ALLSTOTT

i have a a hybrid (cannondale bad boy) and was wondering if it would be dumb to put road bike handle bars to have more hand positions? i would have bought a road bike but the guy at my LBS told me since the road i travel arent so smooth to go with that bike due to its beefier frame and wheels. or if yall have any ideas please let me know thanks.

Amani576

I'd put Trekking or Moustache bars on it personally. You'd get a lot more hand positions, possibly wouldn't have to change your shifters, and maintain the upright position those bikes are designed for.
-Gene-

slloth

Are you worried about people thinking you are dumb or look dumb? I wouldn't realy worry about other people. There are no rules...especially when it comes to commuting. I have seen road bikes set up for off road riding and I have seen many mountain bikes set up for road riding.

People are using road bikes for tricks similar to BMX now! The point is there really are no rules. If your priorities are like mine than comfort and function come before "looks" and style.

I think drop down bars would be fine on that bike. If anything just get an old cheap pair to figure out if you like it or not. If it where my bike I would probably change out the bars. At least a pair of light bull horns if anything. I like the drop down option personally. I'm not sure where you would mount your shifters. I guess on top in the middle?

ban guzzi

screw other people...I have a goofy ass looking MTB. I have conti slicks or 2.3 knobbies, trailer hitch, home made light bar, seat post mounted rack for panniers, a full body fender made of disposable clear grinding shields and Drop Bars with a 30+ year old BarCon shifter for my 1x9 gearing set up. It looks goofy as hell, my LBS guys call it The Tank and I go EVERYWHERE on it...

I'm pleased.

Its actually kind of cool to roll around in winter with big ol knobbies or studs with a drop bar. More control in the city, for me anyway.

You will like it.

littlefoot

peeps have been putting drops on mtb's for years, its a 29er anyway isn't it? Road bike with more tire clearance for the most part. I ride drops on a bike that uses 26" wheels. I love it, I'm not a 'fashionista' though...have moustache on my fixed gear as well...still trying to get used to them though.

SouthFLpix

I do not think the geometry of the frame would make drop bars particularly advantageous on that bike, but you can still do it, 'just to do it' of course.

slcbob

+1 to trekking bars. Check diameter.

The trigger shifters are odd w/ drop bars. Even without that, most flats/risers are 7/8, most drops 15/16 (I think those are the right numbers), and the 1/16 kicks your ass a lot more than you'd think for fitting on your levers and shifters. So the total bill is probably bars, levers, shifters, and maybe a stem. Approaching a used bike cost there.

An alternative is some bar ends. I too like a few options for hand position. I commuted for 3+ years on a hard tail MTB and found the bar ends gave me enough variety to answer the mail.

Andy_K 

If you went with drop bars, you'd end up changing over your shifters, brake levers, etc. like slcbob said. Beyond that, the road brakes levers wouldn't work with your brakes without an adaptor which may or may not work to your satisfaction. Or you could switch to canitlever brakes. Overall, it can be done, but you'd have to really want it.

I was in your position not long ago with my Marin Muirwoods 29er. I put Profile Design Boxer bar ends on it, and I'm completely satisfied with the number of hand positions that gives me. Check out this thread (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/482897-muirwoods-29er-evolution-many-pics.html) to see how it looks.

Sirrus Rider

Sweet Bike! Why worry what others might think? If you think switching bars will increase the utility of the bike and your enjoyment than go for it. It's not like changing the bars will permanently alter the bike to the point where it could not be put back to stock. I will second the suggestion to put mustache bars on it in keeping with its hybrid nature.

ALLSTOTT

Thanks guys.. o i didnt mean to come off like i cared the way it looks i was just wondering if it would be functional or if it was a dumb idea. by the way what are mustache bars?

starseeka

What about getting bar ends instead of a whole new set of bars? Doing that would be cheaper than a new set of bars, and you could try another set of bars if they don't work. I was thinking about that for my commuter, but I haven't seen a whole lot about them. Anyone have any experience with those?

recumelectric

I've been shopping for a comfort bike with longer/ wider handlebars. When I talked to the bike shop people (2 different places), they told me that it would cost about $80-90 to replace them. It's about $20 for the handlebars and the rest goes to re-wiring and labor. The second guy recommended that I just wait until the wiring needs to be re-done anyway and then install new bars.

And no, it's not stupid. Nothing is stupid when you know what you want.

nahh

Trekking Bars would be my choice for that bike.

metalchef87

That bike is very similar to my Marin Muirwoods and I recently switched the handlebars to drop bars. It wasn't that difficult to do, you just put the shifters on the top of the bar, so you have to move your hands from the brakes to shift, but that isn't any different from using bikes with stem shifters. I really enjoyed riding with the drop bars, my average speed was increased by 3mph because of the aerodynamix....however I had to switch back to the original bars as of today.

The drop bars that I was using were not large enough to fit into my stem, therefore the bars turned all of the time which became very annoying. As far as functionality though, it works, if you can find bars that will fit properly on your bike that are also small enough for your current brake levers and shifters to fit on as well. Good luck if you do decide to do it. Hope this helps.

cooleric1234

+1 on the trekking bars. I made the change a few years back and it's much more enjoyable for commuting than the straight handlebars. I too would have liked drop bars, but the cost for the handlebars, shifters, stem, brake levers, handlebar tape, etc. was prohibitive. The trekking bars don't give me a great aerodynamic position, but I get multiple hand positions which really help the wrists and hands.

alpacalypse

One thing about drop bars on a mountain/hybrid frame is that it's going to extend your reach considerably-- Drop bars on the setup you've got currently will put your hands about 2 inches further forward. Sometimes it's possible to correct this with a shorter stem; other times the frame's just too big.

noteon 

I think trekking bars and bar ends are both good ideas. Bar ends are cheaper--so maybe grab a pair and see if you're happy with them.

n4zou

Trekking bars are great. They allow you to reuse your shifters and brake levers as well. Road bike drop bars are larger so you would need new shifters and levers. I've had them on my touring bike for several years. I can't imagine using anything else on it.

Longfemur

I'm a drop bar road bike kind of guy, but I did like to ride hybrids around town at one time. Sure, you can put drop bars on any bike, but it's hard to say what will happen in terms of the steering geometry as it concerns the handlebar position, or the fore-and-aft balance of your body on the bike. But it would probably be good enough. Just keep in mind that frames meant for hybrids don't necessarily have the same length of top tube as an equivalently-sized road bike. But of course, you can always fine-tune that with stem length.

Personally, I think it's a needless conversion. What I did on my hybrids was to swap out the rise bars (if that's what it had) to a real flat bar. Then I cut a bit off the ends to make the bar about shoulder with for me (flat bars are pretty wide when stock). Once that was done, I added some appropriately shaped bar ends. I liked the ordinary, medium-length chrome L-shaped ones. That's plenty of hand positions. You just don't get the drop position, but honestly, you can slice into the wind almost as well by stetching out to the forward part of the bar ends. That kind of "conversion" only cost me the 10 bucks or so for the bar ends. It's also dead easy to do once you figure out that one secret to removing the grips is to pry up the end of the grip and spray in some of your wife's hair spray. They end up sliding right off. WARNING: Remember that if you cut the flat bar down, you still need extra on each end to put the bar ends on.

littlefoot

trecking bar would probably be your best bet actually

metalchef87

Just bought a new stem to fit my drop bars and I'm converting back to road bars on the day it comes in...i'll post a pic so you can see how I set it up, don't be discouraged by everyone's opinions do what you want....that is what I did, and I believe I enjoy it...

metalchef87

Here is my bike with drop bars on it, perfectly functional, not to mention beautiful...in my opinion...




I am actually thinking about putting stem shifters on it rather than the button shifters...but it works just fine with the way they are set up, I just prefer stem shifters...

Fairmont

It doesn't matter what you do, because when people see you ride by on that bike they'll say, "There goes a bad boy."

Am I right?

daintonj

Well they do say you love your own children. That looks incredibly uncomfy to ride, one of the nicest things about drop bars is the resting your hands on the hoods. Surely you could have got brake levers designed for the bars and used a travel adjust to cope with the difference in cable pull needed.

metalchef87

Well you see actually it is comfortable to ride, but the reasoning behind not getting brake levers with hoods is because I have recently lost my job and can't waste money on levers with hoods when I need to pay bills, and the levers that I have are already functional...