Straight Bar Road Bike

NeedMoreGears

Folks,

'need a little help here.

A mate is trying to decide between a hybrid and a road bike - nothing especially fancy (around €600 - €750) but not too shabby either.

He hopes to use it mostly at weekends. Commuting by bike is not an option for him. Expected distances are in the 30km to 50km range. This is how I started but these days I am willing to have a go at the longer sportives etc so he's wondering if he'll end up the same.

What about a strraight bar road bike? Giant appear to have a range of bikes that are almost identical to their defy drop bars road bike range. So it might be feasible to convert back to drops at some later stage for a reasonable cost. The LBS suggests around €100 or so to convert. Any other manufacturers offering the same thing?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks

nmg

penexpers

Would be surprised if LBS is quoting 100 euro total for conversion, I would have thought labour alone would be 100 euro for something like that.

Converting to drops can be expensive, more than likely will need
- bars
- stem
- shifters (usually most expensive part)
- bar tape

Possibly need
- new cables

If you know (or can take a good guess) that he'll eventually want drops, then that's what he should get at the start, imo.

NeedMoreGears

'was a bit surprised myself. I had thought you were looking at €200+.

I would favour drops from the start as well.


Thanks for advice. 'will keep ye posted