I threw some simworks bars on my RB-2 a while back and it feels like a fun bike to rip around the city on but I never see too many other road bikes with a similar setup. Nitto has all types of sick flat bars and I only see em on fixies never road bikes. Is this strictly a culture thing, is it simply just less common or is there something I’m missing?
second picture isn’t mine just a comparison
by johnnysrash
6 Comments
One possibility is that typically, modern road shifters/groups only work with road derailleurs. There’s a rabbit hole you can go down with various compatible combinations, but basically any old flat bar shifter is unlikely to work with the road derailleur installed.
No derailleur = no compatibility issues.
I mean there’s a whole category of bikes called “flat bar road bikes.”
But it’s also that limited hand position bars aren’t great for the type of riding road bikes are for, so folks tend to filter away from them as they get deeper into it.
The kind of riding a road bike is designed for doesn’t pair with the hand and body positions offered by most flat/alt bars. So there’s no reason for manufacturers to make them. Go-fast riders want drops, and casual riders want wider tires and less aggressive geometry and gearing… essentially a hybrid bike.
Since it’s only our niche group that wants this kind of bike, the manufacturers just let us build them ourselves. Which is exactly what we’d do anyway, even if they did sell them from the factory.
I converted my 86 Miyata 710 road bike to flat bars, 1×10, MTB gearing, index shifting.
That’s basically what the hybrids derived from road bikes are, though?
Riding in the drops is primarily to reduce wind resistance, but wind resistance really matters above 15mph or so (unless there’s wind).
So the drop bar is useful for people going far and fast–roadies. Our niche tends to go far *or* fast and thus doesn’t benefit as much.