I remember years ago I saw some sort of PBS-que show about messengers in NYC and they said the ones who rode flat bars cut their bars to match the width of thier shoulders and that's it. So it was easy for them to gauge tight gaps in traffic.

If you're going to go with a bmx lever I would reccomend a Tech 77, about the same size as the monolever and maybe a little cheaper. I had the larger versions of the monolever (the modulever) and I prefer the Tech 77, its been around for years and the design has never changed.

i run a tech 77 on my bmx bike and my fixed, they work great! i love the curve in the lever, its just right(sorry to get off topic)

Not to participate in the threadjack, but I know I find myself sometimes having to pull my elbows in. I don't know if I *really* need that space, but I feel like it. Some folks from Saturday may have seen me do this. I've also been known to lean my way down the side of a bus to make my gap.

OK I just put a stem and flat bars on my road bike. They came straight of a *cough walmart cough* mountain bike. Those along with some old shimano MTB levers and it works great. Couldn't ask for more really!

Yeah, I just swapped out my moustachesque bars for good ol' flat bars.

Before :

After :

I'm liking the flat bars - it rides just like the old Konas I used to love.

all those bikes look great with the flat bars, ive always thought about doing that

Here's my accordo with the flatbar on it. Don't mind the ultra-long brake cables- they've since been shortened up to size.

This is how you are supposed to achieve the rough size of drop bars on road bikes - you can then go wider / narrower for comfort & leverage / aerodynamics.

Typically, with your upper body relaxed, have someone measure the widest points between the bones in the outer shoulder (NB: measure straight, don't lay the tape across the shoulders) - this is the (rough) measure of the centre-centre dimensions of your bars. Track riders often go down in size for some reason, not quite sure (beyond aero'd's)

Olly

Yo, ryko. Get some BMX single chainring bolts and remove the outside ring that you are not using. It will be the best $5 upgrade that you ever spent!
Looks like a nice conversion, matching tires would make it look a lot better!

I thought about doing it, but I was able to get my Dia Compe aero levers on so I didn't look into it too much. As long as you can reach and get enough fingers on the lever, why not?

Thanks for the compliment. I plan on getting rid of the extra chainring soon, as well as get a matching rear tire. Its a work in progress, although I am just about finished with it.

Shiznaz, nice photo. King of Kensington. Where is that statue? Don't remember seeing it down in that area.

blast -- what kind of bike is that? i'm converting a bianchi, and it looks a lot like that frame, except for the front fork.

so to keep to the thread, the bike has flat bars. i had some bar ends on it, and after removing the grip shifts decided to pull the ends in, to dial in the width -- i'm a big fan of narrow bars on my road and my fix. interestingly, going up some hills i grabbed the far end of the bars. you know, the part i was thinking of hacking off.

i found i could get a lot of leverage standing and climbing, much more power than the drop bars on my fixie. i really like it, but as said above it is different, and different in a good way.

edit: also, the straight bars seem to scare cars more than road bars. maybe it was just the road warrior aesthetic.

Not sure what the frame is. It's the FGG best converted bike winner. https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/g/bellino.htm

If I find a deal on a convertee candidate, I plan to put on a set of
risers found at veloswap for $2.

well, i did it. I friend gave me a set of specialized flat mtn bars and i threw them on. Wow what a difference. They felt great, lots of control in traffic. Hard to sprint with at first and then almost impossible to skid. Once i got home, i cut them (too narrow, need a new set). Combined with my nitto track stem in the lowest position, it allows me too sprint just fine, and i think im goona get some kind of aero bars (spinacis) for when i really want to go fast. Thanks for the pics and advice guys.