mtb_addict

would this bike below have suitable geometry for drop bar conversion?

when you put a drop bar on this bike, you will be leaning forward alot more and thus shift alot weight to the front wheel. will it might handle poorly? like too twitchy.

Litespud

Hard to tell “geometry” just from looking at a pic, but I’m sure you could stick drops on it and play with different stem lengths to give you a decent riding position. A more pressing question, to me at least, is why would you want to? That bike looks great to me just as it is - comfortable upright position, carrying capacity etc. putting drops on it won’t make it a better bike - quite the opposite.

mtb_addict

build a poor man's touring bike.

c_m_shooter

The steerer tube is pretty short with a level top tube. Keep the stem tall and short reach. Try Dirt Drops first, that way they have a little less reach. You are thinking backwards on the handling. The drops will have a longer reach when combined with the stem length and handling will be more stable. Bringing the grips backwards makes it twitchy. The pictured bike is designed for a pullback bar, so it won't want to turn at all with normal drops.

mtb_addict

that is what i was afraid of.

Phil_gretz

If you have a drop bar bike that fits you properly, then make measurements level and plumb from the bottom bracket spindle. Compare to what you can achieve with the pictured bike. I'm assuming here that you can get it in different sized frames, and that you can obtain a frame that is reasonably in your size range. My concern would not be steering at all, from what I can tell. Rather, I'd be concerned that the seat tube angle is too steep, putting you saddle farther forward than a reasonable balance point for riding on drop bars. That's a recipe for discomfort. Think time trial bike. Either way, measurements are your friend. Friendly speculation without those measurements is...just that, speculation. Do your homework.

skidder

My thoughts are similar, just that its an 'upright' bicycle as pictured so the seat tube angle might put the pedals farther forward from the saddle than a regular drop-bar bicycle. That'll get real uncomfortable if you change it to a drop bar and lean over the handlebars with your feet too far forward.

FWIW: To me the bike looks good enough to use as a tourer as shown in the picture. If you want a drop-bar touring rig then get one with drop bars.

Retro Grouch 

What are you trying to accomplish?

I thrashed with some pretty marginal bikes for decades trying to make them into something they weren't. It's all that I could afford at the time. My signature piece was a Schwinn Twinn coaster brake tandem that I converted into a 15-speed dropped bar creation. My wife and I rode it, including some pretty long and hilly rides for about 8 years. I don't regret that time and effort. We had a lot of fun on that crummy old bike. I learned a lot and the process is a major part of what formed our lives.

As soon as I got to the point that I could afford the style of bike that I was trying to imitate, I bought one.

fietsbob

Previous post was a bike that would not take a rear rack, before that it was step thru
and another before that how can I get this bike with these handle bars thru busy traffic?
& the Gazelle..
at least a horizontal top tube with a cheap short seat post will be unlikely to bend as easily as your previous bargain find.

You actually can change parts on a bicycle, after you buy it, yes..

fishboat

You might select a couple well known touring bikes and look up the geometry, then look for older rigid mtn bikes with similar, or the same, geometry..they're fairly easy to find..oddly enough(or not..geometries that work seem to pop up in many styles of bikes..the Trek 520 touring bike and 750 hybrid..basically the same frame geometry..in the early 90s at least.).

Measure the stack-reach of a road bike that fits you..then calculate if you can get close to that fit in a drop bar conversion. In my experience, there's a range of stack-reach combos that I find comfortable, rather than a tight spec that works for me.

mtb_addict

yes, i have setup a taobao account. i have been able to buy parts for amazingly cheap and fast shipping.

taobao is like aliexpress.

swapping to drop bar ought to be quite easy, with just simple hand tools.

and i have a covered space to work on my bikes, now. no longer have to fix my bike on the sidewalk.

ShannonM

I'd bet that they were the same frame with different decals. This was pretty common for early hybrids. I know for a fact, because I had one, that the H-series Cannondales from that era used the touring frame. It was the cheapest way to jump on the hybrid fad, if you already made a touring bike. Slap flat bars and your cheapest MTB parts package on the touring frame, design one or two new decals, done.

--Shannon