Originally Posted by
531phile
Converserly, the same thing is true when trying to convert a MTB to drop bars. The top tube is way long so you need a really short stem and once you do this the handling is affected in a negative manner that the bike was never designed for, there will be too much weight on the back.
Not Exactly. I thinks it's more of a challenge not to end up reaching too far forward and having too much drop. Flat bars have no forward reach. Drop bars do.
There's about a 20mm difference in top tube length between my MTB and my road bike. That's well within the normal variation of stem sizes one would use to fit a bike. Is someone using a 100mm stem on a road bike instead of 120 going to experience a huge difference in handling? Probably not.
I did a drop bar conversion on my mountain bike. Getting the stem right wasn't super easy. Partly because of the difference in bars and top tube length but also because I wanted more weight on the rear tire since it's my winter bike. If I wanted a riding position more comparable to the way it was originally or to my road bike it would have been simpler.