Grim

I did a lot of research and was going to do this swap. There is a few options to deal with the brakes.
Cantilevers swapped for V brakes. $30 a wheel and lets you use any brake lever shifter combo.
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...20ATB%20Brakes

Travel agent if you want to go with Brifters but keep the V's
https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...e.cfm?SKU=2647

Drop bar areo brakes that are set up for V brakes. Diacompe I think it is has them but I can' seem to find a link to them right now. They have a "V" in the part number. I'll try to find it.

With the drops you may need a shorter stem but that is a negative on the handling I feel.


In the end I ended up with trekking bars and liked them a lot. You could lay down on them like aero bars when dealing with head wind. Lots of hand positions but the shifters and brakes took getting use to. Its enough of a change that I would be hesitant to just let somebody hop on the bike that was use to anything else.

Ultimately my long leg short torso build I swapped to a Touring bike because the long top tube made for bit of a reach even with a 80mm stem. I kept finding myself sliding to the nose of the seat. The Touring bike got the bigger tires (700cx35-40) but road geometry. Its a much faster bike. Set the bars high and I still have that nice high seating position in traffic.

rumrunn6

Holiday76 - Nice job! I would love to jump on that and crank it out. What's that up top the bars? A cup holder for hot coffee? :-)

Unapomer - That old schwinn looks good. What size is that frame & wheels?

I'm wondering maybe I can just pick up a kids 10-speed (26" wheels) for cheap and put bill ole tires on it. Or would that frame just be too small for me. I'm 6' with a 32" inseam.

-holiday76

thats right It's a requirement on any commuter I ride.

icedmocha 

I didn't see it mentioned, so: on one mary bars are good for this. edit: it looks like you are set.

no motor?

That is a nice looking bike - have you seen the Salsa Fargo yet?

CCrew

If you're dealing with V-Brakes that also leaves you the option for mechanical discs if your frame supports them.

Once you've run good discs no other brakes can hold a candle to them...

AsanaCycles

i played with the drop bar idea for sometime
actually i had used a Salsa Moto Rapido for about a year with these bars
which are a set of On-One Mary Bars, mounted upside down (yes... inverted)

for me... the idea had been growing in my mind

that is

i dont own a car (for some time now)
so i ride bikes, and i ride all over the place, for various reasons

I like to ride with my roadie buddies, but over the years, i suppose due to my lack of a car, i've become pretty strong, and now my road bike just sits. i simply ride my MTB all the time, if not The Big Dummy.

really i just wanted something with swoopy lines, and something with style.

purpose design, is that i'm using grip shift, so there is little change in hand position to shift, which is very "roadie"-esq
a la Ergo shifter.
the sweep lets me change the angle of my wrists, which is just a matter of being able to pull on the bars a bit more, compared to a MTB flat bar, and of course, eliminate bar ends, which are prone to hooking someone while in close quarters. i.e. group road ride, sprints, etc...

i also wanted to be a little bit more up right, with an option to get into a roadie position, and of course be able to ride dirt too.

all without the visual complexity of an H-Bar
which by the way, is another awesome option.

my vision was to have a bike that pretty does it all
that is
road rides, commute, tour, dirt, dirt tour, rain, etc...

i stripped down the Moto Rapido, sold off parts
and asked Rick Hunter to build this 29er

the 29er with 44x11t is about like a road bike 700c 53x12t
so its got the gear inch to keep up
and of course the big tyres roll over all sorts of uneven country roads, etc...
plus its a dirt bike

mostly i ride my Big Dummy, as I'm usually commuting, running errands, etc...
but at times, i've taken The Hunter on a tour. i think it was Sept i rode from Monterey to LA

fiataccompli

fwiw, seems like old top-mount thumb shifters (don't know the right term for them, but circa 1987-1990 MTB stuff) could be modified pretty easily to fit a road bar...and work reasonably well ergonomically too...anyone done that?

I got some of these for a MTB to CX/road bike build for my son, but since I was using 36cm drop bars room was tight & I went with bar end shifters...and, for the record, here's a picture of that drop bar on MTB build:

aMull

That's just hideous

icedmocha 

Asna, i really like the bike. The bars look uncomfortable with that drop (to me of course).

ken cummings

Yes. I used pipe clamps to hold a set of drop bars on my MTB handle bars. I was training for a Double on the MTB as my road bike had been stolen. I needed more hand positions. Worked fine. Got a new Bianchi Volpe just before the big ride.

Unapomer

I have less than $200 into this commuter, just an older, basic mtb ('84 Schwinn Mirada) with used drops, aero levers, and Suntour friction barcons and other parts out of the junk box. These old mtb's can be picked up cheap and they have a nice, comfortable ride because of the frame geometry and looong wheelbase.

BikeManDan

Drops on my Trek 800

knobster

Thanks. I build to please.

Rides great though.

rumrunn6

Nice bikes!!!

To repeat my new question:

I'm wondering maybe I can just pick up a kids 10-speed (26" wheels) for cheap and put big ole tires on it. Or would that frame just be too small for me.

rumrunn6

Fargo takes 29" wheels?!?! WHAT?!?!

AsanaCycles

The trick is that the top tube of the frame is measured close to my inseam
however, of course it curves down toward the seat tube which gives some stand over height

the handle bar to saddle height is actually a bit higher than seen here with the Moto Rapido
with the Salsa, it had a big ol spacer, and a riser stem

on the Hunter, the spacer is much smaller, but the head tube is also much larger, and the dbl top tube
keeps the whole frame stiff

the swooping bars, curvy frame tubes... it gives it that Cafe look

but in reality, the position is quite civilized.
especially as the bar sweeps outward, and back, which gives you room to straighten your back if you'd like, and sit up... quite a bit more than you would with a flat bar

and the middle section, which is actually a bit higher, gives an aero position that you can actually use, either with your hands, or by placing your forearms.

here's Gary Fisher posing with it at this year's Sea Otter Classic.

peace...d

jcm

A '98 Trek 520 and a '88 Trek 830 MTB. Inverted North Road bars.

knobster

Don't like it?

no motor?

Yes, and I can't explain that as well as others can so I'll leave that to them. But it looks really cool, doen't it?

rumrunn6

knobster - Gorgeous!

BikeManDan

Tooooo many bikes I'm leaving the country and liquidating most everything I have. Check out my other auctions too