Giant Escape drop bar question
- Thread starter Deeders1
- Start date
Obviously you're referencing the Jewish ghettos in WWII Germany, Poland, and elsewhere, right? +1 to what Danfoz said. There's a large segment of the bicycling population that will critique your fit, your bike parts, and your bike based on their narrow minded views of what such things should look like. Screw those people, and do what makes you giggle. You can also avoid those people when riding. They put an ugly taint on cycling.danfoz said:
$25-$50 for a new aluminum drop handlebar. $10 for a roll of bar wrap/tape.
It is possible to re-use your brake levers and shifters by mounting them on the flat portion of the handlebar. A bit ghetto, perhaps, but it's been done before. No big deal.
New brake levers that are made for drop bars might add another $25-$50 to the conversion and they will require a longer pair of brake cables ($10-$20). The addition of proper brake levers with hoods would give your hands one more riding position...one that most road riders might describe as the most often used and/or most comfortable.
Properly converted, it would look like it was built that way from the factory.
It is possible to re-use your brake levers and shifters by mounting them on the flat portion of the handlebar. A bit ghetto, perhaps, but it's been done before. No big deal.
New brake levers that are made for drop bars might add another $25-$50 to the conversion and they will require a longer pair of brake cables ($10-$20). The addition of proper brake levers with hoods would give your hands one more riding position...one that most road riders might describe as the most often used and/or most comfortable.
Properly converted, it would look like it was built that way from the factory.
I am very sensitive to ghetto-style modifications. Not P|mp-style ones, ghetto-style ones. I have seen too many horrible mopeds in my life, too many... Those disk brakes... those damn disk brakes... /img/vbsmilies/smilies/nonono2.gif
I dont think it will be "ghetto" in the sense that you will be putting something "flashy" like a drop bar on a bike that is not "flashy" like that. Especially since the original version is not offered with a drop bar at all.
What I would worry about is if the geometry of the frame is totally wrong for a drop bar. You can check the geometry of a road bike with a drop bar to see if its similar in any way. Plus the rest of the equipment will not be road bike like so you might end up with something like a touring bike. I havent seen any drop bars with a front suspension though...
But if the geometry of the bike is wrong for a drop bar (i.e. the position will be wrong and maybe bad for you) then it wont be "ghetto". It will probably be "nasty" or "awful" /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
Thing is, aestethics aside, there are more issues to that than you might imagine.Drop bars run another diameter than flat bars, so making your controls fit will be kinda hazardous. You might be able to widen them. they might crack in the process. Buying new controls is likely to run expensive. Putting the old controls at the apex of the curve is unlikely to work at all. So youre left with either at the bottom of the drop(how much time do you think you'll spend there anyhow?) or the center section.
Drop bars will effectively move your hands forward, so if you're happy with the curve of your back you'll have to get another stem.
Minimum investment, get some bar ends. Maybe the combined Ergon grips/bar ends. Or if you're hungry for aero, drop bar ends. Or go for another bar, maybe a butterfly/trekking bar, or a North Road bar. The latter would move your hands back a bit, but would take your current controls w/o any issue.
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