Richard_Rides

This is (was) my Trek Hybrid. It's a 7.7 FX to be exact. Came with a flat bar, I HATED that!
So I acquired the parts needed to make it a true road bike:

Shimano Ultegra Brifters from Nashbar $150
Handle bar from Nashbar: $25
2 "Travel Agents" from Jenson USA to change brake pull ratio: $52
Handlebar tape with cushion padding: $20
-----------------------------------------------
Total Parts: $248
Labor paid to Performance Cyclery in Santa Clarita to put it together: $70

Total Conversion Cost: $318

Took it for a 27 mile ride this morning and it runs like a Swiss watch, the
Travel Agents were needed because the FX has V-brakes, which need lots of cable
pull to actuate, so they take the limited cable pull from the STI brifters and change the pull ratio
so the brakes will work, and work they do!

I apologize for the bike being dirty in these pics, but I was too excited to wash it.

So, if you have a nice hybrid but want a "real" road bike, it's very do-able. I paid $1700 for this bike a couple of years ago, it's a great bike and now even better.

avmanansala

Nice conversion!

I have a C'Dale Road Warrior that I converted from a flat bar to moustache bars. I've been thinking about going a drop bar, but I'm kinda happy with my bike the way it is. When I swapped over to the moustache bars, I also went from a triple to a double; 9 speed (SRAM) to 10 speed (105 cogs; DA barcons), Flat Bar FD/Tiagra RD (long cage) to Ultegra FD/RD (short cage)

Before:




After:

AndrewP

Nice. When I did the drop conversion on my Peugeot hybrid I used a shorter stem and added in-line cable adjusters for the shifters.

cod.peace

You could also have used cantilever brakes instead of the travel agents. I think.

Richard_Rides

The frame on my bike doesn't have guides for center pull brakes.

Brando_T.

what did you have on the bike before the "brifters"

did you have to mod anything or spend a lot of time retuning the derailleurs?

txvintage

I turned out great!

That deal on those brifters was a great sale. A couple of months ago they were $140 and had an additional 20% off. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a set for future use.

w00die

I don't know much about bike parts but I do know, That was a deal!


The conversion looks great. Enjoy.

Richard_Rides

Yeah, the brifters were on sale at Nashbar for $150, normally $400. The bike shifts like a dream. I can now trim the FD, before I had mountain bike type trigger shifters. No tuning at all for the shifters, they feel solid and clicking from gear to gear gives a quality, secure feel. Also sweeping gears on the downshift brings you right to a gear, no mushy ambiguous shifting. I spent much of the time in the drops, had a headwind coming home, it was nice to hunker down and drill into the wind. With the flat, mountain bars, my position was so upright, the wind would really slow me to a crawl.

I also added Koolstop brake pads and they made a big difference too.

Richard_Rides

Nice bike! I like the Barcons.

justin70

$26 apiece for travel agents seems so expensive to me. I guess it is a bike part/accessory.

Richard_Rides

I always play the "It's for my health" card. $52 is not too much to spend on getting healthier...

Sixty Fiver

I have to say that I really love that conversion being that it was really well done and shows how economical such a conversion can be... quite a few folks are critical of "performance" hybrids but not all of us are weight weenies and even skinnier guys like me appreciate a road bike that is far more rugged.

I did a very similar thing to my 1999 Trek 7500 last year... I needed a bike that could do it all.

My bike started as a comfort hybrid with a bunch of soft squishy parts so I replaced those with stiffer and lighter bits to include the crank (Sugino mtb triple), Ritchey seatpost, and my favourite Velo saddle.

The adjustable stem and riser bars were replaced with a 1 1/8 quill and Ritchy cross bars and the shifting duties are handled by some vintage bar cons.

The V-brakes were replaced with Avid cantis and Kool Stop pads as to work with the drop levers.

My bike in road drag... I prefer a more upright position because of back issues, wanted a commuter / tourer and because I have a race bike for going crazy fast.



I bought this wonderful 40 spoke tandem wheel with a Sansin hub and Mavic MA40 for $20.00...





I laced up a 32 spoke Mavic MA40 to a Deore MTB hub and when the XT derailer died I replaced it with a Suntour Cyclone GT that has no trouble with a 30 tooth cog.



I kept my old 36 spoke wheels and set them up with cross tyres as I do like to take the bike off road and also ride it in the winter... these are overkill for a lightweight like me if I am not loaded down with gear or pulling a trailer with 200 pounds of stuff.





This bike has taken me more than 5000 trouble free, comfortable, and fast kilometres and my total cost was under $500.00 which includes 2 sets of Schwalbe tyres and the stock bike which cost me $120.00 (gently used).

I work as a mechanic in a bike co-op, used a good number of used / recycled parts and got my tyres at cost.

I had to source out a front and rear hanger / guide for the new cantis which was not all that difficult... the Avids are decent but I have some NOS XTR cantis I want to try out.

I posted this here (skinny guy that I am) as I see the question of hybrid conversions in many of the forums and it is good to share our visions and ideas with everyone.

daven1986

I did it on my specialized hybrid, however for cost I used bar end shifters. Cost me around £100 and rides so much better than with flat bars - don't think I'll ever buy another bike with flatbars!

(the thread on my conversion is in bike mechanics)

Daven

Wogster

Nice, thinking of doing something similar with my bike, but to make it a little, or maybe a lot cheaper, pick up a set of bar end shifters and V-brake road levers. would save the cost of the travel agents at least.... Of course I would do as much work as I can myself.....

Richard_Rides

This was actually my initial plan, I was going to use Cane Creek Drop V brake levers and Dura-Ace Barcons but I had difficulty finding a place that had the brake levers in stock. During this time Nashbar had their sale and I was growing impatient so I went that route....

daven1986

If it helps, I used the tektro levers as I have disc brakes and they work very well.

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/513356-completed-flat-drop-conversion.html

dingonan

It requires some work but if you know how to do it I guess it's ok.

avmanansala

THANK YOU!


So what is your FD?
My understanding is that Shimano flat bar shifters need to be used with their flat bar FD...something about the pull on the cable.

I really like your conversion.