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08-24-12, 09:45 AM
Hi everyone! Just registered and this is my first post! Hope I get to stay here a long time!
So this is the issue: Right now I own a Caloi 100 (http://www.caloi.com/bikes/caloi100) (brazilian brand) which is really way too small for me (I think it's 17" or 18", and my size is 21". I'm 1,9m tall) and really rusty and old now. I plan on getting a new bike in the next months.
I've opted for a MTB, for it's versatility and price, since road bikes here are really expensive and the tarmac sucks. No such thing as cyclocross bikes can be found here, unfortunately. So here comes my doubt: I really like the road bikes handlebar. The fact that you can grab it with a neutral hand position is really great imo... So I read about bar ends, for mtb's and even about dropbars for mtb's.
The thing is, I'm gonna be using the bike to commute to university, leisure, training (trying to lose some weight and get some conditioning) and maybe some light trails or even short touring (100km or so, maybe a bit more?). This made me discard the mtb specific dropbars. The bar ends are a solution but I think I'll use it more than the "usual grip", which made me want to have a braking lever accessible anytime there. No such thing can me done with bar ends, so I thought about getting a road dropbar and put it on a MTB. I'd still have the usual brakes and shifters, but would add braked to the dropbar, like a road bike (no shifters there!).
Is this a sloppy solution? Can it be done? I've heard some people saying it will make the bike really uncomfortable to ride also because the "side grip" would be forward and farther from the seat.
I'd like your opinions, please... And some recommendations on what bike to get (Right now I can only afford something like the Trek 3500 or, if I save hard, something like the Trek Wahoo 29er)
Also, is it possible to have the stock brake levers working AND the shimano road bike levers at the same time? Would I need to brakes or they can work with the same brake cable or something? (Had this idea watching a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fNrUPJpxHI))
Thank you very much :)
So this is the issue: Right now I own a Caloi 100 (http://www.caloi.com/bikes/caloi100) (brazilian brand) which is really way too small for me (I think it's 17" or 18", and my size is 21". I'm 1,9m tall) and really rusty and old now. I plan on getting a new bike in the next months.
I've opted for a MTB, for it's versatility and price, since road bikes here are really expensive and the tarmac sucks. No such thing as cyclocross bikes can be found here, unfortunately. So here comes my doubt: I really like the road bikes handlebar. The fact that you can grab it with a neutral hand position is really great imo... So I read about bar ends, for mtb's and even about dropbars for mtb's.
The thing is, I'm gonna be using the bike to commute to university, leisure, training (trying to lose some weight and get some conditioning) and maybe some light trails or even short touring (100km or so, maybe a bit more?). This made me discard the mtb specific dropbars. The bar ends are a solution but I think I'll use it more than the "usual grip", which made me want to have a braking lever accessible anytime there. No such thing can me done with bar ends, so I thought about getting a road dropbar and put it on a MTB. I'd still have the usual brakes and shifters, but would add braked to the dropbar, like a road bike (no shifters there!).
Is this a sloppy solution? Can it be done? I've heard some people saying it will make the bike really uncomfortable to ride also because the "side grip" would be forward and farther from the seat.
I'd like your opinions, please... And some recommendations on what bike to get (Right now I can only afford something like the Trek 3500 or, if I save hard, something like the Trek Wahoo 29er)
Also, is it possible to have the stock brake levers working AND the shimano road bike levers at the same time? Would I need to brakes or they can work with the same brake cable or something? (Had this idea watching a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fNrUPJpxHI))
Thank you very much :)