converting to flat handlebars
 

I currently ride a Campania 70s road bike and I want to change my handlebars to flat ones for a more comfortable ride and cruising around my college campus. I don't really use the drop bars that much either. I'm just looking for a cheap alternative. Can anyone recommend any flat handlebars that will fit the original stem? I hope my question makes sense.

I rode flat bars (with a bit of a rise) on my fixed-gear bike for a long time and enjoyed them. However, especially on longer rides, you'll probably find the drop bars to ultimately be more comfortable because there are more hand positions.

Without knowing the specs on the stem I can't really recommend a good set of bars, but you'd probably be OK starting at shops or sites which sell fixed-gear bikes and accessories.

i use oldschool standard 1inch quill road stems, SR, 3T, cinelli grammo, with my oldschool 26.4 (?) clamp diameter MTB bars, like KONA and just about any made before the 31.8 clamp diameter became popular. no problem. of course, any shifters, grips, brake-clamps are not interchangeable between road bars and mtb bars, but you didn't ask, so forget i said anything. :)

BTW, recently i've been buying carbon flatbars from China via ebay. they come in 26.4 and 31.8 clamp diameters are light cheap, and tough. i've crashed twice in the last nine months, hard enough to do permanent damage to both my shoulders, but the good news is my carbon handlebars have come through like a champ! really.

It's hard to know what the OP's handlebar diamater is.

The typical quill stem in the day was designed for 26.0mm handle bars.

26.4 was the Cinelli specific standard

Mountain Bikes were 25.4

However, many Japanese made road handlebars used 25.4.

Given that the OP's bike is basically a low price Japanese wanna be road bike, it's hard to tell what size the handlebars are without putting a caliper to it.

Peter White goes over various stem sizing: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/stems.asp

Key point is you need the handlebar to match the stem, and don't force mismatches.

Consider getting a matching stem if it's hard to find bars for your current stem. Inexpensive ones should be plentiful. You'll need new brake levers & cables.

Would you guys recommend I buy a new stem along with new bars and brakes and cables? If so, could anyone link me some affordable parts? Much appreciated!

I just realized that Homebrew01 answered my question right before i posted mine. -_- sorry

would something like this work for me? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Origin8-Orig...item4ad0099213

Is the opening where the stem goes into the same for all road bikes?

No, see post number 4 above.

that's pretty much what i have on my oldschool 25.4mm clamp sized stems. ya, you'll need, as mentioned brake levers, shifters, that have a 22.2mm clamp diameter, road levers and shifters will be too big. i use a bmx brake lever and don't use shifters, but any MTB friction trigger type shifter should work. if the shifters are indexed, you'll have to deal with compatibility issues. not particularly difficult if you know what you are doing...

of course, you'll have to be partial to blue.

turns out that my stem size is 26.0mm, i went to a local bike shop and asked. ill find a bar that fits that size and then look for some brakes and shifters. if you have a few minutes to spare, would you be able to link me a few brakes and shifters that you think will work? my current shifters are attached to my stem, if that helps at all... maybe i can keep the shifters there and not change them?

if my stem is 26.0mm, that means that my bar will be 26.0mm, so does that mean that my brake levers will need to be 26.0mm as well...?

no. if you get that blue bar you will need, as mentioned, a 22.2mm clamp for anything you put on that bar. only the STEM clamping portion of the bar is 25.4mm. everywhere else it is 22.2mm.

Hmmm, is a straight bar on the same geometry really going to be more comfortable? Your hands are going to be about the same place as they would be if you had your hands on the tops of the drop bar, just wider. And don't forget straight bars only have one hand position, all of them uncomfortable after a long enough time on the bike.

Can you get a higher/longer quill stem and redo the geometry to get a more upright posture? Maybe all you'd need to do is move the saddle forward a bit to go with the higher bar position.

That way you wouldn't have to get all new shifters and/or brake levers.

I'm mainly looking for a wider bar. The one i currently have has the brakes also on the horizontal part of the bar, so i hold it there most of the time, but it is way too narrow. I don't feel stable when holding it there and when i use the drop bars it is not very comfortable and i still have the narrow issue. I just want some normal flat bars with brakes on there so that I can hold on to those at all times, whether i'm going downhill or if i'm just cruising around campus. I only ride my bike to school and back so I don't stay on the bike for too long; that's why I think that the flat bars will be much more practical for me. Perhaps relocating the shifters would be helpful as well, because now i have to release one hand while i'm riding to switch gears (which i know is common for people who like riding older bikes), but it is just not practical for me.

You could get wider drop bars. Does your road bike have "dual lever" brake handles? If so you should be able to reach them in all positions just about. Bar ends would help the one hand issue. Good pictures and info on your drivetrain would be helpful for recommendations. Have you maybe considered a different bike all together? Does the current bike fit well?