Adding drop bars to small wheel folding bikes?
 

Years ago when I rode bikes quite a bit, I rode only road bikes with drop bars. Those were the only game in town back then for serious riders. Right around the time when I got away from bikes, mountain bikes started coming in. (I'm dating myself here.)

Anyways, rode a bunch of folding bikes recently from 16" wheels (Brompton) to full sized folding bikes. In short, all the small wheels including a couple sof 20" grands felt just a bit off and cramped. Perhaps it was shorter cranks. Perhaps the small wheels. Not sure why.

With 16" and 20" wheel bikes, is it OK to put drop bars on them? One will be perched more over the front wheels. Or will that just change the handling too much and be unsafe?

I realize of course that drop bars will make the bike much less compact when folded up. I am thinking of using quick release clamps for times when I need to really fold to small package.

Thanks,
UL

There are several folding bikes with drop bars. You've noticed the biggest problem with them (folding the bike). So go for it.

Safety is not a concern. Some BFs come with them.

Some Terns too

http://ep.yimg.com/ay/nycewheels/ter...oad-bike-1.jpg

As I have grown older and less flexible I find myself riding mostly on the tops and brake hoods on bikes with drop bars. I got bullhorns on my Ti Swift and really like them vs drop bars. You get the extension of drop bars if you want it, and mostly they feel like riding drop bars on the brake hoods with a better fold and less weight than drop bars.

I have a long torso and appreciate the desire to stretch out a bit. Bullhorn bars do it for me.

Not folding but seperable, Moultons mainly come with dropbars on the T.S.R upwards.

I agree with Pine Cone's comments, bullhorns provide a good compromise between the fast/road riding position and ability to retain a compact riding position.

Drops bars don't fold well. Bull bars or low profile bars made from upsidedown cut down drops work well on bromptons, downtubes,space genies, and mezzos in my experience.
You get the same hand postons virtually. See some of my threads on fitting dahon andros stem extender to Brompton, mission space genie, or the upgrading a mezzo thread.http://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bi...-advice-2.html

Bike friday pocket rocket.. https://www.google.com/search?q=Bike...w=1808&bih=959

Overly Broad question, so the answer is like ... 42

still has to be comfortable to ride when you're done ..


my Pocket Llama has trekking bars on it; My Brompton M3L has Ergon grips, on their stock M bars.

Generally bikes with stems that don't have any forward reach benefit from bullbars or simular fitting. A Brompton response well to adding a dahon extender and low profile bars. The dahon extender is nearly 6 inches alone. If you can get the longer bars to hold in the handlebar clamp. Mezzo can't take this kind of extension due to their already massively forward reaching stem. The bike gets too twitchy. It work well with mini low profiles(see the mezzo thread), drops turned on their side and cut down. Cqg has fitted a alba santoria? Forgot it name. To his mezzo and this handles excellently. Dahon curves may have flex issues is you extend forwards,maybe mine was just a bad example.
Birdies have had forward reaching bars added by some posters. I own birdies and thought the handling worsen with the dahon stem so I remove it.
Any compact you are thinking of adding drops or similar to?

I've been toying with putting drop bars on my Dahon Speed D7 because I most prefer riding on brake hoods. Thinking I would cut off the bars just below the hoods to improve the fold.

& QR the stem~HB Riser, too , BTW the brake lever tips will still stick down..

Might go with a oversize bar clamp with a shim sleeve , with a standard sized bar

so the clamping and rotation wear and tear is not on the handlebar center directly.

Turn the drops upsidedown then cut back so the hoods are vertical. I find I prefer the hoods pointing in slightly,which also gets a folder fold.
If you have v brakes you will need travel agents for cable pul. Some people use bar ends but I prefer full road race shifter/brakes.

Thanks...I'm aware of needing travel agents. Figuring I would put Microshift 7-speed brifters on. 8 speed would be nice but we're talking a whole drivetrain update then.

If your tires are not terribly wide, you can fit short pull v-brakes on the bike and eschew the travel agent.

Do you have a pic? i can't quite see it in my mind.

And THANK YOU EVERYONE who replied to my query. No matter what fold I do end up with, I think I probably will switch the flat handlebar out so all your posts have been ver helpful. Keep it coming. Especially appreciate the links where I can see what you are talking about.

Thanks!
UL

Just in case you don't switch the flat bar out, I like the Ergon GP5 .. super comfortable, many hand positions, and doesn't affect the fold much in many cases..

http://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bi...-upgrades.html



http://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bi...tml?highlight=

Mezzo has bars laid on side then cut back. No stem extention
Brompton upsidedown then cut back. Dahon stem extender.
Also photos of downtube upside down no extention other than standard stem. Downtube page 2 of Brompton thread above. See little pixels threads for making a quick release from a standard stem extenter or the mezzo upgrade thread has ideas.

I just completed a drop bar conversion on my 2008 Bike Friday Tikit. Original had flat bars and a single 8-sp twist shifter. I'm not a fan of flat bars, much prefer bars that allow multiple hand positions and play nicely with brifters. I've played with mustache and bullhorn bars, but keep coming back to drop bars, so that's what goes on most (if not all) of my builds.

I went with Sora 8-sp brifters (although I only need the rear to shift, single chainring) on Nitto B-135 randonneur bars. Love these bars; they're narrow on the tops and wide at the drops. Lizard Skins DSP tape to complete the outfit.

Yes, the drop bars do make the fold bulkier, but for me, the improvement in comfort far outweighs folded size. Still easy enough to throw in the back of my vehicle or on public transport.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=475080http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=475081

Yes that's about the bulky fold I found with drops pictured above. My suggestion only adds about 3 inches the width of the fold but you get simular riding postion. I managed to add 6 inches stem extention and get a drop bar postion on my brompton with out altering the folded size. This was by adding a QR.

I've seen pictures of drop bars on Birdys too.

I have 'bar ends on my Swift that convert flat 'bars into drops. This enables me to keep the twist grip in place. I find they work pretty well and provide plenty of hand positions on a long ride.