Flat bar road bike

[Boon 51]

Slightly disappointed as I was hoping your reason would be to do with handlebar, prone position and geometry. Gearing is to be fair a silly reason to change from drop to flat-bar bikes - just change the cassette on the drop bar bike!

Stu

I should of mentioned that the Bad Boy 2 is far better in the geometry department than my road bike but as I don't use the drops its a wasted bike to me, plus I did change the cassette on the road bike but the gearing is still not as good as on the Bad Boy 2, not in my books anyway.
Hence the road bike is being sold?

Paul.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Not in my experience - I have changed the handlebars recently on both of my roadbikes, done by two different retailers and have had to pay for new bars and tape, paid a tenner for fitting by one, labour was free on the other (that said they built the bike for me initially)

Or do you mean just on brand new bikes?

Yes - on brand new bikes.

 

[Pier]

Not sure what your point is there?

Is it the fact it is 7005 ally or 105 groupset or <£900 that is floating your boat?
All are totally irrelevant if the bike doesn't fit you. You are a billion miles from Ribble so you are unlikely to get there for a fitting session and if you don't know your 'fit' then online ordering is tricky.
Go to Evans or better still a good LBS and have a look at what they have to offer. Something like this may be a good starter at £900 (if it fits and serves your purpose):
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad8-6-tiagra-2013-compact-road-bike-ec042914
Mind you Evans are crap at fitting bikes in my experience. Basically their standard fitting service consists of setting the saddle height and job done.
If you need to change the saddle/stem then they will but will charge you for the new items and give you the stock ones to keep - LBS's do this differently; they just charge the difference in cost.

I know that if I go to a LBS, I can have a better service, but most of them don't do finance (especially 0%) and and have a much narrow selection of bikes.
I take the risk (as I did before) to buy online and maybe have a slightly small/big bike, but that IMHO is not that important.
I'm anyway not going to use the bikes for more than 150 (maybe 200) miles a week (commuting + weekend), so I'll not spend days on the bike.
It's a risk, but I'm happy to take it

BTW, I like to do all the jobs needed by a bike, so no problem to adjust/change parts by myself

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I know that if I go to a LBS, I can have a better service, but most of them don't do finance (especially 0%) and and have a much narrow selection of bikes.
I take the risk (as I did before) to buy online and maybe have a slightly small/big bike, but that IMHO is not that important.
I'm anyway not going to use the bikes for more than 150 (maybe 200) miles a week (commuting + weekend), so I'll not spend days on the bike.
It's a risk, but I'm happy to take it

BTW, I like to do all the jobs needed by a bike, so no problem to adjust/change parts by myself

Wasn't my point really. What I was saying was that if you buy online/Evans etc and you want some different components you'll have to pay the full price and end up with spare parts you don't want.

Good LBS will just charge the difference.

 

[HLaB]

I think I found an answer to my questions about flat bars. This was an interesting video if you are facing the flatbar/dropbar question:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNNWH2C-Muc

Good find I like to sit up even more sometimes and rather than gripping the bars hard as shown in the vid I gently rest my fingers on it and this offer yet another position even more if you can ride no handed, I can only manage that for a few moments

 

[RWright]

Good find I like to sit up even more sometimes and rather than gripping the bars hard as shown in the vid I gently rest my fingers on it and this offer yet another position even more if you can ride no handed, I can only manage that for a few moments

I raised my stem on one bike and put a shorter one on the other. I like having the different positions to move around to on drop bars. Sitting up with no hands is nice, it gives the back a little stretch, I can do it pretty good, on my Trek 2.3, it is a little harder because it is quicker steering than my Synapse. The road surface helps a lot when riding with no hands. I went for over a mile on a smooth quiet road the other day, on the Synapse, with no hands. I was ready to get back on the hoods before the mile but I did the mile just so I could brag about it. It took some practice.

 

[Cyclist33]

it should be banned on public roads. youre in charge of a vehicle so its like driving a car with no hands. daft and inviting death.

 

[vickster]

A quiet road in North Carolina may have seen barely a vehicle while he pedalled his mile - 5-10 minutes presumably! Not like 90% of the UK

 

[HLaB]

I raised my stem on one bike and put a shorter one on the other. I like having the different positions to move around to on drop bars. Sitting up with no hands is nice, it gives the back a little stretch, I can do it pretty good, on my Trek 2.3, it is a little harder because it is quicker steering than my Synapse. The road surface helps a lot when riding with no hands. I went for over a mile on a smooth quiet road the other day, on the Synapse, with no hands. I was ready to get back on the hoods before the mile but I did the mile just so I could brag about it. It took some practice.

Definitely, I wouldn't dream of it on the potholed roads up at north (keep the fingers shaddowing the bars) but some the smooth, flat, straights down here I've managed a whole 10seconds or more

 

[RWright]

A quiet road in North Carolina may have seen barely a vehicle while he pedalled his mile - 5-10 minutes presumably! Not like 90% of the UK

If I see 10 cars on this 10 mile stretch it is a busy day.

 

[RWright]

it should be banned on public roads. youre in charge of a vehicle so its like driving a car with no hands. daft and inviting death.

It's my death. I get to decide. I don't even wear a helmet most of the time.

I appreciate your concern but worry about yourself and not so much about others and you will be a much happier person. Really.

 

[Cyclist33]

It's my death. I get to decide. I don't even wear a helmet most of the time.

I appreciate your concern but worry about yourself and not so much about others and you will be a much happier person. Really.

it might not just be your own death that you cause. im not actually bothered if you do yourself harm.

 

[RWright]

it might not just be your own death that you cause. im not actually bothered if you do yourself harm.

I guess if I went thru somebody's windshield and took them out you could be right. I think you are just probably not as aware of what is behind you as I am. So I can understand you wanting to make a new law, should probably make everyone keep BOTH hands on the handlebars at all times and no drinking or eating while riding while you are at it. Would that be safe enough for you? Maybe they can pass that law while they are at it. Maybe no riding with a backpack or panniers too. See where this is going?

 

[Cyclist33]

I guess if I went thru somebody's windshield and took them out you could be right. I think you are just probably not as aware of what is behind you as I am. So I can understand you wanting to make a new law, should probably make everyone keep BOTH hands on the handlebars at all times and no drinking or eating while riding while you are at it. Would that be safe enough for you? Maybe they can pass that law while they are at it. Maybe no riding with a backpack or panniers too. See where this is going?

er, not really, no.

if not controlling a vehicle using its control points, in this case handlebar, there will inevitably be a longer reaction time to sudden occurrences. its self-evident that you would have less control of the bike and would take longer to gain full control of it and make whatever manouevre you chose, in that space of time and situation youre more likely to cock it up than if youve got your hands on the bar. and then there are umpteen ways you could be the cause of someone elses fatality.

it aint roquette science!!

 

[RWright]

You are right, it ain't rocket science, people looking over their shoulder can be very dangerous. I guess my point is you have to let nature take its course. You can't legislate everything. This is a sport for some as much as a means of transportation for many. Trying to squeeze all the life and fun out of things with new laws every time some individual thinks something is dangerous to them is just not good.