Advice on Temporary Conversion Plans?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on December 13, 2011 at 1:13pm

You'll need new shifters and brake levers if you're switching to flats or upright bars. Mustache bars being a possible exception...

A cruiser bar like the Sycip wonderbar is very wide and has enough flat space near the stem to give you an alternate "drop" position for windy days. You will probably need a longer stem with cruiser bars because most of them will shorten the cockpit too much and make turning awkward and twitchy.

The Nitto Albatross bar is also a very nice bar to convert a road bike to an upright because it has some forward sweep to it.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 13, 2011 at 4:33pm

Megan,  how tall are you?  I may have a loaner bike for you if you are short, like 5 feet or under, if you want to go with a different type of bike.

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Permalink Reply by jennifer james on December 13, 2011 at 5:40pm

Hi- I rode pregnant with curvy old bars ( swept back bars)  on my Pinarello cruiser and was comfortable mostly. I always rode an upright bike pregnant because the weight distribution and balance was easier for me. 

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Permalink Reply by Michael A on December 13, 2011 at 6:46pm

depending on how old the Bianchi is this could be easy. A newer model with brifters could get expensive to convert, you would need new brake levers, new shifters (from a mtb) new bar, grips, cables and the labor to do it all. If you have down tube shifters it will be just a matter of swapping the bars, replacing cables and adding grips.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Markus on December 13, 2011 at 6:56pm

Well if yer over 5foot say like 5'8" to 5'10" I might be able to loan ya a nice commuter bike.

It's a 21" City Bike with low rise bars. The twist grip shifter is 9speed only on the rear (no front) and rides well on the streets. There are 1.5" tires on it now but not knobbies so it rides quiet but might be dicey if we get some slip'n'slide.

The change over to different bars could get involved so a loaner might be a good idea

Jeff

The Chicagoan

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Permalink Reply by Ash L. on December 13, 2011 at 9:00pm

It might be worth a trip to working bikes to pik up some stuff used. They have a ton of thumb shifters, brake levers and north road bars that would work. If you aren't comfortable doing your own work it would save you a bundle to just bring the compatible parts to your local bike shop and have them do the wrenching. 

I love riding north roads for comfort on short or long rides. They have just the right amount of sweep and I've seen many Volpes with this set up. 

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Permalink Reply by Ash L. on December 13, 2011 at 9:09pm

Also, you might end up choosing to keep an upright set up on that bike come babymoon so think of it more as an investment in comfort than a temporary conversion. These bikes can carry a lot more than they look.
 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 14, 2011 at 7:15am

What Ash said.  

When swapping levers be sure to NOT mix up brakes and levers between Linear-pull and non-linear-pull brake systems.  

Sheldon to the rescue.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 14, 2011 at 7:56am

Ash makes a good point about looking in the parts bins at Working Bikes. But, at least last time I checked (summer), they were not exactly overflowing with north roads or other upright bars. The "cruiser bars" box has a lot of bars in it, perhaps two or three dozen, but they are not necessarily in very good shape. I bought some ($5) for my town bike project, but I had to scrub off a lot of surface rust.

Another thing to keep in mind with used upright bars is that the length of the handle area may not be long enough. I know in my case, my shifter sits at a bend, won't go any further up the bar because it can't get past the bend, and as a result the remaining bar is about an inch shorter than my grip. In practice it has not been a problem, but it took a bit of getting used to.

I'll be more careful next time to measure all the stuff that needs to go on the bar and make sure there is plenty of room. I did bring the shifter with me to make sure it fit, but then I only eyeballed the remaining length, which turned out to be not quite enough.

Ash makes another good point - once you try upright bars you might not want to go back to drops. I was never a big fan of drops, and never a racer, but I felt like I had to have them because everyone else did or whatever. Now that my daily rider is a town bike I don't think I'll ever go back to drops for normal everyday riding around town.   It may be like the mini-van thing: you have a kid and practical (or the perception thereof) somehow erases any concern for cool.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 14, 2011 at 8:31am

I fished a set of Northroads out of the bin at WB last Wednesday.  Of course they were the only set in the bin and totally covered with paint someone had slathered all over them.  Chrome cleans up pretty easy though.

Niagara carries both the steel Northroads for $9.33 +S/H as well as the Alloy ones for $26.33 +S/H  

The Alloy ones run about 3" longer on the ends  than is cricket/period-correct which gives one room for modern shifters/brakes which tend to take up much more room than the older Nottingham bar gear did -especially twist-grip shifters and thumbies.   Bars are easily cut down to whatever size you  need with a simple tubing cutter and other than their longer-length have an exact replica bend to the original vintage Northroads.    It's always easier to cut some length off of bars than add it!  

I've bought and used a number of these bars and have been been happy with them.  I have a set on my daily rider right now and have used them on a number of builds.   They used to sell for around $17 but I'm saddened that lately the price has crept up quite a bit.   Still they are a STEAL compared to the Nittos. 

With Niagara always buy a quantity of stuff to combine shipping as it can be pricey if you are just ordering one item through them (both from their own website or though Amazon.)    They have nearly everything a rider and bike mechanic could want so buy $100 worth of stuff and pay around $10 shipping on it.  Treat yourself to a present of that specialty bike tool(s) you always wanted, or buy a new set of tires for next year.  Stock up -that's what I do

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Permalink Reply by emeegee on December 14, 2011 at 9:08am

This is all very helpful- thank you!

The Volpe is a newer one, with sti shifting, so it would be a pretty involved adaptation. Also, I think Ash's comment about wanting an upright setup in the future is spot-on- I don't envision wanting to put a child seat on either of my road bikes in a year or so.

I love the look of the Northroads bars--that's just the kind of sweep I was imagining.  Now I'm scouting craigslist for a mixte with downtube shifters that I can burnish with some tlc, and I'll hit the Working Bikes bins too.

Thanks so much to those who offered loaners! I'm about 5'5" and my other bikes are 52cm frames, so the suggestions here may not fit me, but I appreciate the generosity. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 14, 2011 at 9:29am

Something like THIS perhaps?

Downtube-shifters on a mixte can be hard to find sometimes.  This one caught my eye -lugged frame, neat color.  Would need a Brooks saddle IMHO -but looks like a nice bike.

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