how to get a good flat bar road bike?

[d_douglas]

My good buddy seems to be getting into cycling. She is training for a trip to Asia with a bunch of other women early next year, and says she likes cycling, but is finding that shes always struggling to keep up with the other riders on group rides due to her $200 Specialized hybrid that I helped her find on the cheap. I would think that is due to gearing and the geometry of the bike as much as anything.

She wants the feel of a road bike, but I am suggesting clearance for 35mm tires, so I am thinking that getting an older CX bike would kind of accomplish both. I dont think a new Specialized Sirrus type of thing would be super fun when wanting to go fast on roads.

The flat bar component is because she has neck pain and I dont think being further hunched over a bike would help this. She is otherwise a considerably- more-fit-than-average-mid-50s-woman. She is 5'3" and maybe 125lbs.

Her budget is tight - let's say $1000CAD ($700US).

ANy ideas? Is there a bike that I should look out for and throw a flat bar and longer stem on it?

[benb]

I'd talk to someone who really knows geometry to get this right.

If you just throw the flat bar on any random road bike you really need to have the right frame and geometry or the handling will just be rough once you put the flat bar on.

All the "fast flat bar hybrids" seem to have their geometry adjusted for it.

I have a flat bar on my All City Space Horse right now and at least for me it's very very finicky. It makes me want to get rid of it and just a hybrid for those flat pedal/street clothes commutes and errands. Funny thing as there have been tons of pictures of Space Horses with flat bars and alt bars and very happy people. I think for me with the flat bar I needed to size down one size. Which obviously wasn't going to happen cause I rode it ten years with drop bars first and All City is closing.

[bikinchris]

Being hunched over has NOTHING to do with flat bars or drop bars. It has everything to do with the fit of the bike.
I used to do the following often:
She can get set up on a road bike with her bars set so that her reach to the brake levers on a road bike fit is as far as her reach to her levers on her flat bars now. the same drop to the levers can be set up too.
With shallow drops, she can choose to use the drops, or not. Finding a great used road bike shouldn't be very hard.

[Turkle]

One idea for you here: If I understand correctly, bikes that are set up for flat bar tend to have significantly longer top tubes than a normal road bike. This also describes gravel bikes with "progressive" geometry. So I think that might be one place to look for a flat bar setup.

[d_douglas]

Thanks - you are right, I have probably oversimplified it. If I got a small CX bike and put a 50mm stem and a flared 400mm drop bar on it, with little drop, that would probably work as well. I am likely dwelling on using a 110mm plus stem, but that wouldnt work for a person her size.

Now, anyone in Vancouver with a small CX bike for a reasonable price?

I just checked quickly and saw an older canti Crux in her size with SRAM Apex for $600. Sounds decent...

[Alistair]

Some of the latest flat-bar hybrids look really sweet... Like the Trek FX Sport 6... <$3000 for carbon frame, wheels, and AXS shifting and the geo looks reasonably sporty for what it is.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...olorCode=black

The step down is $2k with GRX and alloy wheels. I imagine the equivalent Specialized Sirrus is similar.

Is there anything equivalent on the used market for less money?

Nothing wrong with buying a road bike and swapping bar, but that requires new levers and shifters, so can be pricey depending on what parts you need to acquire/swap.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

If I got a small CX bike and put a 50mm stem and a flared 400mm drop bar on it, with little drop, that would probably work as well.

I just checked quickly and saw an older canti Crux in her size with SRAM Apex for $600. Sounds decent...

400mm is likely too wide, unless she has unusually wide shoulders for her height. My wife is 5'4" and uses a 38cm bar and could likely go narrower.

That Crux is probably a pretty good bet, assuming you don't need to do a bunch of parts-swapping.

[robt57]

Is she hunched over due to being on too small or short set up is the question, or 'a' question.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Alistair

400mm is likely too wide, unless she has unusually wide shoulders for her height. My wife is 5'4" and uses a 38cm bar and could likely go narrower.

On the other hand, you're probably going to struggle to find a flat bar narrower than about 600mm. Bar width is dependent, and someone who is looking for a more upright position might benefit from a shorter stem and wider bars than someone riding in a more aggressive position.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by prototoast

On the other hand, you're probably going to struggle to find a flat bar narrower than about 600mm. Bar width is dependent, and someone who is looking for a more upright position might benefit from a shorter stem and wider bars than someone riding in a more aggressive position.

Yeah, the 38 vs 40 was in context of a typical drop-bar set-up.

FWIW, my wife's two flat-bar bikes (Trek Top Fuel mountain and Spec'd Turbo Vado SL fast e-hybrid) have had their bars chopped way down. I think the Trek came with a 760 or 780mm bar on a small, which is bonkers - the shop cut nearly 2" off each side, IIRC.

[d_douglas]

Her current specialized is a 15yr old city cruiser. I think the fit is fine for what it is - a slow, sluggish city bike. She wants to ride faster and the bike is a bit of a barrier. Her riding pals are riding $5k gravel bikes mostly. She's a former jock that now spends more time working out for fitness than for sport due to many family and professional commitments, but she says she's growing to like going out for a few hours riding her bike, so I want to facilitate that.

Ive known her for 40yrs and shes seen me blow stupid amounts of money on bikes, so she is always cautious asking me about this stuff, and hence, is pretty cheap with her purchases. If she bought a $2k Specialized, she would be done and probably love it, but she cant seem to do it.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

struggling to keep up with the other riders on group rides due to her $200 Specialized hybrid

She is otherwise a considerably- more-fit-than-average-mid-50s-woman. She is 5'3" and maybe 125lbs.

This has nothing to do with the bike, she simply doesn't have enough miles in her legs. Ask her to ride more....a lot more. Her ability to keep up with her friends is directly proportional to her willingness to ride more.

This is my friend Sherry. She's 75.

[prototoast]

1) I think she should find a local shop and try to test ride a bunch of different bikes (note: she doesn't have to commit to buying from them, but as a courtesy, at least be open to the possibility if using them for test rides)

2) She may want to try her current hybrid bike with good road tires. A lot of hybrid bikes come with absolutely garbage tires. Dropping $100 on good tires could potentially save her 40-50 watts of rolling resistance.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by weisan

This has nothing to do with the bike, she simply doesn't have enough miles in her legs. Ask her to ride more....a lot more. Her ability to keep up with her friends is directly proportional to her willingness to ride more.

This is my friend Sherry. She's 75.

Oh, it has something to do with the bike. Like I said, her fitness is much higher than the average woman of her age. You are right that she doesnt have many KM in her legs, but that number is going up and she is well aware of this fact. She is more like Sherry than you think - just not on bikes.

While I dont think she needs a $10k bike by any means, she would ride differently with a $2k bike than a $200 bike.

I have thought about putting high end tires on her bike to see the difference. I am about to replace my Compass Stampede Pass (or whatever) 32mm slicks that still have life left in them, and could donate them for a trial for sure, but I do think the long wheelbase and slack HT angles are contributing to the feeling of sluggishness.

[LadyDog]

Once you get the size figured out, which already have, I'd maybe check "Bikes Direct". While not Giant, Spesh, Trek per-say, they're not Walmart either.

Believe I saw a few months back, a Gravity flat bar carbon frame bike for maybe $1099.

Obviously used too.