Touring - Bianchi Volpe Upright Position?

My wife loves her Bianchi Volpe but she'd like to have a more upright riding position.

And when I say more upright I actually mean completely upright.

She's european and she basically turned it into a euro cruiser styled bike. It's got fenders. She got rid of the front de-railer and made it a single 42 up front. She put a paul thumbie for the rear gears on it. And she also put a moustache bar up front.

But she still feels like she's leaning too far forward in a road biking style. She'd like to swap out to an albatross bar, add a front basket for cargo, and probably throw some risers on to bring the bars up higher.

Would that work? Can you make a volpe ride like this?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2490528322_4643d17d21.jpg

There are several things you can do to raise the handlebars on your wife's bike. However, it sounds like it was built up with steerer tube cut short, which could complicate issues. First, install a riser stem with a shorter reach. If that doesn't help enough, you can get a head tube extender.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=4264&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Show%20All%20Products

The most expensive option would be a new fork with a longer, uncut steerer tube.

I think if you got a shorter, riser stem and North Roads (Albatross) bars turned with the rise UP that she'd be pretty happy. Lastly, it's kinda extreme, but if she gets longer cranks she can lower her seat and still have optimal leg extension.

If she's tall-ish, around 5'8" she could be comfy with 175s pretty easily. Then she could lower her saddle and feel better about it.

Oh yeah, and check the seatpost out....a 0deg offset post is awesome, and you can slide the saddle all the way forward. On a Volpe I can do that and still be behind KOPS because of the slacker geometry.

I thought about doing this with my Xcheck, but decided I ride too far and too often on it to make it worth it.

I tried converting a road bike to an upright cruiser in just the fashion you explain. I had mixed results; I think the general geometry of road bike frames are not well suited to the type of bike your wife wishes. If you do get a suitable conversion, do let us know what changes were made.

Well I'm happy to report that the bar swap has done exactly what she hoped for.

We also installed baskets on the front and back for grocery hauling.

She loves it now. It's got her sitting upright in exactly the right amount and she says the saddle is more comfortable than ever too.

The bars aren't done yet because we're waiting on the grips to arrive. She wanted to keep her brooks tape from the moustache bars and then just add grips up top. I thought it would be weird but I actually think it's gonna look pretty cool, too. And it's even offer her some extra hand positions were she ever to want them.

Photo attached:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/2504606696_14f5c1688f_b.jpg

Very cool

That's an odd way to mount the front basket isn't it? Is it actually attached to the handlebar bags, or just balancing on the fender?

Steve

Is it actually attached to the handlebar bags, or just balancing on the fender?
Steve

You can't tell from the brake cables, but it's attached to the handlebar and actually sits just above the fenders.

I'm thinking of doing the exact same thing with my Cross Check. Obviously it doesn't have the lowrider braze-ons, but I'm not looking to do heavy hauling anyways. Glad to see it worked out!