hybrid to racer

19bm82

hi all,

could someone tell me if its possible to change a flatbar on a hybrid to the traditional racer drop bars,

its for and giant fcr 4,

if so could you direct me to best place to get this done and what price range would i be looking at?

thanks
bm

cdaly_

I recently did this conversion on my FCR3. Pretty happy with the result.

I picked up the parts secondhand (new bartape and cables) for the princely sum of not too much (maybe €120 IIRC) and did the fitting work myself. Obviously getting it done for you will cost more.

Your FCR4 likely has an 8 speed cassette? You'll be able to use 9sp shifters with an 8sp cassette using this method.

blorg

It is possible but it is quite expensive, particularly the shifters. You then have the bars, bar tape and possibly will have to shorten the stem. You may also have to change the front derailleur. I did this myself with a 105-equipped Specialized Sirrus to turn it into a tourer.

At the end of the day you will be left with an absolute bottom-end, 8 speed, very heavy "racer." You would probably be better off trying to sell the FCR as is (it is a perfectly decent entry level hybrid) and buying a racer second hand.

Any bike shop can do it for you but at a guess you would probably be looking at €200-250 minimum. Most of that is the shifters.

If you wanted cheaper might be better off picking up parts second hand/off the internet and getting Mr Skeffington to change it over for you- PM him to ask how much that might cost to assemble.

End of the day though I don't think I would do it with a FCR4.

thebouldwhacker

For what its worth I was going to do something like this but ended up buying a road bike and I am so happy I did. If your on a budget there are a few second hand road bikes going on adverts and on the forsale sub forum.
Thing is as soon as you get your drops your going to NEED a flat bar bike then too, then comes the mtb, then the fixie, then a second road bike as a hack........

one for all etc

Does the view that this is not a good idea also apply to converting a Sirrus to a touring bike with drops? I have a Sirrus Comp and am planning some multi day trips this year and everyone says I need drops. I don't want to spend the money for another bike. In particular I would like to hear how your exercise worked out Blorg.

blorg

@one for all- it makes somewhat more sense doing it to turn a bike into a tourer simply as tourers tend to have a higher entry-cost than racers and converting you tend to end up more like a tourer anyway, where you have rack and mudguards, tyre clearance and are not so concerned about weight. If you want a cheap racer you can get a good entry level one, which will be light and nimble etc. easy enough secondhand. Touring is far more specialised as a market and they don't come up very often.

It worked pretty well for me as regards a touring conversion. I had been very happy with the fit on the Sirrus and had toured on it with the flat bars several times. I had back problems with a racer before- so this ended up being a very good introduction into road bikes for me, converting something that fitted.

All in all I would say the bike I ended up with was as good for touring as a well over €1,000, even €1,500 tourer if I were to buy new. To be honest there is little my new titanium tourer does better except be made out of titanium (important as that is.)

How long are your multi-day trips per day? If they aren't that long you certainly don't NEED drops. I did up to 168km in a day on the Sirrus on flat bars before I converted... although I will be the first to admit that drops are much better.

Any questions feel free to ask.

End result, first two doing the Camino, as a commuter with narrow slick tyres/mudguards, and as a cross bike:



Currently, it sits on my turbo trainer.

one for all etc

Thanks for that Blorg. We are planning a 6 day trip of 100km - 120km a day. I would happily change to drops if I thought it would make the week easier. I have done single days of up to 150km and plan to do a lot of training but am not too sure about how much pain the next day will bring. The aim is to keep the pain to a minimum.

How was the Camino, we thought briefly about doing that one?