thinking of building a custom commuter
 

hi there,

i am thinking about building a custom commuter. i currently ride a surly pacer with drop bars and a tubus rack with ortlieb panniers. i like this bike a lot but my main complaint is the setup. i have ridden a few dutch style bikes and i love the upright feel.

i rode a rivendell hillborne and this had a better feel than my surly but not entirely upright still. its also a little costly. i figure i can easily add albatross bars to the hillborne and have exactly what i want. its just a bit more than i want to pay.

is there any reason not to add albatross bars to a road frame (my current surly pacer)?
id like to see if i can get a more upright ride.

the way i see it is if it looks aweful or feels strange, i will have a few more parts towards my custom bike.

thanks.

rocker

I think a bike should feel comfortable and be useful. If you don't like it you can always change it back.

well, I think it will look strange, but that's an awful reason not to do it.

It will work, but with one caveat; on the pacer (which has a more 'road' position' I assume) your weight is evenly distributed between your hands, butt, and legs. This actually adds a good bit of suspension to the bike, and makes it a little less jarring to go over bumps and such. When you raise the handlebars, you are shifting more weight on to your butt, eliminating the 'shock absorbing' effects of the stretched out position.

This is no big deal, just make up for it elsewhere on the bike. There is a reason most Dutch style bikes have giant balloon tires. However, the Pacer, being road oriented probably doesn't have clearance for the type of tires I would want for a Dutch style bike. I'd start at a 35mm tire and work your way up. I think a Pacer can clear a 32, maybe...

I'd keep your Pacer as a faster, more sprightly ride and buy a new project for a dutch style cruiser. It's always a good idea to have more bikes

While I agree that you should go with a Dutch-style bike with fatter tires instead of trying to change your Surly Pacer, using albatross-type bars on bikes with road-ish geometry isn't unheard of. Here, check these pics out:

Soma Stanyan (scroll to the bottom of the page):
http://somafab.com/stanyanplus.html

Pake C'Mute (okay, it's actually a cyclocross-type, but same deal):
http://pakebikes.com/pakemute8.html

Check out Swobo bikes http://www.swobo.com/ I just bought a Baxter. It's 4 or 5 lbs heavier than my K2 cyclocross bike... not so much heavier than my Surly Crosscheck. So it takes me a little longer to pedal it any given distance. But the bike is SO styling that I don't care. The Alfine hub is very smooth and I'm loving the disc brakes.

DanO

You can change the handlebar to a Nitto Albatross on your Surly Pacer. Best damn handlebar I ever bought. I have it on nearly all my bikes.