a few questions about chop and flips
 

I am trying to plan out my project, and I have a few questions:
the bars that came with my bike are the SR anatomic bend drops; I feel that it's kind of wrong to chop them. should I even worry about it?
how much bar tape will I need?
has anybody sucessfully put reverse brake levers in the ends of chopped bars?
thanks, everybody.

If you aren't going to use them as drops, chop em if you think they will feel OK.

You will need more than one roll but less than two rolls of bar tape. So you have to buy a pack. You might get away with one roll, but I never have unless you stick grips on the flats.

Not sure about "reverse brake levers" but I've put regular cheap drop levers on the ends of chopped bars with no ill effects.

Try flipping the bars prior to chopping them to see if they will offer you comfortable positions. I didn't and cut them shorter than I would have liked. BTW one roll of wrap was enough for me.

One roll worked fine for me too. I made my cut a little higher than most in the curve, so they resemble bullhorns more. Mine are cut about 1/2 way up the bend, level with the plane of the bars (if that makes sense).

indeed!

not sure what you mean by 'reverse brake levers' but i've put TT levers on chopped bars; you just gotta be careful to cut your bars at the 'sweet-spot' -where they're long enough to be comfy, but not so long (and curving upward) that the brake levers stick too far out (as in the levers are no longer apprx parallel to your bars) for easy reach.

Chopped mine almost exactly in the middle of the bend. Let's me get a forward grip too!

http://velospace.org/node/2335

reverse brake levers are mounted in the hole at the end of handlebars, and the cable goes in the same direction as the levers. I see them on bullhorns from time to time. I was concerned that the bend in bars would be too steep for the levers.

It depends upon where you cut your bars. I have a cane creek lever on some really short horns (almost no curve upwards) and it works fine. BTW, you might consider cutting the lever side a bit shorter so that the end of the lever is even with the end of the other side. I think it looks better that way.

I really like my chopped bars, I think that I would buy a new set of drops and chop them before I would buy a traditional bullhorn style bar.

The curves on the outside are perfect for a hand position. I have some on my geared bike as well as my fixie......but I have not tried the reverse lever on them though.

I'm pretty sure I've seen short-reach bullhorns without any drop that weren't just chopped drops.

I also like holding the bend area though! Kinda feels like holding the bottom of a steering wheel when you're just driving relaxed. Although when I'm riding relaxed I just ride single or no handed (or hand on the stem).