pretty nice to look at. but i have my doubts, that it'll be that nice as well on the trails.

 

Why the doubts?

 

Take a look at the bar position of most of the bikes in the drop bar thread and compare to where you are at. Also Dirt Drop bars are very different from road bars as far as hand positioning goes.

 

yes I know the bars them self should have been curved more outward and the stem should be shorter and with a higher rise, but this was the bars and stem I had in hand. This is my first attempt on a drop bar MTB... so lets see how it turns out.

BTW... JT managed to race with road bars...

 

I'm no expert, but I have to agree with the above. I tried regular drop bars and realized within a couple of rides that the bike would be relegated to fire road type trails. It was extremely difficult to lift the front end over obstacles since I was stretched out and low. I changed to Woodchippers, raised the drops to the seat level and shortened the stem. The bike became totally different to handle over rough stuff.

 

JT managed to throw some air with with his road drop bars... then again JT is JT

 

everyone else is wrong, you got it right













we really need a sarcasm font here

 

everyone else is wrong, you got it right

we really need a sarcasm font here

That one did I not understand...

 

try it. you don't need shifters to see if that setup fits you.
going up a hill, or fast on a straight might seem good, but try going round tight corners and down a hill, with your hands in the drops.
i'd be surprised if it doesn't feel too bulky.

i have my doubts cause i've been where you are now

 

I don't think that the shape of the bars is an issue. Many riders use road bars on CX bikes on trails and they work fine. When you're in the drops you may find that the bar hits you in the wrists when you rock the bike hard back and forth - not a deal breaker, but it can be irritating (speaking form first hand experience).

The only potential issue I see is the length of the stem. You may be pretty stretched out with your set up - but then again you may have monster long arms. Give it a try and see how it rides, but you'll likely need a shorter (but same rise) stem.

Otherwise it looks great!

 

Thanks all folks for your enthusiasm for my drop bar project. I have done this once many years ago with a Cannondale M2000 frame. On this project I have measured the stem height and length with my elbow in front of the seat and I manage to get to-three fingers between my fingertips and handlebar. That is the old school road bike measure for stem length, not sure if tha goes for CX/drop bar MTB though...

Seat height is still a bit low for me since this Ritchey in general is a bit to small for me. My pref size is 19-19.5". Some of you have probably seen my Yetis...

I also don't think the road drop bar is a issue only the general size of the bike. But so far test ride without shifters proved promising I think. Just cant wait to test it on the properly with shifters.

 

This set up is like running a 25 cm stem on a 50 cm top tube and it can't be right. it is going to handle like a shopping cart

 

ah, you're right. your yetis are taller. so the length might fit you. if you're comfortable on the bike, ok.
with the bars so low i'd just be scared with my face being so close to the rocks, roots and other abrasive material

 

You can't base it off of JT's race set up. He ran it that way so it would more similarly mimic his road bike as he was racing both road and dirt at the time. Once he committed to dirt full time, flat bars came back.

You'll be able to ride bike...but that set up is very low and very stretched out. This is not how correct drop bar bikes are set up. I'd wager a guess you won't care for how the bike behaves.

 

My back hurts.....

 

Well arnt some of you talking like Oracles one better than the other... you havent seen me or know anything about my proportions

Anyway I am glad for those of you who contribute and for those of you Oracles ...

 

Well arnt some of you talking like Oracles one better than the other... you havent seen me or know anything about my proportions

Yep, our bad. I should have read post #8.

 

Well ok where did i put my sorry feet wrong here? Why are some of you almost acting unfriendly here?

And whats about thread no 8 - I still dont get it... feed me With a spoon please

 

the amount collective knowledge here is amazing, take advantage of it. there's lots of good advice from multiple sources

I've tried the drop bar ritchey thing with too low a stem, I didn't enjoy it. the handling was not to my liking

post #8 was friendlier way of saying this

you're hell bent on setting it up the way you have it. have a blast, I hope it works out well for you.

 

Agreed. There's some initial surliness to some folks responses, but they are simply being themselves, and trying to help you out. Don't react to the vibe, and you'll be fine.

Their experiences may help you more quickly figure out why it is it really doesn't feel that great when the rubber hits the trail.

Like any internet excursion, a thick skin, and willingness to ask why, is better than a thin skin, and holding fast to the fervent belief that it will work as you think.

Have fun with it.

See? You now know why JT did what he did. And why he swapped over after a while.

Try to get that info from your local 16 year old at Bike R Us.....

:thumbsup:

 

1. Relax i just didnt see the sarcasm
2. I never said I was using JTs setup as a template
3. It's the bar and stem I have for the moment
4. it's most likely a language barrier - three years in flight school I the south states probably didn't improve my English
5. I really appreciate your input but please leave out the inner circle codes and sarcasme

I'm juping the hey with the wifey - race weekend tomorrow and I need a massage ;-)

 

5. I really appreciate your input but please leave out the inner circle codes and sarcasme

All good.

Just remember, you can't go into a local bar for a drink without being exposed to the "locals"....

Wish I was "juping my wifey".

 

Not to pile on, but...

I tried the 'it's what I have on hand' route about 16 years ago, which resulted in a bike setup like what you posted and I was so put off by the really horrible setup that I didn't try drops offroad again until maybe 5 years ago. And it was all thanks to the friendly folks on this forum that I got the setup right this time.

Nate's picture is excellent reference

And look for the single consolidated drop bar thread and read through it.

 

You could always do this with it: F. Moser Motard

 

You could always do this with it: F. Moser Motard

Thanks for a realy nice inspiring F. Moser drop bar MTB. Love the build and couloirs

 

I just checked out this thread after the other one. I don't see people being too spicy. I have to agree with the rowdies about the stem but am with you and Laffeux on the bar. I don't really like dirt drops so much but like drops on the dirt.

Consider a Nitto DD stem.

 

I once swapped drops onto a hybrid and didn't think about how much further over the front axle I would end up. I rode it for about, oh, 5 minutes before going back to the shop and getting a shorter stem with rise...much better.

 

Dear fellow bicycle enthusiasts

Then I'm back (oh No!!! some of you might bark out loud...) Its been a fantastic race weekend here in Norway. We held the first ever Birken road race today, with a small twist of Paris-Roubaix in it. Although we dont have cobblestone roads here in the land of vikings - we have great gravel roads. So this ca 150km course have a short ca 1km gravel section to kinda split the peleton a bit. We had 1500 paid starters but only 990 of them set out from start this morning at 0830 due to rain strong wind and 4ºC or 39ºf.

Then back to the seeds of (my) misery... the Ritchey "please drop dead" bar project...

If (some of you) had read what I did write about the Ritchey beeing to small for me compared to my other bikes you could have seen why I am being so stubborn about the stem length. But since I had it with your spoon - I'll give it to you with mine...

Here are my other regular horses measured from seat tip to handlebar center and hand positions.
And before you start barking about my other bikes being different kinds of bikes etc etc etc... riding positions do change from bike to bike frame style to frame style, angles are different etc etc etc we agree on - yes? - so please do not bark ;-)

I probably got "it" all wrong this time also - but I dare

 

Dear fellow bicycle enthusiasts

"Dear fellow self promoting band of brothers"

Original opening line.

I'm a nice guy, mean no harm to anyone, but my headscratchometer is starting to fire up here.

You're welcome to play with the locals, but don't get your knickers in a twist when they play back....

Have fun.

Nice stable BTW.

 

I called it back on page 1.

do your thing yetiman, have a blast

 

Back in the days of super long stems I had two particularly crazy ones that I used to try and make bikes that didn't fit theoretically fit. One was a 180mm Everest stem (the custom RoMo brand) and the other - and this one still makes me chuckle when I think about it - was a slammed negative rise 150mm Salsa (25.4mm for a mountain bike). Trust me that the Salsa looked cool.

Unfortunately, the Salsa was also completely unrideable. The 180mm Everest put so much weight on my front wheel that I washed out on every downhill corner.

I bring up the Salsa because another stem that they made, in addition to really wide bars, might just be your answer. You don't have to go really long if you go wide (said the bishop to the actress).

 

P.S. Set back seatpost will gain you some space too.

 

Here is my old Ritchey with a Salsa stem. I was going to drop bar this one but it was a 17 inch frame so it was a bit small for me so I sold it. Still kinda wish I kept it because it had the Suntour Browning auto shift system which actually worked.

 

The white stem/white fork might look pretty cool. And maybe you could rejigger those mystery mounts for a stem-mounted disc brake.