Flat bars (again)

[chewy]

Hi all, its me again an I'm still going on about my handle bars (honestly - I do read and post about other things on this site!).

Brief catch up.... bought a Giant Defy (2011), have tried all sorts and cannot get comfy/happy using the drop bars (been a year +, and thousands of miles!) so am going to take the plunge and convert to a flat bar road bike ( as I nearly bought in the first place).

The obvious thing to do is convert to the Rapid's handlebar set up (The Rapid being the flat bar version of the Defy), but in doing so am i missing an opportunity to buy a better bar, stem et al in the first place?


Thought and recommendations please lol (again!)



with apologies to all those who have helped previously!!!

 

[Cyclist33]

I could be wrong, but is the Rapid's framework longer than the Defy's by way of compensating for the shorter reach produced by its having a flat bar? If so, then putting a flat bar on a Defy frame could make it a rather short bike?

Why not sell the Defy, and buy a dedicated flat bar road bike?

Stu

 

[vickster]

Sounds like a great excuse for a new bike I can't imagine you'll struggle to sell the Defy

 

[lulubel]

Personally, I'd try to get some time in on a flat bar bike before you commit. Without that, you're just guessing at what will suit you geometry wise. Borrow one, pick up a cheap second hand hybrid or MTB if you have to. It doesn't matter if it's a pig to ride and falls apart after a few hundred miles. If you still like riding it despite that, you'll know you're onto a winner with the flat bar idea, and you'll know what's comfortable about it and what isn't.

I'm playing around with the same idea as you because I'm a bit disappointed with the new drop bar bike I've just built. I do have the advantage that I've been riding around on a cheap MTB for the last 4 months, though, and I know I'm comfortable on it. The only thing I'm not happy with is the reach is a bit shorter than I'd like, and I could do with the bars a bit wider. So, I've taken a load of measurements off the MTB (seat post clamp to stem clamp, drop from saddle to bars, bar width, etc) and I'm figuring out how to get the road bike as close to that as possible, just with a couple of extra cm on the reach, and about 10cm on the bar width. It isn't a cheap thing to do, so I want to get it right first time.

If you start out guessing at what you'll find comfortable, you could make a few expensive mistakes before you get it right.

 

[Berties]

I'm the opposite, got the flat bar rapid ,while I find a new drop bar that I feel will suit my next journey within the cycling world,the rapid is spot on for commuting and good distance ,I have enjoyed the great all round ability of its ride

 

[chewy]

Thanks for your input guys.

The Defy does have a slightly longer top tube length but not enough to really worry about in my opinion, or so I believe.

In a perfect world I'd have the Rapid and the Defy!
Don't really want to sell the bike an then buy a new one, mainly cos of the hassle lol, but also because if I do a bar conversion and suddenly decide that the drops are better (which i very much doubt - but you never know!) I can swap it back again...or sell the drop bar and shifters for nearly what I'm likely to pay out if I settle on the flats!

LULUBEL: I totally agree with what you are saying, in actually fact its paret of the reason I'm not on a flat bar already as I talked myself into drop bars when I bought the bike (the do make sense!) after a few years on my trusty hybrid. I've tried to evaluate the past few years (bike wise at least) and work out what suits and what doesn't.


Does anyone have any recommendations for the actual bar? As the seems to be minimum choice in comparison to drops..

Unless you want to do a complete swap over Bertie

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Does anyone have any recommendations for the actual bar? As the seems to be minimum choice in comparison to drops..

Minimum choice for bars? Really?

According to the drop down panel on the right here the Defy has standard 1 1/8" steerer/stem interface while the stem/bars have an OS (oversized, i.e. 31.8mm diameter) interface. If that is the case all OS flat bars will fit, and with plenty of choices, since most mtb bars nowadays are OS, not to mention cowhorns, aeros, etc. etc.

According to the spec of the Defy where you will have very limited choice is in brake levers, and/or brifters, and/or shifters, How many speeds do you have at the back and how many in front?

 

[lulubel]

Minimum choice for bars? Really?

Good point. Have a look at CRC here. There's loads of choice.

 

[chewy]

Good point. Have a look at CRC here. There's loads of choice.

Thank you...did look on Evans/Wiggle etc and found little...but CRC wasn't loading up the other night. They are usually better for components

Also, my Defy has a standard diameter interface - and I have just ordered the correct shifters for my 8 x 3 set up.

Do I take the opportunity to move up to to an Over size set up (I presume the shifters will still fit?). I do fancy abit of carbon but the bank account may say 'NO'

 

[lulubel]

Do I take the opportunity to move up to to an Over size set up (I presume the shifters will still fit?). I do fancy abit of carbon but the bank account may say 'NO'

I think it's just the middle part of the bars that's oversized. That would make sense because otherwise there would be issues with compatability, and shifters/brakes don't seem to come in different sizes for different bar diameters. Some of them look really chunky in the photos, but that might just be because they've been photgraphed in short sizes.

If I'm going to stick with my current stem (which I think will work) I need to buy in the 31.8mm size. I'm not so fussed about carbon myself. I had carbon forks on my old bike and, even if the frame hadn't been broken, I would have felt I had to replace the forks after the crash in case there was damage that I couldn't see. I've got a carbon composite seat post now, but that's only because I saw a couple of people commenting they'd had trouble with alu seatposts getting stuck in steel frames. Other than that, I'm going to stick with alu components.

 

[chewy]

I haven't found any reported problems or instances of brake/gear levers coming in different sizes so I had assumed the same as you, Lulubel.

I will probably get a basic bar etc to start with, that matches my existing stem. Only fancy carbon at a later date cos it looks good....so I'll probably be contented and never spend the money out lol. If it works, why change it!

Also, no amount of carbon is going to make the sweaty mess on top of the bike look any better