Drop bars, flat bars and butterfly bars

I recently transitioned from road bike hybrids with flatbars (eg, specialised sirrus) to a TCR with a drop bar. I love riding the TCR but in the city it doesn’t allow as much heads up awareness and speed of reactions and manueveurbility at junctions and lights is also alarmingly lower. Is this a recognised downside? The sales assistant advised that the bike geometry is against fitting a butterfly bar. Is this correct?

It remains a downside for me. I had flat bars for many years, and got a Giant Defy with drop bars a little over a year ago, and I still don’t feel anywhere near as comfortable in traffic as I used to. It’s not a huge deal - I do most of my riding in the hills or on the riverside paths, so I don’t deal with traffic much - but on the odd occasion I’m maneuvering in traffic, I miss the flat bars, and there’s no way I do the edging through traffic and crowds that I used to. If I wanted a bike mainly to commute on roads full of traffic, I’d want flat bars.

That being said - the drops have proven much better for longer rides, I suspect mainly because they allow more variation in posture. I don’t regret moving to drop bars at all, but whereas I used to be willing to go a decent distance in city traffic (for example, riding up Zhongshan into Tianmu to go to Eddy’s Cantina), these days … nope. Mind you, that’s another “sacrifice” from moving to a rather chunky hybrid with saddle bags to a road bike - I used to get a decent bit of exercise simply because I’d bike to Tianmu from Danshui to go grocery shopping, and that doesn’t happen at all now.

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I suspect this has a lot more to do with the geometry of the bicycle (and it’s impact on your position on the bike) than than the actual bar types themselves.

I was going to say something similar. Of course going from flat bars to drop bars does have its differences and it takes some time to get used to, but the drop bar angles can always be adjusted. Things like if you got a more race or endurance geometry frame and the angle your drop bars are positioned are also factors. If the grame is race geometry, you’re in a lower and bent position, whereas the endurance geometry you’re more upright.

OP, give it some time to sink in, if you’re really not used to it, head back to the shop you bought your bike at and have them make some adjustments. :sunglasses:

Flip your stem around. It’ll look a bit off with the positive angle but you’ll gain a few centimeters of bar height and a slightly more upright position. Its free, simple to do and easily reversible if you don’t like it. Just be careful of torque limits if you have carbon bars or stem.

Good advice, thankyou. Takes some getting used to - and i know for certain now my braking reflexes are much slower, have to take it easy in town.
One more question.
The guy the shop advised that the bike (TCR) geometry wouldn’t suit a butterfly bar setup when i asked him if it was a possibility. Do you agree?

Ive fitted a TCR with flat bars, no problem. NO reason why butterfly bars won’t work too, although perhaps you’d be good to have a shorter stem. A shorter stem on drop bars with more raise would also give you a more upright posture.

drop bars ridden in the drops give you more cornering control, less wind resistance, more braking control, shorter stopping distances (lower center of gravity) and arguably more power, as well as more hand positions all over the bar.

I’m sure in principle you can put a set of butterfly bars on a tcr, but how will you mount your brifters though?

Well, that needs other work arounds, like down-tube mounted fiction shifters (lolz), bar end shifters, etc. There’s more than one way to change gears…

Didn’t feel like making a post in the temp forum or bothering anyone in PM. I really don’t have much cash flow right now, but my hands/wrists really can’t handle straight bars anymore. I’m a little concerned in regards to the brakes and shifters going from straight bars to anything else.

Has anyone here done it themselves before? The video tutorials seem pretty straightforward, but the online discussions seem to say it’s a little more complex (and expensive) in regards to switching the shifters and brakes.

It should help if you informed us what bike you have now, with what equipment (level).

I rebuilt a Giant OCR road bike to straight handle bars some years ago, yours will be the opposite.
In your case you will have to change the rapid-fire shifters to roadbike brake/shifters.
In itself not difficult, just be sure you got the right ones for brand, qty of gears and brake type, plus some new inner and outer cables for shifters and brakes.

Pricing for parts might be the problem, it really depends on the brand, and level of equipment you have.

And may be the shifting ratios could be a problem. Shimano has some compatibility tables though. You could also ask in a shop, but TBH, people at shops don’t know shit many times…

Yeah sorry about that, I’m currently using a bike that was a gift from the wife. Can’t find any information about the bike itself (generic branding, website with no information), but I’ll scope out the bike tomorrow and look for branding on the parts and measurements. Middle of the road equipment, standard aluminum frame, etc.

Is buying used parts an option here in Taiwan? I’m right near Taipei but still having difficulty finding anything used, let alone something as specific as this.

Yeah that’s my biggest concern, if I don’t get the answer or some decent suggestions I’ll be scoping out my local parts/accessories shop. That’s my last option though since most of their inventory is just overpriced accessories.

I’m planning on upgrading down the road when money isn’t so tight. For now I’m just trying to switch out the bars.

With the bike and equipment you describe, it does not look like a problem at all.
I presume you got a Shimano, or Shimano based drivetrain, which is probably the easiest to get parts for.
Just sort out the qty of gears you have in the back, and if you have a double or triple in the front.

I upgraded my 20 year old Deore level ATX840 from 7 to 9-speed a year ago.

I checked and compared as well, but at the end did not bother for 2nd hand parts as up till mid level parts are rather cheap.
I bought most parts in a shop in Sanchong, probably not too far from where you are, by far the cheapest in Taiwanese bike-land.

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It’s a 7x3 configuration

Actually yeah, I’m right near Jiangzicui. That’s right across the bridge from me. Do you recall the address or general location? I’ll scope them out tomorrow

Velo House in Sanchong.
It is bit of a messy shop, but they have a lot in their warehouse behind the shop.

The easiest dealing with them is to sort the parts on their internet shop, get their numbers, then pick up if you know what you want.

Depending gear spacing on the rear (for the index shifting) I think you need the below. The advertising is for 2x7, but if you scroll down, you will see the 3x7 mentioned (SHIMANO TOURNEY ST-A073-L 3*7).

https://tw.bid.yahoo.com/item/【飛輪單車】-SHIMANO-TOURNEY-ST-A070-2-7速雙控變把-100278982258?u=Y3115883780&actsrch=srp3

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Thanks! That’s just about everything I need, even found their address. I’ll be checking it out during my ride tomorrow

it’s not only about the number of speeds… look for the tables i said, or send an email to shimano. Also drop by some shop.

You are right, nothing worse than spending money, only to find out that it is not working.

However, IF (!) it is a Shimano system, I am rather sure all horizontal spacing for 7 gear cassettes is the same, even for various brands.
That means that any Shimano 7 speed shifter will provide the necessary indexing.

The tables you refer to is more important to match the derailleurs with different sizes of cassettes and chain rings and different brands.
However, in this case the whole drivetrain remains the same (or so I understand), so the required indexing from derailleurs and shifters is the only one to watch.

Finally, all shops I initially contacted told me I could not upgrade my bike to 9 speed, and some even refused to sell me parts.
Well, I am a bit stubborn, and did it anyway, even using the original rear wheel + hub, just moving the hub on the axle, and re-dishing the wheel.
Moral of the story: ~~~~ :slight_smile:

That people at shops don’t know shit :stuck_out_tongue: