Up straight position with drops - conversion question
 

At the moment I have the classic drops but I would like to have a straight up position and take as much weight as possible off my forearms and hands, in addition to keep my neck straight.

I already did a previous conversion but it was a messy business and I am wondering if just changing the handlebar stem might be a better idea. Has someone done a similar thing?

I can't quite imagine how it would be to have drops either with a stem that goes straight up high or even a backward and high stem.

Does anybody have any pictures and/or suggestions or experience with this type of setup?

My previous conversion on previous bike
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=451276http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=451277

If you search google images you will find all kinds of examples. Here's one:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/...9038676f_o.jpg

i've even seen a few pictures of bikes with two handlebars, one high and one low.

I did it for a bike that was too small for me. I don't remember it being any sort of "messy business" - all I did was replace the stem with something more upright (make sure you know the stem diameter), found bars that would fit, found mountain bike shifters with the same gearing and some brake handles and put it all together. Make sure you grease your stem.

Is this a quill or threadless stem? a threadless stem would be much easier assuming you can unbolt it from the front and don't have to strip off the levers and bar tape just to get the bars out. If it is a quill stem, you will have to do that, and look for dirt drop stems. They are tall and witha short reach. Nitto makes one, as I am sure others do as well. You could also replace with the type of stem a lot of comfort bikes use that allow the rider to change the rise.

If a threadless, yes you should be able to find a stem that would meet your needs.

I tried google images but maybe I am using the wrong key words. I would like to see what kind of posture I can achieve with such setup. It's hard to picture with just a bike without a person riding it.

My frank opinion is that drop bars aren't a great choice for a very upright position and that there are strong ergonomic reasons for backswept upright bars being the preferred choice for such a fit throughout history. The major reason for this is that, despite what Rivendell will tell you, a more upright riding position means you need your hands closer to your body for best comfort, and drop bars work against this, pushing your hands further away instead of closer. The closer you are to vertical, the less you need the multiple positions offered by drop bars, and the more uncomfortable the riding position on the hoods will be unless you really roll the bars back - which in addition to looking terrible makes the brake levers much less usable from the drops. Swept upright bars like a North Road style give a neutral position to your wrists when sitting upright and there's a reason that upright-style bikes have used handlebars of the same general style for decades.

Quoted in entirety for emphasis. In other words.... THIS!!!!!!

I agree with that. Drop bars are made for a specific kind of riding, where efficiency and aerodynamics are especially important. Drop bars dictate a rather specific range of riding postures; if you want a different position, you want a different bar.

Bear in mind that when you move to a more upright position on the bike, taking your weight off your arms, you take weight off the front wheel. This has an adverse effect on the handling of the bike (since more of your weight is on the back wheel) as well as reducing your pedaling efficiency (since your weight is now farther behind the pedals). To compensate you may want to move the seat forward. The end result will be a posture more like walking.

I swapped drops on one bike for a northroad bar and it has me bolt upright.

I switched to a pair of flatbar brake levers but the dropbar ones would have worked, and needed longer brake cables/housing (although I could have slid the brakes higher up the bars...). I used handlebar tape for grips, could have wrapped the whole bar I suppose.

Bar-end shifters were fine going from the ends of the drops to the ends of the northroad.

Different people ride differently but I find the bolt upright position puts more weight on my hands than I had before. I could be doing it wrong.

As for working with the existing dropbars, well, everyone did this when I was in junior high

Its common for court ordered cyclists after their DL is revoked ..

Thanks for the feedback. Try to picture this, upright position with back at an angle between 90-75 with top tube, then elbows at 90 angle with drop bars, receded back and set higher. How does this position sound? Similar somewhat to an upside down airplane cloche.

Having trouble picturing it without turning the stem to point backward. :lol:

And that's what I was thinking actually.