Making Flat Bar Road Bikes faster and lighter

flatbarfanatic

I pick up my giant crx 1 on Saturday. Unlike those moving from roadbikes to flat bars, I am going from hard tail mountain bike to flat bar – been sick of going slow, but didnt want to be confined only to the road.



I admired the road bike speed of the felt sr 71, loved the fork and disc brakes of the specialized sirrus pro disk, but Ive always wanted an all black bike (2000 f2000 lefty cannondale all black was always my dream bike)… but now I need some road speed, but still hoping to not be wearing tights and riding along beach road.

Hence the Giant CRX1 - total cost under $1800 incl below changes (better to do before you own parts and then want to change them) - from Terry Hammond Cycles in Port Melbourne, VIC. (they have been really good guys)


I have done some basic mods to the bike, mainly aesthetic – changed the silver truvativ crank to a black shimano 105 crank, using dmr v8 black mountain bike pedals (looks better than standard plastic ick), BBB carbon fibre composite bar ends, cateye 7 wireless computer (in black J) as well as cateye ultra cool black front light (HL-EL400)



I am now interested in doing some modifications to bike to get it lighter and more speed.



Im going to see what the tyres are like but may go from the 28’s to 24 or so.. any one done this ? or can recommend specific tyres ? Thanks



I was interested in disc brakes ala the top of the line Sirrus but the CRX 1 isnt set up to do so, so I guess that’s not a goer. And the LBS says it wont add much as I wont be off-off road.



I would love to upgrade the levers and v-brakes... I see that Campagnolo have new ultra-sexy carbon fibre ultra light levers out (Chorus line) O/S but Im sure they will be about same price as the CRX. I find the V-Brakes a bit cheapo to be honest but I should ride them first before I judge J



Anyone with any carbon fibre, speed/weight saving ideas for flat bar bikes, please tell



And please no-one recommend to put drop-bars on.



Im flatbarfanatic and im not wearing fluro tights ok… (except underneath !)


Ben
giant crx-1

gclark8

Excellent post ben!!! Excelllent choices.

Join the q for Ultegra 3X10 when the FB 3x10 shifters are available in September. 23-25mm tyres should go well. Ride the 28s for a bit first.

My Felt has Tektro Mini V-brakes, will stop at anything! (even blondes)
Mt MTB now has Tektro standard V-brakes, the compound is not as good. Also now has flat bars, CrMo forks and a racing seat.

__________________
Cheers,
George.

flatbarfanatic

interesting re the Ultegra... Ill keep u updated when I pick up bike... Tektros VBrakes seem to have monopoly on flat bar bikes.. all seem to use them !

B

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all black giant crx1
shimano 105 black crank
dmr v8 black platform pedals
cateye HL e400 black headlight
bbb carbon fibre composite bar ends
cateye black wireless 7 computer
need more carbon fibre

artemidorus

Why not? You seem to be interested in go fast bits!

HughMann

You dont say what tyres you have but I can thoroughly recommend Specialized Armadillo All Condition tyres. 28mm slicks. Something of similar quality in a slick would be fine. Need to get a tyre that will take 100psi.
From what I understand there is little if any diff from 28 to 24

(just googled and shows Maxxis Detonator 700 x 28c , dont know them but looking at the rest of the equipment I would say they are pretty good)
Looks like a nice bike. Just ride it and be happy.

Hugh

Apollo CRC 3.0 Hybrid ( shop bike)

Avanti Blade Elite ( every time I walk past it says " hey guy wana ride!")

flatbarfanatic

i will never go to the dark side hehe

__________________
all black giant crx1
shimano 105 black crank
dmr v8 black platform pedals
cateye HL e400 black headlight
bbb carbon fibre composite bar ends
cateye black wireless 7 computer
need more carbon fibre

gclark8

Firstly, a question for artemidorus, how old are you? Age can be one of the factors in influencing choice of bike and riding style.

Secondly, primary safety, in the form of forward visibility is better with the FB style of bike. I believe this acccident would not have happened if the lead riders of both groups had better visibility: http://www.triwa.org.au/discus//mes...html?1107525933

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Cheers,
George.

artemidorus

35.
I'm sorry, but I don't buy your visibility hypothesis. Not only do I have perfect forward visibility, but I can look straight up if I want.
On can place one's handlebars at any height, in any case. If you want comfort, you can place your drop bars as high as you want, given the right frame, steerer and stem. The drops just give more comfort (and speed) options. I don't actually ride on the drops all that often; the hoods are much more comfortable.

Bugerlugs

Have had my CRX1 for about three weeks now, and I am actually considering adding the drop bars, there is just too much wind resistance at about 78 Km/h and I think it would be more stable and comfortable with the drops with options for different hand positions. Any idea how much it would cost me to change over, I guess I would probably want to stay with 105 for the components, would need the bar and tape, but i think the cables would be ok.

The other alternative I have been thinking of is bar extensions for comfort to give a different position, anyone got any opinions.

gclark8

I got a set of drops for my flat bar from http://endless-innovations.com/ not yet fitted, but soon...

__________________
Cheers,
George.

artemidorus

Drop-bar type STI shifter/levers are expensive!! It's by far the most expensive part of a groupset. Even (8-spd) second-hand Sora on e-bay would set you back >$100.

My commiserations; your situation is exactly the one that I see many people setting themselves up for when they wheel a road bike out of the shop with the wrong sort of bars.

Don't listen to arguments about better visibility, better control, better off-road capability and better comfort; it's all simply wrong. A flat bar on a road bike is plain old bad engineering.

cycleski

Have you considered adding clip on aero bars to allow you to stay in the tuck position on the longer rides. Only down side is minor weight increase but reduced drag save heaps, leave brakes and shifters as is - minor delay in getting to the brakes in an emergency stop. Seen a few with this combo so know it works, for me the more hand position options the better. Can fit bar end shifters to the aero bars and cheaper than sti levers but would be a pain in the hills when out of the saddle.

drewjc

I bought a brand new flat bar bike last year, mainly for training on the road with my road and track racing mates. It goes like this....
Giant XTC2 disc (black), shimano deore (LX/XT rear) running gear, race face black cranks, hayes hydraulic discs, rock shox duke XC forks (w/adjustable travel and rebound damping).

The parts i have added are these; Velocity deep V 700c rims (all black, no braking surface) laced onto Deore 32 hole disc hubs with black double butted spokes and Hayes discs. I run all black Vittoria rubino pro tyres and an 11-23 ultegra cassette. Also have black profile boxer bar-ends for multiple hand positions on and off road, black Tacx bidon cage, and a polar s720i HR monitor with speed sensor. I also flipped the stem and took out all of the spacers aswell as lowering the forks to the lowest suspension setting (63mm) for a much lower more aero position which is almost as low as my road bike (but still comfortable enough for every day use).

This is my favourite bike for all round use and can basically go anywhere with a quick change of wheels. It is as fast as most of my training bunch on the road, and although it is a bit heavy with the road wheels on, they are virtually indestructable. The guy who owns the bike shop did up a bike exactly the same as this about 1 month after mine but he decided to go for ultra light weight. He used light weight bladed spokes (DT new aero i think??) with some velocity aero head rims and XT disc hubs and michelin pro race tyres (black/grey). Looks pretty neat either way but if u want a light weight flat bar bike i think this is the way to go. I have also considered adding a set of 105 black cranks with larger chainrings (52/42/30) as this would help out with top speed but it means a change of bottom bracket and other things that i couldnt really be bothered to do. For now the 44x11 will have to suffice. Maybe i could get me a 50t chainring for the race face MTB cranks and be done with it.

gclark8

Drew,

sounds awesome... can you give us a cost breakdown please?

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Cheers,
George.