting you may not have your riding position dialed in. Actually, from your comments, I am pretty sure of it.
4) Got my bars double wrapped with Off the Front shock absorbing tape. Helps.
5) Tires, big 'uns. I am running 28c. You're not running those skinny things are you?
6) Those bullhorn bars you see on fixies are a thought. I'd be worried they'd hang up on something and dump me in front of a bus. But that's me. They could use your 105 brakes.

...i replace the drop bars and black 105 STIs on my pinarello with narrow, 2" riser bars and down tube shifters?

no. I won't let you do it. its just flat out not allowed.

If it feels good, do it. Just clean up after yourself.

.....I'm gettin' outa here!

i had homemade bullhorns on my last road bike, which i sold in favor of the pin. and i had mavic bullhorns on this one for a while, but i switched over beacuse the drop was a little far, and there wasn't a sraight part to put my hands on, so i couldn't change hand positions if i wanted to...also, you're just as likely to hook your brake levers/hoods on drop bars as you would be to hook the bullhorns.

i'm pretty sure my position is fine. i have no problem using the track drops i have on another bike, and the pain in my shoulders/elbows/wrists it more likely due to past injuries and carrying my bag, and just aggravated by my hand position. and when i say "after a while," i mean after about two hours of hammering up and down hills and weaving in and out of traffic.

i'd rather be more upright anyway, and long neck stems just look really bad IMO. i'd rather have something that looks smooth and feels right than something that looks "traditional."

28c tires? are you serious? 23s or 25s are about as big as i get. 28 is just too much rubber...

eh...i'm doing it anyway...and it'll look baddass, dammit. more control + increased comfort = faster me.

oh yeah, and i'm planning on using the friction setting for the downtube shifters. MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

My personal opinion:
Hack off the mechs, remove all but one rear cog, and only use the big ring. Ah....better.

Pinarello... A maker of the most beautiful bike I have ever seen..

I beg you, don't do it.. Please..

I'm sure you can find a way to better your position, and to minimize the "hurt".

Perhaps you can build yourself a hybrid, but not the pinarello... please.. ;)

Your hands hurt? When I'm MTBing I wear gloves, it helps. But when I'm on my roadie, I don't wear gloves -- it Hurts!

that would be hilarious...me being a courier on a hybrid. HAH! it is to laugh!

it's not like i'm hacking up the frame, man...it's still a beautiful bike, i'm just changing the handlebars, it'll still be a 9 speed road bike, just without maes bars. i put it together custom.

it's a comfortable ride for two hours, but if i'm going to be on it for longer than that, and all the time, i have to do something to make it more comfortable physically, more manueverable, and overall, more fun to ride through the city.

my hands...like, my wrists get stiff, and the muscles/tendons in my thumbs hurt like right in the heal of my palms when i ride on the hoods for too long (about two hours does it), i do shift between the brake hoods and the tops quite a bit, but i don't feel comfortable riding on the flat because it's too narrow and it just feels squirrely, and i don't like the drops because...well i've never liked riding in drops, it puts my head down too far, and riding with 20lbs on your back you can get a little off balance as well....i'd get wider bars, but the part where the hoods are is really the "sweet spot" for me (39 or 40cm dependsing on how you measure it).

165: i like your suggestion...but this is my only bike with gears and i spent a lot of time and money putting it together, and the thought of yet another single speed just isn't appealing to me right now.

i'm putting yet more time and money into this bike because i want to ride and enjoy it even more, i want to go faster than i've ever gone before, and to do that in traffic, i have to be able to control it better and road bars or bullhonrs just don't cut the mustard. i change my bike setups all the time, i don't think i've had the same bike set up for longer than 7 or 8 consecutive months as long as i've been riding bikes.

heh...hybrid...the day i buy a hybrid is the day i hang up my cycling cap, and my courier bag.

i'll be sure to post pics when it's all together.

Maybe moustache bars?

On a more serious note, Shimano makes a set of flat bar road shifters. They're rapid-fire shifter pods for road components.

I agree with Roadbuzz,
moustache bars seem like a good idea.
I'd also suggest a randoneur bar.
Friction shifting on a pino, that is intuitive its
a perfect match. It speaks to the retrogrouch in
me.
Marty

moustache bars are out of the question...the models i've seen are too wide for riding in the kinds of conditions i'll be riding in...and they'd put my hands in pretty much the same position they were in on the road bike.

dieseldan: AAAHHH!!!! POD SHIFTERS!!! KILL THEM KILL THEM!!!! they are the devil. those would definitely make my bike look ugly.

and yeah...all the experiences i've had with downtube index shifting have been bad...skipping gears entirely is not a fun thing.

these are all really great suggestions, but i'm pretty dead set on the feel and aesthetic that i want.

this is the type of setup that i'm talking about:
this is the handlebar setup i'm talking about. (http://pages.emerson.edu/students/justin_pyatt/media/images/vantuyl1.jpg) with either BMX or mtb levers. it's a sleek, minimalist setup that speaks to the BMXer kid still in me.

this is the road bike as it is now. (http://pages.emerson.edu/students/justin_pyatt/media/images/pinarello1.jpg)

i could always end up keeping it like it is...i won't make any changes until i actually need to. ie, when i get the job, i'll try riding the bike as it is now before i do anything to it.

Looked at your picture and all I have to say is...ON A PINARELLO?

hahaha! yes. on a pinarello. it's an older pinarello, and i have to admit, it does look rather sexy the way it is now, but it ain't always about looks. it's about how it feels and how fast you can go.

the bike really wants downtube shifters, i can tell. from the first moment i rode her, she was yearning for something, then, while riding one night, i rached down out of habit (my old road bike was a bianchi eros with DT shifters) and she seemed to come alive, there was a spark, like she was telling me "YES YES YES!! this is the way it's supposed to be!!!"

she hasn't commented on the riser bar idea, though i think she'll be pleased because it'll lead me to riding her more.

this is the handlebar setup i'm talking about. with either BMX or mtb levers. it's a sleek, minimalist setup that speaks to the BMXer kid still in me.
There's just something so sweet about a fixie... so clean. But those bars! :eek:

All the indexed downtube shifters I've had worked great... tighter and more responsive than STI. But that's a red herring. It's just those bars... it's your bike, it's your call. But, it's just wrong! Sooo close, and yet so far. Priest bars? ;)

If you do decide to switch, feel free to send those 105 shifters my way :-)

But seriously I think the bike looks alot better the way it is, but obviously that's not your deciding factor.

Austin

1st thought...I want a pic of it!...second thought...no i don't!!!

Yes, it would be a crime. A grave infraction of the laws of fashion. Go right ahead and do it. The fashion cops will razz you to your face. The rest will just snicker behind your back.

One of our local riders bought a Colnago C-40 in Mapei team colors. Sweet bike. He replaced the racing saddle with some horrible, big, poofy comfort saddle thing. He swapped out the stem for one that gives him a nearly upright position. The bike does not look "right" but...and this is the point...he loves it and rides it.

Screw the fashion police!

yeah...that was kinda the point of posting this here, RG. and i got exactly the types of responses i was expecting. a lot of people would rather haver something that looks good rather than something that works right for them. i don't rlally care what anybody thinks about my bike setup. i'd rather have a bike that rides how i want it to ride, rather than one that, "looks right."

and as far as people razzing me? yeah, behind my back is exactly where they'll be doing it. i don't fraternize with those types anyway. and jokes on them, because i'll be getting paid to ride my bike for 8 hours a day. (granted not much, but WTF? i'm young and i'm having fun doing what i love).

yeah...that was kinda the point of posting this here, RG. and i got exactly the types of responses i was expecting. a lot of people would rather haver something that looks good rather than something that works right for them.
Funny, the way I saw the responses was that folks saw your "yes i'm starting sh*t" tag and were playing along. Now that they have played along, you dis them.

Personally speaking what you do to your bike is your business. My problem is watching you DO IT TO A PINARELLO. A Roadmaster? Okay. BUT A PINARELLO? :D

uncastuart, the thing is, they're not "just playing along."

and i'm not dissing them. i'm not saying anything that isn't true.

george, i bet you'd curse me because i've put shimano 105 on it too. it's a bike. i bought the frame used for $300...the parts group is worth more than the frame, my cat is sitting on my lap, craving attention, when i bought it, i had the intention that it was going to be my "classy, show-offy bike" something to have and ride when the weather made my knees hurt and i couldn't ride fixed gear. sure, i built it up to be eye candy, but i still ride it! and i'm going to be riding it even more! now, however, it needs to serve a new purpose: earning me money. perhaps when i save up enough i'll get a surly pacer or something like that (funny thing is, i'd be spending more on a "beater bike" than i did on my "nice bike").

i try to look at bikes from a more utilitarian standpoint than anything else. it's a bike, it's made to be ridden. putting riser handlebars on a bike that i built up for myself isn't ruining the bike, it's still a pinarello. i'd do the same thing to a merlin, or an IF if i had one, because it would get my butt off the couch and into the saddle. i'll probably wrap electrical tape around the top and downtubes too. and, god forbid, take all the decals off.

different strokes for different folks. today, i went into the city (SF) and told a few couriers about my idea and they were stoked on it...i just got back from a shop here in berkeley (which i will not name) and the guy looked at me like i had 6 heads when i told hiim what i was doing...and i didn't even tell hiim it was a pinarello. im' done going to that shop anyway. they always treat me like crap...and i thought co-ops were friendly places. PAH!

i try to look at bikes from a more utilitarian standpoint than anything else. it's a bike, it's made to be ridden. putting riser handlebars on a bike that i built up for myself isn't ruining the bike, it's still a pinarello.I have a riding aquaintance who put straight bars on a new Calfee. As long as it gets one butt on one saddle . . .

i try to look at bikes from a more utilitarian standpoint than anything else. it's a bike, it's made to be ridden. putting riser handlebars on a bike that i built up for myself isn't ruining the bike, it's still a pinarello.

Sounds fine to me; I like the way you're thinking. Earlier this year I took the drop bars off my Bertoni cuz I started using it for commuting quite a bit. What I put on was a straight bar with bar ends, but not on the ends but about 4 inches in, then XT thumbshifters (I know, GAGG on the podshifters :crash: ) and MTB brake levers just inside the bar ends. I know it sounds ghastly, but I could actually carry a bag with my left hand, and with my right hand holding the inner bar end, shift, brake, steer with control through heavy traffic, and even ring a bell if I had to. Whatever works, eh? The riser bar setup sounds like it oughta work; go for it. Like you said, you'll probably make some kinda change after a few months anyway and fine tune, right? Looking forward to seeing the pics :) . Happy riding!

i don't rlally care what anybody thinks about my bike setup. i'd rather have a bike that rides how i want it to ride, rather than one that, "looks right."

.


If you really didn't care about what anybody thought about your bike setup you wouldn't of asked if it was a crime in the first place.

Sounds like to me someone really does care about what people think!

In the end it comes down to you and your bike.

Do whatever you want!

no...you see, posting this topic is what is commonly referred to on message boards as "trolling," granted, i'm not very good at it...but i got exactly the responses i was expecting out of it. i posted this figuring that people would answer "yes" to the question...and you'll note that in most of my replies to this thread i've said that i have every intention of doing it, regardless of what anybody says....so NYAH!!!! :)

Troll has a few synonyms.

yeah...it does. oh well. :\

Hey OneTinSloth:

You're my kinda guy! Give me a smooch!

:love: :love: :love:

hahahaha!!!

pwnz0rz!!!

Stop this thread right now! Don't give this silly boy any more attention.

Rich

Good idea :rolleyes:

hey, adding a front shock helps too, if looks don't matter. There are road forks with shocks installed, you can try asking around and it sure does make your rides feel better. Cannondale Silk Road has such a fork.