Upgrading straight handlebars to drop handlebars

Question

I have a two-and-a-half year old Giant FCR 3 (with a road-bike-like frame and thin tires; it's somewhere in the loosely-defined "hybrid" range) that I use to commute to work, twenty-five miles round-trip, once or twice a week. The bike has straight handlebars, and having gotten used to the idea of commuting via bike, I'm interested in upgrading to drop handlebars. It looks like I'd need new break/shift levers to go with the handlebars; the whole upgrade looks like it'd run a couple hundred dollars. This is a sizable fraction of the original cost of the bike, which leads me to wonder if I'm better off saving my money for a new bike that's a little better adapted to my use.

Is upgrading my bike's handlebars a reasonable investment?

Answer 1

I did this on my previous bike, and while it was a lot of fun (and I enjoyed riding the resulting bike) it was also quite expensive, almost half the cost of the bike. You should also be prepared to put in a fair amount of research to determine if all the parts will work together.

Here's what's involved:

1. New bars (of course)
2. New stem -- unless you can find drop bars you like that match your flat bars' diameter. Most road bikes now use "oversized" bars, which requires a stem with a larger clamp.
3. New shifters. I went with "brifters" (integrated shifters + brake levers) but these can be quite pricy. Bar end shifters (on my current bike) can be considerably cheaper and should fit most bars. Down tube shifters also cost less but your bike probably doesn't have the mounting points. Of course, if you're very clever you may be able to keep your current shifters if you find a smaller diameter bar and mount the shifters on the flats. Road and MTB shifters are interchangeable (within the same manufacturer and # of speeds) so compatibility is not a problem.
4. New brake levers, if not using brifters. But road bike brakes use a different amount of cable pull versus MTB brakes, which means...
5. New brakes! This is where it can get fairly tricky (and where I almost gave up) as you'll need to find something that will fit your wheel & brake mount combination. I went with cantilever brakes but this had the added problem of needing cable hangers in the front and rear. Another option is to choose drop bar brake levers which are designed for MTB brakes (they do exist), but this rules out using brifters.
6. New brake cables and housings. Your existing cables will likely be too short for drop bars so you'll need to replace all four cables plus the sections of cable housing that reach the bars.

So if you're trying to keep the costs and headaches down, look for bar end shifters and brake levers designed for MTB brakes.

Is it worth it? If you really want drop bars, enjoy working on your bike and it costs less than buying a new one, then yes. But make sure you plan & price it out.

Answer 2

I was trying to figure out if this would work on my bike a few weeks ago. I decided against it. I think this is a pretty good description of some of the problems you may encounter:

If you compare top tube lengths, mountain bikes are longer at every size than road bikes. The reason for that is that drop bars put the brake hoods, which are the principal hand position for most road riders, a lot further forward of the steer tube than the grips on a mountain bike. Obviously it can be done, and depending on how your built and how the bike is sized you may even prefer it.

If you like the fit of the bike now and you're not using a super-long stem, you'll probably be pretty unhappy with a drop bar conversion.

Source.

I think that the better solution is to add some bar ends to your bike to give your self some more hand positions. Here is the solution that I came up with while researching although I have not implemented it yet.

First I would add some bar ends regular bar ends on the end of your handle bars. Bar ends are very similar to to the hoods on a mountain bike. It is more comfortable for your wrists to be in an up and down position (although you will have less turning power).

Next I would buy these "drop bar ends". It took me weeks to find somewhere that sold them. I have not bought them yet but they look sweet. The key when installing them is to install them inside your your breaks and shifters. This will give you a narrow profile similar to what you would experience on a road bike. (If there is space you can also mount your bar ends inside too).

One problem left. You usually use the drops when you are descending and trying to be as aerodynamic as possible therefore you will be going fast. You will need a break on the drops to stay safe. Probably you don't want to move your brakes to the drops since you will probably be using the flats for more technical riding.

So you need Auxiliary ("Cross", "Interrupter") Levers. To quote Sheldon Brow:

Initially marketed primarily for cyclocross, these are also an excellent choice for the touring or long distance cyclist, permitting you to brake from the top part of the handlebar.

Unlike the 1970s extension levers, these don't interfere with the main brake levers. They install in the middle of the cable run.

I think that the best course of action is to mount one of these onto each drop bar. That way you will still be able to control breaking while on the drops.

This is not how you would be using the brake however this is the only picture I could find of it.

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This is what your handle bars look like right now:

grip breakLever shifter bar bar bar bar bar StemAttachment bar bar bar bar bar breakLever grip

This is what they will look like after you have added the bar ends and drop bar ends:

barEnds grip breakLever shifter drops bar bar bar bar bar StemAttachment bar bar bar bar bar drops breakLever grip barEnds

Answer 3

Putting drops on a flat bar bike can require new shifters, brake levers, cables, fitting stem, and seems like an awful lot of trouble. Flat bars have advantages of their own, namely increased control of the bike, and have a completely different feel. If getting a second bike is an option, I'd seriously consider that.

Barends on your flat bar bike will help give you additional hand positions without trying to turn the bike into something it's not. And everyone needs another bike, yes? (This is how the n+1 problem gets kick-started.)

Answer 4

It looks like I'd need new break/shift levers to go with the handlebars

No you don't need brake/shift levers. You need brake levers. You need shift levers. But you don't need brake/shift levers. The latter are an unfortunate invention that bicycle component manufacturers sell to unsuspecting buyers of road bikes at great cost. It's much better to have separate brake and shift levers, with the shift levers mounted at bar ends.

Note brake levers are available in V brake and cantilever/caliper variants. Buy the one with the pull ratio matching your current brakes.

Is upgrading my bike's handlebars a reasonable investment?

Oh yes it is! I have done such a conversion. Much cheaper than buying a new bike, and you get long-term experience with riding road bike having one particular frame length. Then you'll know whether your current frame is too short or long. This is much better than doing a short one kilometer test ride on a bike shop drop handlebar bike.

Most likely, if your frame size is not perfect for drop handlebars and/or if there's a suspension fork, you'll probably eventually end up purchasing a real road bike. But a drop handlebar conversion is a very good stepping stone to real road bikes.

Before the conversion, put some high performance road tires on your bike (for example Continental Grand Prix 5000 28mm).