I have a new bike for the wife that we're turning into her get-around town bike. She can stand over it but it's a little long with dropbars. I'm thinking a flat bar conversion would be appropriate.

Bike in question:


So you can see what I'm working with. Canti brakes, ~100mm stem. What's the cheapest way to get what I'm after?

Can I find a flat bar that fits the quill stem, and then turn the brake levers sideways and use them?

Also, the schrader valves are the pits. How can I use presta valves with these wheels?

That's a nice bike and great for the purpose. I use porteur/moustache style bars for my get-around-town bike they've got a nice sweep back to them so you can use the drop levers on the curved part. That being said I use flat bar levers on it anyway since then I can sit fairly upright and keep my hands far back on the bars (near the bar-end shifters) while I ride. You should be able to use presta valves with wheels drilled for schrader no problem.

Cheapest (aside from just rotating bars back ) would be swap in a used cockpit. I have this one- unfortunately 3x9.

Alternative option: shorter stem and compact drop bar

If she wants drop bars, but the reach is too long, why not just swap to a shorter stem?

If she doesn't want drop bars, why does the bike have drop bars?

The cheapest, easy route to flat bars would be to swap in a flat bar and a pair of brake levers. The current levers won't work with straight flat bars, since the curved levers will hit the bar before applying any significant braking force. If she also wants the shifting to be on the bars, then you would need a cable stop on the down tube and appropriate shift levers. Cable stops for mounting on that type of boss are hard to come by, but you could get a down tube clamp-on cable stop.

You can get a Schrader to Presta adapter that fills the space around the valve hole for a few dollars.

Why do people dislike Schrader valves?

I don't care about Schrader vs. Presta- neither seems better or worse- if anything the Presta valves are more of a pain in the ass because you have to close them up after you're finished pumping, heck- they probably weigh more. I've read that people don't like the "larger hole" required for Schrader- but then are perfectly fine putting in Presta adapters... Is it that the "professionals" use Presta? or that boom bikes came with Schrader?

I just don't like having to switch my pump head over on my Leszyne pump.

What's wrong with Schrader valves?

You're going to have to spend money to make the bike rideable and safe, so I would just accept that and not try to get away with kludges like drop bar brake levers on a flat bar. The bike will need new tires and brake pads at the least. New cables and housing to get the best function from the shifters and brakes. So might as well plop down a little money for some decent short pull flat bar levers.

If you search "Dia Compe flat bar levers" on eBay you'll get quite a few $20 options. I'm assuming that's a 26mm stem clamp so find a swept back flat bar with that clamp diameter. Velo Orange makes some good ones that are cheap.

If you got a 60 or 70mm long stem and compact drop bars like the Soma Highway 1, and swapped the brake levers for Tektro or Cane Creek ones, that would drastically reduce the reach and drop and make the brake hoods a viable hand position, allowing you to keep it a drop bar bike.

This was so helpful thank you!

I dislike Schrader valves because they're incredibly hard to use with my pump. It could just be a bad valve/pump combo but it's literally almost impossible to air up the tires.

I have a pair of crosstop levers, the kind that run inline for cyclocross bikes, would those be appropriate by themselves on a flat bar for this bike? Not sure if the cable pull is correct for cantis..

Hmm, time for a new pump! My Park floor pump has no problem with either valve type.

The diameter of a drop handlebar where brake levers mount is 23.8mm. The diameter of flat bars is 22.2. Your cyclocross inline levers probably have a 23.8mm clamp for drop bars, too big for the 22.2 of flat bars.

As far as cable pull, there are two kinds:

-Short pull: works with cantis, sidepulls, centerpulls, u-brakes, roller-cams, and "road"-labeled disc brakes.

-Long pull (aka "linear pull" or "direct pull"): works with V-brakes and "mtb"-labeled disc brakes.

Modern Campagnolo integrated brake/shift levers are short pull but have a slightly different cable pull ratio. They will work with any short pull brake but they will work better with Campagnolo-specific brakes. For example, Paul Components short pull disc brake is offered in a regular-short pull or Campagnolo-short pull version.

It really is time for a new pump. But I think I have a plan. I forgot about all the bits I took off my dad's Salsa fat bike. I think the cantis will reach 700c wheels. A 1X setup sure would make for a sweet get-around bike.

I agree. I have a 1x setup on a city bike, also with a Wolf Tooth chainring. It works well

Issues I see- you have a 130bcd Wolf Tooth ring. That triple on the Focus touring bike is probably a 110bcd or something smaller. So no go with that ring.

The Avid levers on the Salsa bars are probably long pull if they are from a fat bike with long pull disc brakes. So no go with the short pull cantis on the Focus. You would need to switch to V-brakes (long pull) to use those levers.

Yeah I have a silver 105 crank that is 130bcd. Good call on the brake levers, I hadn't looked into that yet. That's a bummer.

U can use ur cross levers on origin8 tiki bars, or use the original levers on the curves. The leverage with them mounted on the curves is awesome.

https://www.modernbike.com/origin-8-tiki-bar

I use them upside down for maximum rise.

Tiki bars with drop levers.


Tiki bar with cross levers

Nitto's Mustache bars , have a wrist friendly slight downslope bend ,

where adopting 'northroad' bars like above are intended for as shown.. curving upward more steeply from the stem,
they're 22;2 diameter so Straight bar levers and grips will work too


A Trekking Bar setup can take road levers on the front too , or straight bar levers on the back, (open end)

Change stem to suit your comfort needs..






....

I bought some alloy wheels from the local recyclers recently and they came with presta valves. There are 2 reasons that I know of why they might be preferred - one, they can hold more pressure, secondly they use a smaller sized valve hole that would suit a narrower rim. Once I've sold the bike I've put these on I'll have zero presta valves in my stable. Not because I don't like them, they just haven't been in the wheels I've usually come across. I do have a few sets of woods/dunlop valves in 642, 635 and 630 sizes. I only found out a couple of days ago the following piece of trivia: the tiny little rubber tube you used to/sometimes still do get in a patch kit, is a replacement valve tube for a woods/dunlop inner tube . Which means I'm kinda glad I didn't throw away the inner tubes I have with these valves, but I don't think I have any replacement tiny little rubber tubes coz I didn't know what they were for and have probably thrown them away. End of story.

I have a pair of levers for 22.2 flat bars you can have. Send me a pm with your mailing address if you decide to go that route.



Brent

I'll bet the first thing she'll want is a relocation of the shifters. Nothing wrong with downtube shifters with drop bars, esp. if you're accustomed to them. But we tried a FBRB (flat bar road bike) setup for my wife a while back, retaining the DT shifters. I just didn't work out; we're reverting to a drop bar. There's another recent thread featuring a bike with this type of symmetric shifter boss, and a bolt-on adapter for extending cable housing upward. In that case, it was for stem shifters, but it could just as easily be used for bar-clamp or bar-end shifters.

In any event, save the original parts, in case you opt to sell it in the future.

Awesome thanks! I'll let you know.

Yeah she already mentioned her hesitation to use dt shifters and it's not even ridable yet...

An old donor mountain bike of the rigt vintage have everything you need, stem, handlebar, levers and shifters. You can even go 6/7 speed indexed. The only thing extra needed is a clamp on cable stop to work around the downtube shifters.

An old donor mountain bike of the right vintage have everything you need, stem, handlebar, levers and shifters. You can even go 6/7 speed indexed. The only thing extra needed is a clamp on cable stop to work around the downtube shifters.

The actual drop section aside, will simply putting a set of wider flat bars actually change anything? I suspect she will be in better much the position on the grips of a flat bars as being on the hoods but maybe with her arms spread wider.

IMHO switching to flat bars or a bar with modest rise but leaving a regular road stem on the bike is almost pointless in most cases.

I'm building a bike with inverted North road bars in mind. They can be used for a shorter reach because they bend backwards more than moustache bars or they cane tilted down for a more aggressive stance. For shifting I plan on using Sunrace M9 friction thumb shifters. Very sturdy and affordable at $20 for a single one.

Otherwise I echo what other have said, mountainbike parts with a trigger shifter and matching derailleur.