Originally Posted by
qmsdc15
Oops, unit error, 1.8cm = less than 3/4", not almost two inches.
Shorten the stem or HTFU. Assuming the hybrid is designed to be ridden in a somewhat more upright position than a road bike, 1.8cm additional reach might be exactly what timstone wants. The fact he went to the trouble to make the change, maybe he was looking for a more aggressive position on his bike.
Thank you. That was a unit error. I was in a hurry and didn't pay close attention.
The basic fact is still true, you will be stretched out more than a road bike if you simply swap out flat bars for road bars. Actually it will be even a bit more than the difference in the top tube lengths if your original flat handlebars had some back sweep to them, because you have to take that into account too.
You also made an error in your response. You write that the 1.8cm extra reach might be what he wants because he was looking for a more aggressive position. Well, what about the 4"-5" extra reach he is going to get from the drop bar itself? Look at where the hand positions are on the hoods in his picture and compare that to where the hand positions were on the bike with a flat bar.
My point was that after extending the hand positions way out to where the drop bar now is, that he was actually stretching out further than with a road bike, because he wasn't adjusting for the extra length of the top tube.
He needs to shorten his stem by 20mm (or more) just to get it back to where it would be on a road bike.
Even if he put on an ultra-short stem, like a 50mm stem, his new hand position is still going to be about 3" further out than where he started.