Handle Bar Swap
 

Hello All -

I have a 2014 Specialzied Allez sport - I was looking to swap the handle bars to a a flat bar.

1. Is this possible to do?
2. If so, what would I need to get this accomplished?
3. If not - any recommendations on a flat bar road bikes under 1k?

Thanks in advance!

yes it is.

You'll need the following parts:

1) flat handlebar with 31.8mm clamp area
2) grips of your choosing
3) shimano SL-3500 for double - $60ish new on amazon
4) shimano BL-3500 - $30ish new on ebay
5) new cables for brakes & shifters (if the ones you buy don't come with them)


Being a sora based system helps, as there's flat bar parts designed to work with it.

You're looking at $200ish and a couple hours if you can follow youtube videos and do it yourself.

Awesome! Thanks for the detailed info!

At $200 - not sure if I should sell the bike and buy a flatbar road bike..

Why do you want a flat bar bike?

Properly fit drop bar bike is both as comfortable, and more flexible. It's very likely that a few adjustments, modifications could address your actual issue without the need to change the brifters.

Depending on your precise issue, there are sevral things to consider: interruptor brake levers allow you to brake from the top position on drop bars, so you can ride always on the top if you want. Combine that with wider drop bars, and you've got the same position as flat bars.

If the lower position is the problem, a stem with more rise could solve your issue.

Also there are a range of handlebars with different shapes and less drop that would allow you to use all your current components, and may address your issue.

I dont like riding the flat part on the drop bars since I have no brake levers - the hoods make my hands go numb in 10 minutes of riding and mty wrists hurt after a long ride - I have zero confidence when riding in the drop position.

I have been pretty uncomfortable since I started riding - bike store was no help when it came to adjustments.. And I dont know exactly what I should be adjusting.. I have no one here to really help me out...

This is why I wanted to change to flats, on y omountan bike Im content with the flat bars, and figured I would be on the road bike as well if it had more comfortable bars..

Go to another shop and have them fit you.

Interruptor brake levers solve this. They work and they're pretty cheap.

You could add those so you're comfortable now. My bet is that if you stay with riding, particularly if you start doing longer rides, you'll grow to like the drop bars and what they have to offer.

And you're looking at less than $25.

http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-1...FSxk7AodHRMAbg

http://www.ebikestop.com/tektro_rl72...FStk7AodghAAMA

http://mos.bikeradar.com/images/news...-90-480-70.jpg

So there's a lot of decent suggestions. Unfortunately, the net cost for basically everything is going to be ~$200. For example, a decent bike fitting at a different shop would probably cost $100-150 + $20 for a different stem. That said, getting a a proper fitting is probably the best solution. Almost all of your issues are likely caused by a poor fit.

Interrupter levers aren't really a solution, they're more of a work-around to a poor fit.

So a proper fitting is almost certainly the best answer. A secondary answer would be to start meeting with a local club, just to see if people can spot anything obvious. You could maybe combine that with a $30 adjustable stem to self-fit. Keep in mind, self-fitting is going to require several rides and best case gets you a position that a proper fitting would have found in an hour or less.

Your hand/wrist pain is usually caused by having too much weight on your hands and/or a death-grip on the handle bars. How you position your hands on the bars makes a big difference, you want weight on the meaty parts of your hand not the middle of your palms. Unfortunately, the ergonomics of Sora levers are very good for braking from the hoods, especially if you have smaller hands.

As for fitting - Ive been to a bike store and they said that they cant fit a bike that i didnt buy from them. Other store said that the if the bike size isnt right - it defeats the purpose of a fitting and they wont know if its the right fit until they do the fitting and would probably need a different bike. ... The shop I bought it from said they dont do fittings.. They said based on the standover height - the bike I bought is perfect for me.. With all that said - its difficult to find an honest answer from any of my local shops.

Sounds like you don't know what fits you.

youre right - I dont know what fits me - I relied on the bike shop when i bought the ike - to put me int the right bike.

I decided to og with flat bars - since I am comfortable on my mountain bike, just dont like riding on long pavement rides due to weight and giant tires..

They're a totally valid solution for people who want access to the brakes from the tops. The bike can fit you fine; you can prefer to ride on the tops for at least a portion of the time,and you can want access to the brakes from there.

They're used quite a bit in cyclocross, by professionals with perfectly fitting bikes.

Most people find they don't need them because they can get to the brakes quick enough anyway,and don't tend to ride the tops where they're likely to need to brake.

But if you want that security, it's a valid option, and can make people coming to drop bar bikes for the first time more secure.

Personally I'd ditch the road bike, before I went to flat bars on it. Just buy another set of wheels for the MTB, and mount road slicks on them (or just change tires on the wheels you've got).

Your MTB with road slicks is going to be virtually as good a road bike as your current road bike with flat bars.

I dont want to ditch the road bike - I use my Mountain bike alot for trail riding - and I dont want to change tires when I am riding pavement.

Im just curoius why everyone is so deadset on drop bars??

Second set of wheels with road tires would be dramatically cheaper than a whole second bike plus the cost of the conversion to drop bars.

It takes about 2 minutes to swap out the "road" wheelset for the "trail" wheelset.

The reason the substantial majority of the road forum members is pro drop bar is that drop bars are the best tool for a road bike, particularly for longer and faster rides.

The multiple positions that dorp bars offer are great for long rides. You can change your positions and give different parts of your hands, and body a break in doing so.

They also offer the opportunitiy to sit relatively upright for comfort and visibility, and to get low and aero, and anywhere in between.

If you get to the point of doing longer faster rides, you'll very likely come to appreciate the benefit fo drop bars, particularly if your bike is well fit for you to take full advantage of them.


Some pics of how you fit on the bike would allow people here to give you some help on your fit. Difficult to do on line but better than nothing.

They're more often called cross levers.

Agreed. Sorry my point was more to the OP original post. Interrupter levers aren't a fix for a poor fit where the hoods & drops aren't comfortable.

It's difficult to figure out possible fit issues online(especially so without photos), but the hands going numb when you're on the hoods seems particularly odd. It's been my experience that the hoods are the most comfortable position for the hands, even moreso than flat bar.

Is your balance on the bike so far off that you're carrying a lot of weight on your hands when you're on the hoods? I wouldn't give up and switch to a flat bar before trying to figure out if the problems can be solved. You could try flipping your stem up if it isn't already. Can you move some spacers to under the stem to raise your bar a little? Maybe try a shorter stem? Have you tried moving your saddle back a bit(that can relieve excess weight on the hands, too.)

I converted one of my road bikes to flat bar just to have something different to ride from time to time, so I'm not someone adamantly against the idea. Just seems to me that you may be giving up too soon.

OP should sell the bike and get a flat bar road bike.

Some people don't feel drop bars work for them. That's fine! Different strokes for different folks.

First of all I would also say sell the bike and buy a hybrid. You can probably buy a decent hybrid for the money you get selling this bike.

But if you want to do the swap cheaply, SRAM MRX comp shifters will work with Sora. You just need to get the model with friction shift for front and 9 speed rear (assuming your Sora is 9 speed).

Those shifters are cheap and come with cables. Than you just need brake levers and cables and bars. Depending on how cheap you go with parts you might be able to sell your Sora brifters and break even.

I did same swap on a bike for my wife with 8 speed Sora