love this.

^^^^Thanks!

Here's mine. I have been using it just over a year. I have added:

• Lights
• Fenders
• Forte 26x1.5 slicks
• MTB Rack
• Seat bag w/tube and a couple tools
• Cheap frame pump

http://webpages.charter.net/redrange...ily_driver.jpg

Looks like a well equipped police bike.

Nice job on the Lotus !!!!!!

Thanks! The gearing is too low though. I need to replace the gears with a more commuting friendly set up.

Thanks for the compliments on the Lotus guys, I don't check in here very often. So far it's been a lot of fun to ride.

Hello all!

This is my first post. I thought that I would start with a picture of my daily commuter: A modified Marin hybrid. I had to get rid of the flat bars because of numb hands and too much wind resistance. Fortunately, the randonneur drop bars and bar-end shifters are working out beautifully.



http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...c/IMG_5306.jpg

Interesting. Most people go from drop to flat for more comfort.

Very nice bike, well equipped. Welcome to bikeforums!

Yes, but not everyone finds the comfort they need with flat bars. That's why my (formerly flat bar) commuter is sporting drops...

http://www.boomspeed.com/artoflaw/incoming/cross_08.jpg

my commuter then my backup with before and after pictures, in that order.

I prefer going the other way as drops offer so many more hand positions and if set level to the saddle still do what flat bars do.

Thanks.

I think that there is a misconception that flat bars are more comfortable. After a several year hiatus from riding, I just couldn't bring myself to getting back on my criterium framed Cannondale (early 90's SC600) that I cut my teeth on so many years ago. So, I bought a hybrid. At first it was okay, but as I re-gained my riding confidence and started piling on the kilometers, I found the flat bars lacked hand positions I needed, even with the add-on bull-horns. The other drawback was the difficulty in riding against a stiff headwind. All of these problems were resolved by going back to drops...

By the way, I still can't bring myself to ride the Cannondale much. The bike will jar the fillings right out of my teeth. Then again, I don't sprint for city limits signs anymore either :D

1+ Drop are more comfortable.
Drops offer : Hoods, ramps, flats and drops. Thats why most bikes in the Long Distance Cycling forum are drop bar. When you spend 100+ miles on a bike its got to be comfortable.

in montreal...what size? you can never have enough early 90s SC600s....

50cm 3.0 lbs crit frame with the aluminum fork.

i ride a 60cm...yours would fit my wife tho... looking to sell? if you are, pics to minusbrakes///at///gmail

I got this bike almost a week ago and have ridden it sooo much. Today I did my first commute to work and it was awesome. Really looking forward to the ride back home this afternoon. It's my first road bike :love:

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1251905052

The newest project to replace the one that I used as my avatar... Will be finished over the weekend.

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/q...hotos/trek.jpg

This is the newest project for the longer commutes:

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/q...tos/Lemond.jpg

Bravo!

flat to drop
 

When converting a flat bar, with existing V brakes, to drop bar, what do you do about the brakes? From the pictures it looks like you have V brakes with drop bar brake levers. I was under the assumption that this wouldn't work.

Sweet ride by the way.

Hey! I have that identical Trek! I like what you have done to it...:)

I solve the "need for various hand positions" problem by having many different bikes. Now I have storage issues :D

Travel Agents, V-brake compatible levers, etc. If you think it's a problem, someone else did, too, and has already engineered and marketed a solution.

Levers:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cid/WQQOR...-Levers-70.htm
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/b...vers-drop.html (look down the page for Cane Creek SCR-5V)

Travel Agent:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_tp-z.html#travelagent

Tektro RL520 are V-Brake / Disc compatible as well.

The biggest challenge I had in converting from flat bars to drops was sourcing the right parts. I had to use v-brake specific aero brake levers from Cane Creek: Drop V. These levers have a linear pull and are made specifically to work with V-brakes.

One thing that did I realize as I was putting everything back together was that in moving to aero levers for the drop bars, I was loosing the brake cable barrel adjusters I had previously on my flat bar brake lever setup. This makes fine tuning the brakes a little trickier but in all for me the mod was well worth it.

If you are considring doing someting similar here is how my mod was broken down:

Cane Creek Drop V Brake levers: $45
Nitto Randonneur Bars: $47
Dura-Ace brake and shifter cables $30
Bontrager gel bar tape: $25
Dura-Ace 8 speed bar-end shifters: Free (gift from my brother)
New (shorter+higher rise) Bontrager stem: $35
Labor: $0 / did the work myself.

As other have said, it would probably have been cheaper to sell the bike and buy another. But I liked my Marin and sourcing the parts and doing the work was more than half the fun...