Touring - Modifying a handle bars on a mtn bike into drop bars for touring. Anyone Done it?

After talking with Chris about touring bikes on our metric yesterday, he mentioned some simple changes I could do on my mtn bike commuter so it is more touring friendly. One thing that caught my eye was was the changing of the straight bars to drop bars. One thing that was a negative for me using my mtn bike as a touring bike was the fact that the straight handle bars did not allow many hand positions, something I really need. Even though I have bar end grips, it is just not enough hand position options for me.

So anyone ever take the straight handle bars and changed it out to drops bars? How was the feel of making the change? Did you like it?

I've had good success putting bar ends on bar ends, for added hand positions and body positions. They need to be selected carefully to work well together; but it can be done, and isn't difficult. There is a lot of room for adjustments and custom fitting.

I like these arrangements much better than drops.

Ergon grips are ergonomically designed to distribute the pressure on your hands, and many people find them to be much more comfortable than the more standard shapes. Well padded palms can help too.

you'd need to get some bar end shifters to make it work with your MTB RD, they are pretty inexpensive though. a cool setup would be drop bars with stopper brakes up top, the brake levers at the hood, cyclocross style. as for me, I had to give up MTB riding because of the bar position, it hurt my wrists to reach the shifters. I can ride drop bars all day though. top tube length might be a factor, some MTBs are pretty cramped.

So anyone ever take the straight handle bars and changed it out to drops bars? How was the feel of making the change? Did you like it?
Yes, many people. But it isn`t a simple swap.

The main obstacle is getting your bars in a comfortable position. Since drop bars put your hands further forward than flat bars in relation to the steerer, a bike that fits you well with a flat bar will most likely be too long with a drop bar. If your bike is on the small side for you, you stand a good chance of being able to find a stem to get you comfortable with a set of drop bars. Most people who make that switch end up with a very high and short reaching stem. My stem, for example, sticks up almost five inches above the headset and only three inches ahead of the steerer. There aren`t a lot of choices for stems like that, and you might not find one that works for your application. If switching stems, you also need to consider the quill diameter and the clamp diameter on the bar.

Once you have the bar in a good position, you`ll need to deal with the cockpit. Brake levers and shifters for flat bars won`t fit on drop bars, so they`ll need to be replaced (unless you`re a no-brake fixie type).

Bottom line, it can work very well in some situations, but you`ll need a lot of luck or a lot of know-how. Or a bit of both, of course. Here`s a nice thread dealing with mtb to tourer "conversions", not all bikes have been switched to drop bars, but many of them have, and you might get a few other ideas by browsing:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/334033-I-would-LOVE-to-see-photos-of-your-MTB-conversion?highlight=love

You can do it.

I went from this

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/Bicycle08/Picture236.jpg

to this

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/111217Ramble/PC170055.jpg

I picked up the handlebars and brake levers at a swap meet. I picked up the friction barcon shifters at a different swap meet. Shifting an indexed system in friction mode is much, much better than shifting a friction system; ramped cogs are da shizzl, and even without indexed shifters they make shifting very clean.

So anyone ever take the straight handle bars and changed it out to drops bars? How was the feel of making the change? Did you like it?

Are you quite sure you've posted this question in enough of the forums?

Butterfly or trekking bars give you a lot of hand positions, and your existing MTB levers will (probably) transfer.
244231244232

Butterfly or trekking bars give you a lot of hand positions, and your existing MTB levers will (probably) transfer.
244231244232

+1

Are you quite sure you've posted this question in enough of the forums?

Have posted it here and in another forum. Anything wrong with that? Dont let it bug you my friend. Small thing in life. Getting others opinions is key.

My wife has an REI bike that came that way originally. Hardtail MTB rig except that it has drop bars. Stem is very short, but works OK. No riser necessary. Ordinary road brifters to canti brakes. Shifters and brakes work fine. Of course you can shift MTB mech with road brifters. The brifters would be expensive, but you could go bar end and save money. No big deal on a tourer where you don't shift when out of the saddle. It makes a fine bike, already with touring gears.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jdrgvc-ocV4/S8joXiDuqmI/AAAAAAAAGmA/ip9waP-aAC8/s912/P1000630.JPG

An early iteration of my bike. Now has higher seat, new stem, brake levers (Both aero levers and cross style interupter levers), and bars and have moved the shifters to out by the brake levers with Kelly Take-Offs.

having bar ends that turn in a good deal can get the job done-- I can use mine almost like aero bars on long flats into the wind.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb84/westhavenmusician/Bike/DSC06349.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb84/westhavenmusician/Bike/016.jpg

edit: note the after/before fork action... it's funny how most of the guys who posted photos here have pointed out that things have continued to change on their bikes.

I tried this once on our tandem. I bought a set of bolt on drops for straight bars. They went inboard of the twist shifters. They were like anatomical bend drop bars. They sucked in practice as they looked right but you could never get a comfy position. I wound up swapping out bars, shifters, levers and all for ultegra brifters and a salsa drop bar. Cost me several hundred but worked fine. I just put the bars a little higher than normal.