Bicycle Mechanics - IronHorse Deluxe 2004; how to change handlebars?

Hi, I recently picked / will pick up a new bike, and I'm curious, I currently intend to get this bike, except its silver.

Now the handles, what I want are straight handles, is there any way I can buy some parts outside and switch it out? I know that could interfere with the brakes, but are there are straight handles out there that I could switch it with this one. Or instead of switching, use a U shaped handle for something competitive? Thanks.

The current handles are not a straight bar, and instead more of a little elongated l with a little curve in the middle. I don't really like that. I really want a U shaped one unfourtantly, so any bike experts know if this is thesible? Thanks.

I have the teal one, and I was wondering, what's a better color the silver one or the teal one? I might still be able to switch it.

I'm really new to this so sorry if I'm stupid.

Basically I want to switch the handle area, the whole front area where you hold the bike to something more aerodynamic, and more to the U, for faster speeds. However I don't know how I will be able to manage the gears. What I'm looking for is U, with the brakes managing the gears also. I saw this on a speed bike, where you can change the gears by shifting the brakes to the left and right. Thanks!

I know this is a first post, so THANK YOU! so much for helping me.

If it's too hard to explain, is there a site with pictures that could help? This is acturally my first bike I've ever bought, never had one when I was a kid :(

iph ur got a new bike dont change parts yet.. juss get a allen key loosen the stem and the adjust it to your size.. (I really want a U shaped one unfourtantly, so any bike experts know if this is thesible? Thanks. ) never get this kind of handle bars because they can easily break iph u want to get a good kind of handle bar get a 2 piece or 4 piece

oo sry i thought it was a bmx bike

It's ok, gosh darn. I was so happy when I saw 2 replies, been waiting for this post forever. I checked out the articles that are the stickies, but its still a bit confusing for me.

iph ur got a new bike dont change parts yet.. juss get a allen key loosen the stem and the adjust it to your size.. (I really want a U shaped one unfourtantly, so any bike experts know if this is thesible? Thanks. ) never get this kind of handle bars because they can easily break iph u want to get a good kind of handle bar get a 2 piece or 4 pieceWhat color is the sky on your world? This has got to be the most illegible post I've ever had the misfortune of reading in the two years that I've been a member here. "Iph"? Is that supposed to be "if" or something?

Back to the original topic I don't understand what you want from a bike except that you don't like this one because it's silver or something Why would you want a U shaped bar on a Hybrid it's intended as a "get out and ride around" bike not as a Tour de France winner.

What I meant was, which do you think is better the teal one or the silver one.

The main question I cared about was, if I could switch the handlebars in here, I want something that I might be able to punch a bit of speed into should I need.

On a question; what does a hybrid mean? What is a mix between?

No, I don't intend to win any bike races, but however, should the chance arise, I would want to race in this bike for fun and memories.

I think you're a bit confused and as a result you've managed to confuse others as well... except for vi3txbik3r23 who it seems needed no help becoming confused. :D

It sounds like you picked the wrong bike or rather are picking the wrong bike. The amount of money you'd spend on converting the comfort-style handlebar and brake/shift lever components to those of a pure roadbike would end up costing you as much if not more than if you just went out and bought a roadbike.

So let's bring some clarification to the question at hand.

It sounds like instead of this:http://www.ironhorsebikes.com/images/products/hybrid/adventure_deluxe_large.jpg

You actually want something like this:http://www.ironhorsebikes.com/images/products/road/triumph_comp_large.jpg

Am I right in this assessment of what you're asking?

Khuon is right if you totally want to change the shape of the handle bar like from a flattish one to a racing bike style you will not just have to buy a new handle-bar you will have to get new shifters/brake levers at least and they are not cheap

Yes, that is correct. The reason why I chose the Adventure Deluxe is due to the fact that I still want to go on bumps and curves with the suspension.

According to NashBar, I'd have to spend about 100+ dollars since the lever I want is about 100 dollars, then comes the handle bar which is about 30 dollars for what seems to be a decent one.

I also know that if I wanted to race, I would switch the tires to something thinner, which is not a problem.

So how hard is it? Could someone new to this sport be able to do it? Consider me with the experience of most 7 year olds.

Oh and thank you for the response guys! I really appreciate it.

I dont see any reason why you could not swap over the handle bar as you propose. You may also need a new handle bar post but they are not very expensive.

Is it that hard then? Currently I'm broke, but I intend to swap it over in about 2 weeks to a different handle depends on what I'm doing, ie. for fun, or for something serious as in training.

First of all, I don't think anyone answered your question about what a hybrid was. A hybrid is generally considered to be a class of bikes that are equipped with 700C road type wheels (size of the wheels) as opposed to the 26" MTB type wheels and use slightly wider tyres with a little more tread rather than the slicker thinner ones found on roadbikes combined with a frame geometry that promotes a more upright position typically found on MTB, comfort or cruising bikes rather than the lower position orientation promoted by a roadbike geometry. This is usually easier on beginner riders or those that want just a liesurely ride but can actually produce more fatigue on longer or faster rides because most of the weight is being transferred downwards along the spine as opposed to being distributed evenly across the bike as with a roadbike.

Now... about your idea for a conversion. A few other things to consider. The rear derailleur on the Adventure Deluxe is a SRAM 5.0 which I believe is a 1:1 actuation derailleur and thus is not compatible with Shimano dual-control STI road shifters which expect a 2:1 actuation. You will need to swap to a Shimano rear derailleur. Likewise, the V-brakes on the Adventure expect a different cable-pull than what road brake levers provide. You will either need to switch to standard cantilevers or run a travel-agent converter. I've heard mixed reviews about the travel-agents however.

And then there's the issue with practicality... This bike is going to be considerably heavier than a roadbike and simply swapping out the handlebars in an attempt to convert it to a roadbike probably won't make it much lighter. It might make it even heavier. This is not to say that you can't make a heavier bike perform but you're already starting off with a weight disadvantage. Also, the suspension components will rob you of power. Additionally, they're not great suspension either... surely not as good as those found on true mountain bikes and not really designed for much more than absorbing the odd pothole here or there. My opinion is that on the road, you really don't need suspension. Learn to ride around the deep potholes and the small ones can still be taken at speed if you have strong enough wheels. I also stand under the belief that it is always better to have no suspension than cheap suspension. A high quality steel fork is probably a better choice for a hybrid. Then we come to the handlebars which is your primary focus. The shifters your bike shop mentioned are probably Sora shifters. The problem with Sora shifters is that while the primary lever is still the brake lever, they position the return lever on the hoods as a thumb-actuated button. This position makes it difficult if not impossible to reach from within the drops which kind of negates the whole point of going to a dropbar in the first place. Other things that will work against you when trying to convert a hybrid into a roadbike is the gearing ratios. The hybrid has a wide range of gear ratios which is very suitable for beginners but as you ride more, you will notice that you will probably have a problem fine-tuning to that "right gear". This is because the ratios are not very closely spaced. You might want to swap cassettes and chainrings after a bit. The other thing is rider position. As I mentioned above, rider position on a hybrid isn't very conducive to long or fast riding. The steering will also be much more lax so cornering will still be slower than a roadbike's. These are things you really can't change and are primarily a by-product of frame geometry.

It looks like, I'm going to be spending more money on random changes on the bike than I thought. Thank you so much though khoun, that helped me out a lot.

So I'm looking at a couple of things to change here

a derailer, standard cantilevers ( have no idea what this is ), handlebars and tires...

estimation about another 400 dollars.

however, I don't really mind the weight aspect, I'm looking for this as something as a small hobby that I could race in sometime.

the weight aspect could easily be negated through training, and I doubt that a couple of minutes will matter that much to me.

I'm going to guess the bike is probably about 10-20 lbs heavier than a road bike, i'm looking at the suspensions as sidewalks to ride on.

just buying 2 bikes seems more feasible right now, however I'm going to look at this as an experience. however buying another bike, a subpar road bike or spending 400 dollars to switch parts in this hybrid.

thank you for the help again, that saves me a lot of trouble parts and just hoping it "fits"

assuming i made my bike go through a makeover everytime i intended to do a small race with it, how long would i take.

also; lets say maybe there are some people really good with mathamatical numbers here; lets say, i switched the tires to road bike tires, and kept everything as the same. how much of a performance loss would i be lacking compared to a decent speed bike, (something not in 4 digits)?

15- 20%?