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Drop handlebars?

Old 05-21-11, 02:58 PM
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Drop handlebars?

I've heard they were pretty popular in MTB back in the day, but more or less popularity since. Lately I've found myself missing the drops on my roadie... anyone have experience?
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Old 05-21-11, 03:05 PM
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Not really all that popular back in the day. Tomac raced 'em. A few off-road tourists ran that setup.

Seem to me to be just about as popular today as back then.

No personal experience because the cost of conversion would be more than what I paid for most of my bikes

With 31.8 stem clamps common on both that should make things a little easier these days.

I think I'd be more apt to go for some MTB bullhorns.

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Old 05-21-11, 05:28 PM
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I've seen some crude conversions and it's not worth it

Unless you have a good deal on the parts, and a mountain bike you want to make into a road or a city bike, it's not worth.

To do a total conversion, you need

A stem to fit to your frame and then to the handlebars you want.

The handlebars

Brifters, or you can go stem shifters. But you can't use grip or trigger shifters

New brakes if you don't go brifters

and possibly in line brakes


the price can be well over $300 at the cheapest fare, so I don't see the use in it.

You can always go touring bars because they make them only for mountain bikes.

Or you can get some Origin 8 drop bar ends, be weary, they are on the small side, but will help you with a hill climb
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Old 05-21-11, 06:56 PM
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I have a bike that I set up as a 'monstercross' for a time. It worked well. I used On-One midge bars. Mine was a single-speed so no fussing with shifters..although I did later set it up with an Alfine8 and then used Versa VRS8 brakes/shifter for that. It worked well but alas I found that I personally did not vibe so well with drop bars. I have tried over the years but find I'm either too slow to appreciate them or simply just prefer to set more upright than a life in the drops would allow. No fault of the bars, just my preference at this present time. Also, you'll have to give up hydro brakes and go with something like BB7's which are good anyhow..

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Old 05-21-11, 09:02 PM
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I think if I were going to use drop bars I would go with bar-end shifters. I don't really see any use for drop bars on a MTB, though. I hardly even use the drops on my road bike. Most of my riding is on the hoods or the top of the bar. Drops are good for wind, sprints, or steeper climbs, but I don't think I'd ever use them on the MTB. If you wanted to try it, though, they do make 8 and 9 speed bar end shifters. I think you'd be best off with a good pair of road brake levers with interrupter levers. And they make plenty of road brake levers for canti/v-brakes, so I'd think you'd be alright there.
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Old 05-21-11, 10:18 PM
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...thus the high angle stem and flared drops...for this kind of application riding in the drops is the norm, as you can see they are not ergonomically ideal for riding on the hood.


Those who have drop bar mtbs (hardtail) or monstercross type bikes (rigid) tend to do this, again, it turned out to be not wholly my thing but its performance and ability was not in doubt.

If you (OP) are serious about finding out about drop-bar mtbing in general, I would look about and speak to folks that have experience with them (drop bar mtb and monstercross).

Dont equate riding a drop bar mtb with a road bike, the experience is quite different as is the pace. Very different animals.
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Old 05-22-11, 01:12 PM
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I was just checking out some classic MTB racing on youtube and found this one with Johnny T rockin' the drops: Tomac action begins at 2:17

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Old 05-22-11, 01:30 PM
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I set up my first MTB with drop bars, even raced it a few times. Circa 1987, before Tomac did it.
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Old 05-22-11, 01:38 PM
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