General Cycling Discussion - flat bar road bikes?

My wife and Me bought flat bar road bikes (specialized sirrus comp) how many other people ride these, we always rode Mountain bikes and these seem more normal to us. I've read these are getting more popular, anyone try a flat bar bike?

They're generally known as "hybrids" -- MTB controls on a road bike, get it? -- and the style is very popular. In fact, I think hybrids are one of the few bike types whose market is growing. I saw some Sirruses [Sirri?] at my LBS recently. They looked like very well-made, well-specced machines.

I noticed they are in road bike catagory in Specialized website and they were in road bike section where we bought them along with the Bianchi stratus, they have 700 x 26 tires too narrow for a hybrid? Its a good crossover for us from Mtb

Yes, 26mm tyres sound a bit narrow by hybrid standards. The concept is nothing new -- in 1971, I set up my old Bianchi 10-speed with the same flat handlebars that Peugeot used on their UO-18 mixtes for my then-future wife, who never has liked drop bars. For myself, I still prefer drops, because I like the variety of hand positions.

For a long time, I had flat handlebars on my Trek 1200 "road bike." I guess it was a "homemade hybrid."

:)

Are 700 x 26c too narrow for a hybrid? Mine are 700 x 28c, not very different, in fact, I've had some "28c" tires that were the same width as "25c" tires of a different brand.

The Sirrius received a good write up in a bike rag over here due to it being fairly well specd and being pretty light. They are called speed bikes here - having narrower tyres than a hybrid - sometimes even as low as 20. They are basically built around a racing frame anyway - check out the gap between the rear wheel and the seat tube.

The only difference is the flat handlebars. A good tip for anyone who cannot make their minds up between a MTB and a Hybrid. Go out and buy a 29' MTB (Gary Fisher or Nishiki) with fairly good spec (LX or XT) then buy an extra set of 27' wheels with narrow road tyres for road training. Hey presto! Two bikes in one.! :)

the problem with flat bars is that they only offer 1 hand position, not the 3 or 4 that drop bars offer. With a higher stem and a 50cm drop bar, you can get all that a flat bar offers, as well as having more hand position choices.

I didnt see the comp but i did see the pro. That's pretty much a cyclecross bike. Throw some knobbies on there and your good to go.

Whilst flat-bar "road bikes" may be rare, flat-bar touring bikes have a long history. These are usually custom builds, but have a trad lightweight touring frame with city bars (rather than the straight MTB flats). A friend of mine has one in Reynolds 531 c, with shimano nexus.

Some people prefer flat bars with a more upright riding position, but you can use them just as well down lower. In France they commonly come with randonee bars, ie drop bars without the drops.

Compared to a hybrid, they have a lower bottom bracket, and lighter weight.

I think giving these bikes their own name is a bit of marketing hype.

Actually, a Radonne bar has drops, it just has an upward sweep on the flats. These were also called 'noodle bars', and i have one on my touring bike. The flats are narrower, but the drops stick out more. this will allow you to ride out of the saddle while in the drops, if you wish to.

Ive heard the French term applied to both types, and I ride with your kind.What is the term for those racy bars, like upturned drops with the curve sawn off ? Sometimes used with conventional drop bar brakes and bar-end gear levers. There are special brakes which go into the end plugs.

MichaelW,
Are you referring to mustache bars? They look like road bars with the curves that would normally be the drops out level. Looked at from the side they look almost flat.
Raymond

moustache bars are a purely japanese invention. the french equivalent would likely be priest bars.

I maybe coming into to this a little late, but I recently bought a Sirrus Comp and love it. They are not hybrids for several reasons but the biggest 2 are frame and tires. My wife has a hybrid and it probably weighs 10lbs more than my sirrus and there is a huge difference between a 26c and a 29c tire.

Specialized calls them a road terrain bike and I think they are geared towards touring and event rides.

pf

I have the Sirrus Pro. Definitely not a hybrid. Basicaly a road bike with flat bars. Very light and geared for speed if one has the legs.
I am already noticing the limited hand positioning. Would tri-athlon bars be a good addition? I was considering tri-athlons as when there is a decent head wind, I turn into a big parachute. Any opinions on this? I bet other Sirrus riders would like to know.
:beer:

When I used to have a hybrid. I put flat bars on it and then mounted bar ends, which gave me some alternate hand positions and a way to get a little bit aero if needed.

I don't see any reason you couldn't mount aero bars on a flat-bar bike.

Starts to beg the question of why not buy a bike with drop bars to begin with, though.

RichC

According to the latest CTC mag, the Sirius sufferes from toe-clip overlap, because its top tube it too short. Is this correct for your model ?

They tried fitting aerobars to make it for aerodynamic, and it sort of worked, but its a kludge.

The frame/tyre clearance is also a bit mean for a bike which will never be raced.

The general view was, interesting concept, but needs more work.

I got it more for comfort AND speed. If you've got the legs (I don't), this bike could certainly produce the speed. Top tube is shorter, to give a more upright position. I like the riding position but would like the option to stretch out or crouch into the wind which is where the tri-athlon or aero bars would be handy.
MichaelW - what is a "kludge"? :confused:
:beer:

If I could afford to buy a second bike for the road it'd likely be this one http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/02/cusa/model-2FSBB.html
for the road. Its got a Caad4 mountain frame, big wheels with skinny tires and the headshok up front.

That's basically the same type of bike as the Sirrus Pro but probably a bit more money. The Sirrus Pro is pretty light, very skinny tires and geared for top end if needed.
:beer:

I have ridden the Sirrus for 4 years, I am actually on my 2nd one. The black sirrus comp; These are not hybrids, as some think, I put 700-23c on mine, and it rides very good. I ride between200-300 a week, and I am on my 3rd set of tires on the new bike.

I had a big problem with my 1st sirrus, and had a bad fall from the toeclip catching. On my new sirrus I put on a smaller clip, and have no problem.

I ride a Felt SR91, it is a road bike with flat bars and that is where the difference ends. It is not considered a hybrid bike. Hybrids generally have either a comfort or mtb style frame with slimmer tires and usually have suspension seats and mtb brakes.

North road( the type used on english 3 speeds) style bars also offer a variety of hand positions as do moustache bars.

A kludge is like a hack. A fix not found in the manual.

Like " Suprise, it worked".

I replaced the handle bar to flat on my road bike then cut the both ends off by 2 inches. Shifters are still on the down tube(old bike), brake levers are changed to mountain bike type. I call it a "City Bike". What I got from it were, agility(flat bar makes it easier to manuver between cars and quick stop at the same time), little better visablity for cars around me and to myself to look cars around. Brakes work much quicker with the combinatin of double pivot side-pull brake and mountain brake levers. Down side, like someone already said it, in a long distance I wish I could have different hand position for fatigue relief, in the wind for aero dynamic reason, keeping low profile for a long time is little tiring with flat bars. I'm looking into regular drop handle bar road bike for that purpose.
So far, I'm very happy with the set up of this straight handle bar road bike and I get stopped by some people asking me how much I would want to sell it for. I wish I had shifter lever closer to the handle so I can beat the cars at the traffic light drag race(Ok, maybe just 30 or 50 feet), and I'm working on it.

Agree

the problem with flat bars is that they only offer 1 hand position, not the 3 or 4 that drop bars offer. With a higher stem and a 50cm drop bar, you can get all that a flat bar offers, as well as having more hand position choices.



Agree !

"With a higher stem and a 50cm drop bar, you can get all that a flat bar offers, as well as having more hand position choices. "

This opinion can come from only a person who have never tried flat handle bar road bike. Try it on a busy street where cars go right and left by you. You'll experience something totally different. Zipping through slow moving cars and looking at the drivers in the eye, giving them a smile as you pass them by is a very exhilarating experience. Of course you can do it with drop handle bar but much less degree.

"With a higher stem and a 50cm drop bar, you can get all that a flat bar offers, as well as having more hand position choices. "

This opinion can come from only a person who have never tried flat handle bar road bike. Try it on a busy street where cars go right and left by you. You'll experience something totally different. Zipping through slow moving cars and looking at the drivers in the eye, giving them a smile as you pass them by is a very exhilarating experience. Of course you can do it with drop handle bar but much less degree.

:rolleyes: You do realize 90% of the riding on a roadbike is on either the flats or the hoods of the bar, right? I don't know what everyone's deal is with flat bars and how much more comfortable and how much better the handling is... They are less comfortable due to a complete lack of variety in hand positions, slow you down since you are less aero on the bike in most situations, and are narrower than a typical flatbar. If it works for you thats fine but I don't see how anyone could argue the superiority of flat bars vs. drops. Oh and before anyone says obviously I haven't tried flat bars, I have two bikes with flats that I've ridden on and (primarily) off the road.

I replaced the handle bar to flat on my road bike then cut the both ends off by 2 inches. Shifters are still on the down tube(old bike), brake levers are changed to mountain bike type. I call it a "City Bike". What I got from it were, agility(flat bar makes it easier to mane uver between cars and quick stop at the same time), little better visablity for cars around me and to myself to look cars around. Brakes work much quicker with the combinatin of double pivot side-pull brake and mountain brake levers. Down side, like someone already said it, in a long distance I wish I could have different hand position for fatigue relief, in the wind for aero dynamic reason, keeping low profile for a long time is little tiring with flat bars. I'm looking into regular drop handle bar road bike for that purpose.
So far, I'm very happy with the set up of this straight handle bar road bike and I get stopped by some people asking me how much I would want to sell it for. I wish I had shifter lever closer to the handle so I can beat the cars at the traffic light drag race(Ok, maybe just 30 or 50 feet), and I'm working on it.

It sounds like seely missed my previous post, so I post it again.
As you can see I'm not debating the superiority of flat handle bar or drop handle bar. What I'm saying is they have their own place. If not, why flat hadle bar road bikes are selling so many? It sounds like seely and D*Alex are the ones wanting to debate which one should survive and another is useless.
Bicycle industry is moving towards more variety of types in different uses and situation. When people demand bike for certain situation, the makers go after the market. There were no mountain bikes 2 decades ago, now there are different types even in mountain bike category. What you think, 5 years from now, flat bar road bikes will be vanished from the face of the earth? The answer is, there will be more different kind of road bikes for different use and taste. Who knows, seely will be the one saying "Aha, this is what allgoo19 was saying five years ago!" when you get brand new flat bar road bike.
They will co-exist. If not, the market demand will tell the makers that it's useless and they will stop making. There is no need for debating. It doesn't seem like anybody start making a road bike with a higher stem and 50 cm wide drop bar to replace flat handle bar road bike anytime soon.
I say it again, "I want drop bar handle bar road bike(And I hope it will be a Fuji Team.)."

a road bike with flat bars is not a hybrid, as i see it. when i think of hybrids, the tall-framed mountain bikes with wide 700c tires seen in the early '90s come to mind.
one of my favorite bikes is my cannondale bad boy ultra, which is actually a mountain bike with road wheels (real road wheels, i run 700x23) and a double crankset. i find this to be a great bike to ride, it has the low resistance of a road bike with the more familiar geometry of a mountain bike.
i have seen a few others which are road bikes by geometry, run rigid road forks and road gruppos, with flat bars. i have been living in europe the last few years, and this idea is not so uncommon there. you might not see so many in american bike shops, since the practicality of the bicycle means nothing in the day and age of espn 2 extreme red bull adrenaline kill yourself and be gnarly marketing...
personally, i like the idea.
and a flat bar with bar ends offers three hand positions, as well.

I feel the need to jump in on this discussion. I have an Ibex Corrida flat-bar road bike. The only component (besides the flat bar) that is used on a mountain bike would be the v-brakes. It came with 700 x 26c tires but I just changed them to 700 x 25c.

I attached bar ends. This gives me three additional hand positions. I mounted the bar ends so that they're level with the ground.

I can keep up with all the "C" riders in my club. Sometimes I ride with the "B's" and I'm not too far off the back. The bike isn't holding me back, it's the engine. :)

i totally agree with allgoo19 i have tried both kinds and no need to repeat
only i think that i need to try a flat bar with aero bars

:rolleyes: You do realize 90% of the riding on a roadbike is on either the flats or the hoods of the bar, right? I don't know what everyone's deal is with flat bars and how much more comfortable and how much better the handling is... They are less comfortable due to a complete lack of variety in hand positions, slow you down since you are less aero on the bike in most situations, and are narrower than a typical flatbar. If it works for you thats fine but I don't see how anyone could argue the superiority of flat bars vs. drops. Oh and before anyone says obviously I haven't tried flat bars, I have two bikes with flats that I've ridden on and (primarily) off the road.

It's because most of the road bikes people see or try are road race bikes, which are designed to have a drop from the seat to the handlebars and an aggressive geometry that pushes you to lean forward. I own one - a Specialized Tarmac - and it's almost impossible to go for a leisurely ride on it. It's a fun exciting ride when I'm hitting it hard and dashing across town at top speed. In fact, I might say it's comfortable when I'm doing that (though I'm still working on finding the perfect seat). But whenever I try to bike with someone who's a lot slower than me and I have to go half my usual speed, it's a rather awkward bike to ride. I just cannot get comfortable on it at lower speeds.

On the other hand, I also own a road bike that a lot of people don't usually see a lot of - a Specialized Sequoia, a curly bar road bike that's designed with a more upright and relaxed riding position. Visually, aside from the paint job, you would have trouble telling the 2 bikes apart. But riding them, they're a whole different story. I've never had a problem finding a comfortable position on my Sequoia. The handebars are very upright. I can totally just cruise around at half speed, look off to the side and watch cars go by. I never feel "hunched over" - in fact, when I do ride it and need to get somewhere fast, I always end up down in the drops - which feel like they're at the height of the hoods on my Tarmac!

I also own a Civia Highland, which is a straight bar bike (for winter riding). IMO, my body feels more comfortable on the Sequoia than I do on the Highland, so I would agree with "With a higher stem and a 50cm drop bar, you can get all that a flat bar offers, as well as having more hand position choices." The one nice thing about buying a flat bar road bike is that you know it wasn't designed with race geometry.

There is one very noteable exception, however. My problem with flat bars is that in the US, flat bars are actually...straight. Sometimes they curve back a tiny bit, but I feel like I get more rise on the curly bars on my Sequoia. I *could* see how a really swept back flat bar could be more comfortable because you're *actually* not leaning over at all on it - something like this :-) -
http://www.transformatum.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/salsa_casseroll_ss.jpg

(I didn't have time to do a better search, I've seen better pics where they also have a lot of rise.)


I certainly don't have any problem with people who prefer a flat bar - it isn't going to hurt me! :-) I just wonder if they've actually tried a relaxed geometry, tall top tube, curly bar road bike, or if the only road bikes they're tried are the race geometry type.