Can you put road bike handlebar's onto a hybrid bike?

[commutercallum]

Basically i want to know is it possible to put road bike handle bars onto a hybrid bike and then still use the normal brakes or do i have to buy road bike brakes also for the road bike handlebar's if its possible



SORRY ONCE AGAIN FOR POSTING THIS ON THE COMMUTING FORUM BUT I HAVE PUT IT HERE BECAUSE I KNOW MOST COMMUTER'S USE ROAD BIKES AND THEY WILL PROBABLY HAVE THE BEST ANSWER TO MY QUESTION
THANK YOU

 

[Davywalnuts]

Yes, you can. You can, within reason, put anything on anything, as long as the connecting areas fit.

i.e. fork tube width matches the stem which at the other end matches the handle bars. And you can always buy shims to make them fit if not.

The brakes however, will handle differantly as the pull length is just ever so slightly differant. But they will work.

So i.e. my old Marin Bear Valley hybrid was with flat handle bar and vee brakes and converted fine to drops with sti's. But as I say, they will handle differently, so careful to begin with as you will need to get used to the biting points again.

 

[HovR]

The actual bars will go on easy, as long as you pick the right size. The more complicated (and potentially expensive) bit will be shifters.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

depends on what brakes the hybrid has. If road calipers you should have no problems. Shifters should work out ok if the hybrid has a road chainset and road mechs front and rear.

 

[edindave]

Hydraulic disc brakes are a show-stopper.
(As I know too well - Boardman Hybrid Pro).

 

[MacB]

Definitely feasible but can work out rather expensive, STIs £150+, Bars £30+, stem £20+, cables £15 - £200 total would be doing it quite cheaply, £250 more realistically, and mean that you didn't need to mess about changing brakes or mechs. You could easily get to the realms of £350-400. You can employ patience and hunt out bargains in sales and the sale sections on the forums, but it's not easy.

Having been there and done it I'd recommend looking into selling existing bike to go towards a new one, especially if you can lash out the cash for a last year model. Then there's the possibility of treating it as an N+1 situation, so just buying a drop bar bike and keeping the existing as a run around, emergency backup and bad weather/winter bike.

 

[lejogger]

It depends on what the purpose of the transfer is? It you're merely looking for a different or more aero position it might be worth looking for a set of clip on aero bars first to see if that solves the problem.

 

[amaferanga]

Almost always makes more sense to just sell the bike and buy a road bike.