Road Bike with Flat Bar set up. What would you do?

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BmanX
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by BmanX

I have been researching this for a bit now but there seems to not be a lot of choices out there. What to run Sram so they have their BL-700 levers or I could go very light like KCNC or knock-offs.

For the shifters, there seems to be the SL-700, Double Tap or Paul Thumbies with barend shifters.

Bars are easy to sort out but should I be going with a longer stem?
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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

I would:

-Shorter stem or exact same length stem as normal, not longer.
-Grip-shift for weight savings. There is some non-SRAM grip-shift setups that have been talked about over at MTB that have ridiculously low weights. Looks cleaner, too.
-SRAM (for grip-shift compatibilities). XX. Tuned.
-Handlebar flat, no rise, no sweep. Mt. Zoom.
-Brake levers, use the carbon ones from TRP that are meant for top-bar CX purposes. They have short pull for road brakes.
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elviento
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by elviento

BmanX -- it will largely depend on what you want out of the bike and the kind of riding you expect to do.

From a pure geometry perspective, flat bar will move your hands back by quite a bit (depending on which road bar you normally use), if you would normally need a longer stem to compensate. As a side note, you will notice MTBs normally have longer toptubes as well.

That said, if you want to have a more leisurely ride, it will be good to keep your stem length.

I converted an older carbon road frame into a Flatbar roadie and kept the 110 stem and it worked fairly well. The handling is a bit different than before (mainly due to the bar height, I went with a rise bar) but did not take too long to get used to.

Group wise, you might want to consider the Campy flat bar setup, which should be quite unique to say the least.
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jooo
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by jooo

BmanX wrote:For the shifters, there seems to be the SL-700, Double Tap or Paul Thumbies with barend shifters.

If you're choosing SRAM, thumb shifter mounts with TT500 shifters are quite light, good value for money and shift very well.

psycling
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by psycling

Grip shift works well for this application. If you are converting a road frame, think carefully about the reach you want. A longer stem might make sense, might not. I personally like flat bars with a little sweep.

BmanX
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by BmanX

I am running Sram Force 10 speed rear. Since ring up front. Since I already have the TT shifters I might just get the Paul's thumbies and use them as they are pretty inexpensive to buy. Then I just need to sort out brake levers that are light. Will go with a light straight bar in aluminum or scandium. Might go a bit longer stem but can try the standard length for now.
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Fisherfreerider
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by Fisherfreerider

If you are already running Sram 10 speed you can use any sram 10 speed trigger shifter with the force derailleurs as well.

xnavalav8r
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by xnavalav8r

+1 on the TRP Carbon cyclocross top-mount levers. 44-grams. I'm running them on my sons' BMX bikes.

socratease
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by socratease

Expect to add 30mm to your stem length if you want to stay streched out.

One of my favorite bikes is an old roadbike with a 140mm stem and some nitto moustache bars. Allows you to keep a pretty comfortable position but really carve through corners. It's also easy to get down low and far back in the saddle on moustaches. Downside is all bars like that would be quite heavy, and most aren't going to come in a 31.8.

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

"Re: Road Bike with Flat Bar set up. What would you do?"

Die of shame. The shame, oh the shame.

;)
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A C
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by A C

Grip shift rocks. Its out of style but works great and is light weight.

That and a nice Nitto bar would be perfect.
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BmanX
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by BmanX

This is bike number five and I wanted something different to ride down the store, coffee shop or just a get around bike. I am going to run bolt on skewers and might pick up some of the locking ones so that I do not have to pop off my wheels when I leave it outside. The goal is to have them weigh less than the lock I will use to lock it up with. :D

This bike used to be a 13.5 lbs road bike but I am thinking of stripping it of any decals and leave it totally nude. 1 X 10 set up and most likely it will be 36t front ring and whatever cassette I have laying around. I think I will slide the saddle back and still run my 105mm stem but I might also pick up a cheap carbon bar/stem on Ebay in 110mm and the Thumbie to use with Sram TT shifter. Some Esi grips and most likely something like the brakes mentioned above or some of the cheap knock-off KCNC brakes on Ebay as well. I just need to sort out pedals at this point.
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TheRookie
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by TheRookie

My commuter is a Hybrid running flat bars on what is a road bike Geo, +1 for CX style brake levers, mine are 'dale OEfit alloys and are just 119g compared to circa 180g for similar 'normal' flat bar levers, combined bar and stem are no lighter than seperates I find, mine were budget and are just 236g the pair (steel bolts), Gripshifts are lighter than anything lever based.

36T for 1x? I run 46T on a commuter that lugs 5Kg of rack and panniers and gear with 12-28 cassette, yes I have hills!
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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

Tapeworm wrote:"Re: Road Bike with Flat Bar set up. What would you do?"

Die of shame. The shame, oh the shame.

;)

LOL! My thoughts exactly. ALL my bikes have drops without exception.

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