Ras Putin

Greetings,

I have an inquiry, can a Hybrid bike converted into Road bike? I have a Giant Escape R3 2013 and I love it, however I'm curious if i can convert into Road bike. Change into dropbar, STI, Saddle, wrap and thats it. I mainly used the bike for work-home v.v. (8-10kms a day) and sometimes for errands and thats about it. However my neighbor who has a Road bike mainly used for work-home v.v. and weekend long rides for about 50kms and he's persistent on asking me to go with him to his weekend routine since he's alone. I'm willing to go however seems the current set up of my bike is not appropriate for the weekend ride with road bike.

Is it worth it?
Is there any damage that my bike will suffer in the future?


Thank you for any insights.

hokiefyd 

Yes, you can. It may not be without drawbacks, however.

1. Road bikes intended for drop bars often have shorter effective top tubes, so the reach out to the hoods with a standard stem is not too long. Bikes intended for flat bars sometimes have longer effective top tubes, because the reach to the normal riding position is not as far forward of the steerer tube as it is with drop bars. Adding drop bars to a longer frame bike could create a reach problem that may or may not be fixable with various drop bar designs or shorter stems.

2. You may not like drop bars. Some people don't. I have owned a few drop bar bikes in the past and have sold all of them. I just prefer flat bars. It would be good to know what you like before investing a lot of money in converting.

3. Your Giant Escape R3 has linear pull brakes (often called "V brakes"). Depending on the length of the brake arm, these may or may not be compatible with standard drop bar brake levers. Linear pull brakes are usually used with "long pull" brake levers, and traditional caliper brakes and cantilever brakes are usually used with "short pull" levers. As such, most drop bar brake levers are designed as "short pull" levers. There are various ways to mitigate this, including using "Mini V" brakes, which are shorter in length and are more compatible with drop bar levers.

You can preview 1 and 2 above by riding your neighbor's bike. Is it comfortable to you? If you like the bike, measure the reach (from the saddle to the hoods) to see if you'll be able to replicate that on your Escape. Or...perhaps a better avenue, depending on your local market, is buying a used road bike. It may be more cost effective in the long run to buy something that is already set up with parts that work together. If it works out, you could sell your Escape to recuperate some of the cost. Or...option 4...ride what you have. There's nothing that says you can't ride a flat bar bike 50 kms. Many ride their flat bar bikes longer distances than that.

Korina

Hunh? How is your bike 'not appropriate'? If you can pedal it and make it go, then it's appropriate. Try your bike as-is on this weekend ride; chances are you'll both have fun. If not, find a used road bike for not too much money and save it for those rides. IMHO, of course.

daoswald

I looked into doing this back in 2007. I had a 2001 Cannondale H400 hybrid that seemed like the perfect bike in many ways except for the riding position, which I was sure would be improved by converting to drop bars. Then upon investigating I learned that the frame's geometry was not intended for drop bars -- the top tube was too long so I would be too stretched out. The brake pull was different. The gear shifting was different enough that I would be looking at a new drive train. So essentially once I started down the path I would be keeping the frame and the seat, and would end up uncomfortable because the frame isn't correct for drop bars.

That led me to the question of why I was considering it in the first place. If I really liked the bike but would prefer a road bike, I should get a road bike that I like. I shouldn't be so attached to the hybrid that I try to make it into something it isn't. The attachment to the thing we own is the irrational motivating factor for hanging onto and morphing the thing we have into something that is suboptimal in its new role.

The better option would be to either sell the hybrid and use the proceeds to purchase a road bike, or keep the hybrid and buy a road bike too. If it is sold, you can decide whether to buy something within the same exact price range used, or whether a few more dollars should be spent to get some upgrades or newer model year, or to buy entirely new. If going the used route, plan on replacing a few of the consumables; tires, chain, tubes, maybe cassette.

rumrunn6

you can do it but it may be more practical to get a 2nd bike

Ras Putin

Guess my curiosity got me on this one, reason why I inquired and hopefully experienced folks (who had the same curiosity) may answer. And you did I love my current Hybrid and I'm considering buying Road bike in the future, I'll leave my Hybrid as it is or maybe upgrade it e.g. Disc brakes (Hydraulic) for more stopping power since going traveling home from work has some downhills. Whilst going to work more uphill, my parking is located on 3rd level parking.
Thanks for this.

Ras Putin

Well you know Hybrid is for daily commute whilst Road is for more of a long, sporty thing. We will ride this weekend with my hybrid as is.

Thanks.

fietsbob

given cost of piece at a time conversions , better to just buy a 2nd bike, N+1,
leave the hybrid as it is, buy a road bike then you have two..

Utility on the hybrid , sporty riding on the road bike ...

Skipjacks

You are 100% correct. The hybrid is a great commuter and not the best long distance rider (for most people...there are exceptions where people LOVE their hybrid for distance and good for them)

2 bikes is the easiest way to deal with this. You'll get 2 bikes that each do something well rather than 1 bike that's not really great at either use.

Obviously cost and storage space are issues here.

Korina

I just read a thread about riding long distances on hybrids, and most have no problems riding centuries, so 50 k shouldn't be too difficult, as long as your backside, and legs hold up. Let us know how the ride goes!