Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Drop bar conversion for an MTB

yeah, just don't do it

It's really happening? What's the plan?

@Vince will post it for him!

Bikecad or it didn't happen

I went to get a circular saw yesterday, making it much easier to cut bikes and parts in smaller chunks so they fit in a small box.

Makes posting easier...

I think you’ve misunderstood bikepacking.

Cheapest options might be 10-speed bar end, those MTB-pull drop bar Tektro levers, and a 9-speed MTB mech. Could be done for well under £50 if you are patient.

Or, you could possibly get a friction shifter and keep your mech, if you can tolerate friction shifting on 10-speed.

Or go sram and their exact actuation 1-1 thing should work with any same speed mech and shifter. I’m using 10spd mtb mech, 10 spd road shifters and accidentally (thought it was 10 speed) a 9 spd cassette and it all works

Or, pay attention to what Platypus said. I can't recall ever seeing an example of a cost-effective conversion from flat to drops.

Thanks all for the answers. I'm learning. Mtb is all new to me. @platypus what's your objection to drop bar MTB? Or are you saying it's just too much hassle in my case?

from all my experience reading the internet where people have done it, they spend a lot of time and/or money trying to get the goddamn thing to work only to find out that it doesn't ride very well, isn't comfortable, doesn't work well or a great combination of all three

Plus you could end up with something like this, and nobody wants that on their conscience

1 Attachment

Yours I presume

I would never use blue bar tape

Needs to be taken out back and shot

taken out back and shot with a faster lens and featured on radavist

if you can tolerate friction shifting on 10-speed.

Do you think/know this is not good? I've got all the bits for 10-spd lined up ready to go on my bike, but been wondering about a friction shifter instead of indexed one. It's my commuter, not MTB, and I'm wondering if a nominally 9-spd friction shifter would be alright with a 10-spd mech. Cheaper than a microSHIFT friction shifter for £70-£90!

It's a limp dick stem away from being instagram famous

drop bar MTBs are bad, because

the handling is fucked up unless the frame is specifically designed for drop bars
you cant use a dropper which is one of the only good modern MTB inventions
you cant use hydro disc brakes easily, ditto
shifting is a pain
they look ugly as sin, almost without exception

just get some flat bars you like. on one rips off every type under the sun for £30 or less. if it's good enough for the forum racers and razzer it's good enough for everyone.

if it's good enough for the forum racers

Letting that Mountain Mayhem podium spot go to your head? ;-)

I've done it for a little bit but not enough to have formed an opinion. Some people say it's too hard to accurately pick a gear compared to 9 speed but that sounds a bit arbitrary to me as the difference is pretty small. If you've got the parts you might as well try it I suppose. Or have you not bought them yet?

If it's a road mech the 10-speed Dura-Ace bar end shifters will work and often go pretty cheap. Looks like brand new set is £60 on eBay. Think I sold some myself for £30 a couple of years ago.

👍 flat bars it is.

Would getting a mountain bike when I live in Brixton be ridiculous? Are there places to ride nearby or should my dreams remain dreams?

I live in Camberwell and own a MTB. When life is normal you can get trains from Clapham Junction to martins heron (for swinley) or dorking (for Surrey hills) in under an hour.

Are there places to ride nearby

Epping is ridable in an hour or so with some off road bits on the way, route dependant.

Olympic Park off road trails are ok too.