2 piece drop down handlebars

[Contonx]

I am looking for 2 piece drop down handlebars.Does anyone know who sells them? Wal-mart sells a Kent bicycle with 2 piece dropdown handlebars. The twist shifters are near the stem and the break levers are on the dropdowns. Because the bar is in two pieces, the twist shifers can be slide on the bar. The two bars are secured together with a collar then clamped into the stem. Kent because it is a mass market bike will not sell just the bars.

 

[Motobecane]

are you sure the bar is in 2 pieces? I've seen those cheapo dept store bikes with grip shifters on the flats but they are normally just a regular bar. you just loosen the hardware and slide the brake levers and shifters off. why in the world would anyone want a drop bar in 2 pieces?

 

[Contonx]

The bar is in two pieces with a collar clamp. You can see them at most Wal-mart stores. http://www.walmart.com/ip/700C-GMC-Denali-Men-s-Road-Bike/12080282 The bike is wholesaled by Kent Bicycles. http://www.kentbicycles.com/bikes_gmc.html I called Kent, talked to a tech, indeed the bar is in 2 pieces. Kent will not sell just the bars.

My first road bike was a $7 yard sale special. I learned to honor anyone who buys a bike regardless of how much the bike costs or where they buy it.

Your question about why anyone would want a 2 piece drop down bar does require a good answer. For road bikes, not touring, drop down bars provide many hand positions and are good for assents and great for decents. But when we examine the rider, the situation changes especially for riders with physical challenges or with modest incomes.

To be used correctly, drop down bars require a good bike fit. A bike fit is just not going to happen for most riders. If someone pays a $150 for a bike, and then is expected to spend $75 for a fit. Forget the fit. It is just not on eveyone's radar. Also, not everyone can work down down shifters. I know some who cannot figure shifting, and just ride in one gear. One reason bar shifters are so poplular is that that they are simple and they work.

Some bike fitters, like Andy Pruitt, recommand a more upright ride posture for senior or challenged riders. This position allows easier breathing, less posture aches, and ride awareness. The 2 piece drop down, becasure the shifters are on the straight part of the bar allows this upright position. While the breaks are on the drop downs, perhaps adding a break lever would be good for casual rides. But certianly the drop drop breaks would be safer in descents.

I happend to be both a senior rider, 61, and a person with a challenge, multiple sclerosis. When I saw the Kent bike's 2 peice bar, I thought wow, what a great idea. It is worth testing. This is why I an looking for the bars.

Joseph
www.happyheart.org

 

[Motobecane]

FYI, that handle bar is NOT 2 pieces. I believe you are using incorrect nomenclature. you have a handle bar and then you have a stem which attaches the handlebars to the fork. the little white piece you see in the middle is a shim. They are probably using cheap drop bars with 25.4 mm diameter while most modern aluminum drop bars are 31.8. The white piece is a shim so that the 25.4 bars will fit inside a stem that is meant for 31.8mm bars. IF for some reason those bars were in two pieces they would be the LAST thing I'd want to ride on. I can just imagine one side coming loose and breaking off out of the stem! It would be a disaster waiting to happen.

I am well aware of issues with bike fitting and the purpose of drop bars however it is the stem length and the stem angle, are going to play a lot larger role in the fitment of the bike than the drop bars. Most drop bars have pretty similar bends to them but you can alter the reach by changing out stems.

I would recommend running from the bike in the picture and look for either a flat bar road bike or a bike with proper "brifters" you could also get a bike with brifters and mount "cross brakes" on the top of the bar in case you want to put your hands on th etop of the bar but still have quick access to the brakes. take a look at a set of bars I have with cross brakes on them. You can't totally tell from the pic but those bars are also connected to an adjustable stem which allows you to raise and lower the level of the bars. IF you have comfort issues, an adjustable stem might be good for you.

 

[Contonx]

Here is a photo of the bars and the shifters. Because of the curve in the drop down, there is no way the shifters can be put on the bars without the bars being in 2 pieces. Indeed the collar around the bar is a shim but it is thick. Notice the black ciricle, between the the shifter and the stem, it is a bolt that goes through the bar.

What argument supports the idea of running away from the bars?

 

[Contonx]

Here is another photo of the bar with the collar removed. Notice the splines on the bar. The collar has similar splines. Once clamped in the stem, the splines prevent the bar from rotating.

 

[Contonx]

Here is a photo of the bars taken apart. Once the pin bolt was remove the bars came apart. Inside the bar is a pin shaft that reinforces the 2 piece joint. When fully assembled there are 4 structural layers binding the bar - the pin shaft, the bar, the collar shim, and the stem clamp. The pin bolt stops the bars from rotating or sperating during assembly. Once assembled and clamped in the stem, the 2 piece bar is very ride ready even under adverse conditions.

 

[Steve_A]

Well I'll admit that I was skeptical, but you've convinced me that these bars exist. I had to go to your original post to see what your question was. You second post implies that you like the shifters on the top part of the bar. Do you want the drop at all? There are other types of shifters that could be positioned at the top of the (drop) bar, without having to use a split bar. Of course if you switch to a flat bar, you can have any number of brakes and shifters, or an integrated brake/shifter. If you tell us more about what you're trying to do, perhaps we can help. If Walmart won't sell the bars, I have no idea where to get them. You could check the QBP catalog, you can access that through Harris Cyclery and other sites.

 

[Motobecane]

i stand corrected, those are two pieces but i still feel the same way. you could by microshift flat bar mtb shifters from nashbar.com and mount them in a similar position but mount them on a regular drop bar and then use regular brake levers like you see there. Your biggest issue seems to be for bar positions and fit. you should also consider flat bar shifters mounted to "trekking bars" do a google for trekking bars and you will see what they look like. I do think that those bars you have shown would be structurly fine but i honestly don't think anyone makes or sells them aftermarket. there is so little flexibility with them, they have to be mounted into that specific stem or else they are useless. I think you can find other ways getting what you want. you should also google "bar end shifters", though that may not be great because if your hands are up top, you still have to move them to the drops to shift.

 

[Steve_A]

To tag onto Moto's response (and perhaps to confuse things even further), if you want to use bar-end shifters, you can use them with other upright bars such as moustache bars, Dove bars, Albatross bars, etc. You can see these bars at the Rivendell website. You can also buy cheaper versions on other sites (Nashbar). But we don't know how much $ you want to put into this. A full conversion to any of these systems could run into quite a bit, unless you find buys on craigslist, eBay, etc. If you want flat bars, Shimano makes some nice, inexpensive combined brake/shifters for flat bars. If you're interested in some of these, let me know as I have some. Cheers.

 

[Contonx]

Thank you for your responses. I do not mind that I had to buy the bike at Wal-mart just to bring it home to take photos. The clerk would not let me remove the screws to take pictures. The bike itself is has a few problems, no quick release wheels or brakes. The wheels are very heavy. But, at $150, it is a good starter road bike.

When the collar is on, the stem clamp area diameter is 1.25" which will fit a road stem. The grip area diameter is 7/8.

Straight bars just do not provide enough hand positions for long rides. Adding bar end helps, but the ends are unconformable near the clamp, plus they add to the bike height. Drop down bar ends would take extra wrapping to cover the clamp plus most straight bars are bent and the bar ends would not be square to the frame. (I did try butterfly style touring bars where the shifter is on the bar end. These work pretty good, but are not as stable as drop downs on descents.)

For new riders, senior and challenged riders, from my experience, twist shifters provide an easy and reliable shifting mechanism. One drawback on drop down shifters is that the rider must have some flexibility for the extra reach. As I mentioned, I think the combination twist shifter and drop down bars are worth doing some road tests. I just have notion this combination will benefit some riders allowing them to do longer rides with less stress on hands, improved breathing position and shifting confidence.

 

[Steve_A]

OK, so what's the question/problem??

 

[Contonx]

Your suggestions are good. I did try the thumb style shifters that came on my Giant, but replaced them with twist shifters. My fingers would fatigue on long rides -- frankly mostly this was due to MS fatigue - the thumb lost strength to push the lever.

I should mention, for long rides, I do use a Scattante carbon fitted with Shamanio 6703 equipment.

Below is a photo of the butterfly touring bars with twist shifters. When I saw the 2 piece drop downs, my thought was that it would combine the touring posture and road handling into one bar configuration. I hope this give you more of an idea on how I want to use the bar.

 

[Motobecane]

whatever it takes to get you out on the bike! Cant believe you bought the bike just to take it home for pics!

I'm not sure how much experience you ahve with cycling but its important to understand that the overall geometry also plays a pretty big role in fit and comfort. if you have a bike who's geometry puts you more upright and not reaching way out for the bars it's distinctly different than one with a racing posture.

The two bikes below are both mine and both 60cm frames. the first one is a touring frame, very relaxed geomerty, most easily evidenced by the amount of space between the rear tire and the seatube and the fact that the handlebars are almost even with the seat. This bike could just as easily have drop bars on it and originally it was going to but the flat bar shifters were less expensive to replace in the event of theft and this is my commuter bike that will be getting locked up outside all over nyc.

The 2nd bike is my "race bike. not the very short chain stays as evidenced by the rear wheel practically touching the seat tube. Much steeper seat and head tube angles and a much larger saddle to bar drop. This is the bike you want to be on if you have to break into a sprint. I did a century on it too and while I was no worse for the wear, my neck and upper back would have loved something more relaxed for the last 20 miles.

 

[Steve_A]

OK, your last post with picture helps a lot. So you want drop bars on your current road bike with twist shifters. Some thoughts: Have you tried regular STI-type road brake/shifters on drop bars? They can be mounted pretty high up on the bars (see pix of the Tour de France riders, for example) and they are very smooth and easy to use. I find that I spend most of my time riding in the position of having my hands on the hoods of hte STI levers. It's a comfortable position. If you want to be on the top part of the bars most of time and don't want to reach for the brakes (which is not a problem, IMO), you can mount a second set of brake levers, cyclocross style, on the bar tops. This would put the brakes in a position very similar to what you have now. If you insist on twist shift, I thought that I'd seen some (although years ago) that were smaller and which might be able to slide up and around the bends of a drop bar, to put them on top where you want them. Then of course there are electronic shift systems (going a bit further afield, but maybe worth thinking about). Also bear in mind that if you put the Walmart bars on your bike, you're stuck with putting that heavy, ugly (pardon me) stem on your nice bike. I'm sure there's a better solution than that. Good luck, Steve

 

[Motobecane]

Steve_A, he mentioned having trouble using easy fire shifters due to Multiple sclerosis so there is a chance that brifters would be even more difficult to operate for him though i would think that this would be one case where the thumb tab on a sora shifter might be helpful. Grip shift probably lets him get a fuller grasp to operate the shifter even though i personally feel that those things can take quite a bit of effort to shift.

to the OP. one of the differences in a cheap dept store bike vs a nicer bike can be the ease of shifting. for example, a well setup and properly adjusted modern ultegra drive train can shift quite smooth and easy.


One last option comes to mind and it is an expensive option and I have NO idea of how committed to cycling and how much you are willing to spend but it sounds to me like you would be an AWESOME candidate for a DuraAce DI2 system. Google it. It is an ELECTRONIC shifting system where essentially your brifters are working as switches. I would even take it so far as to contact shimano and discuss with them your personal situation, everyone discusses electronic shifting as an option for race bikes but man, they are really missing the boat if they aren't thinking about it to address accessibility issues whether it be MS or somnething like carpal tunnel

 

[Steve_A]

Also, I think that you can mount the D-A shift buttons in other locations on the bar. This would seem to be perfect for the OP.

 

[chazzy]

I am also looking for the German 2 piece drop bar to accept a Rohloff twist shifter. Anyone know who is selling this bar?
Rohloff shifter on drop bar

Quote from Vik's Big Dummy Blog:
If you want to run a Rohloff shifter on drop bars and aren't happy with the other work arounds like the Hubbub Adapter or the Thorn Accessory Bar you can get this two piece drop bar from Germany and use a standard Rohloff shifter.

It is available according to Vik's Big Dummy Blog (where this picture came from). It is supposed to cost about $65. It was also pictured on a bike from a builder in the Netherlands--Van Nicholas

 

[maydog]

Shimano A050 shifters are made to mount an a road bar, be shifted from an upright position and have large levers which are easily actuated using the palm of your hand. A few years back, I bought a Schwinn Prelude from target for $50 that had this shift setup. It was simple and worked well. The only drawback is that it is only for 2x7 shifting.

At one point I was considering mounting twist shifters on bullhorn bars, but ended up using barcons.

Those GMC bikes can be had pretty cheap, perhaps watch Ebay or craigslist and pick one up.

 

[tadpolinski]

Now I cant' pry the two parts apart.