Originally Posted by
maximumrob
Gents (and ladies),
I'm pretty darn new to biking and am riding a Scott SUB40 right now set up for light commuter duty. However, I'm getting a hankerin' for more speed. Drop bars don't appeal to me at all so flat bars are my choice.
Is there a lightning fast road bike out there who's only difference from a racer is the flat bar? I've seen the Cannondales and Scott Speedster Flat Bar bikes that look pretty good, but the rest seem to be more "bike trail" kind of bikes. What makes & models am I missing in my search?
Thanks much.
Rob, sorry. I get carried away defending flat bars, it's a problem. I haven't used drop bars for a long time, I know they're much improved (integrated shifting).
You could build up a flat bar road like the titanium one above or a nice steel one, which is probably going to be faster than an off the shelf hybrid. Among the flat bar road bikes, I've heard Specialized Sirrus is worth a look. Trek FX are very popular. I have a Marin Mill Valley that's pretty fast.
You probably don't need a new bike though. That Scott looks pretty fast. Maybe you can change your stem to put you in a lower position. Light wheels is the easiest place to reduce the weight which helps a lot on hills.