Thread started by laoxue at 06.11.08 - 11:54 am

During the winter I found this tiny road bike for a tiny friend of mine who wants to start riding. She’d like to be able to transport it in the trunk of her car. So her requirements for the bike were less than $250, small enough to transport in her car, and light enough for her to comfortably get it in and out. We also looked at some new Dahon folders and she may yet go that route.

Anyway, I picked this one up off Craig’s List this winter. It is a ‘70s bike boom era lower-end Centurion girls’ road bike. I think that its 14�. It uses the 24x1.25 tires, so it’s quite small. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a smaller road bike. However, she’s not accustomed to riding, so the forward position of the drop bars, even on the tops, is just a bit too aggressive for her at this stage. She’d like to sit back and up a few inches. As a road bike, it fits her very well; she’s just not ready for a road bike.

So I’d like to convert it to a townie so that she can ride it now and convert it back to a road bike if and when she is ready. I’m thinking that a pair of the relatively compact swept back bars that were common on the old English 3-speeds would be great, but I haven’t found a pair locally. Harris Cyclery has new ones from Pyramid for $25. Of course, I’ll need brake levers too.

I’ve also considered a pair of the $20 butterfly bars from Nashbar, but I’d have to use MTB levers which may pull a bit too much cable or tri-levers.

Any clever ideas before I start ordering a bunch of stuff?


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70s bike - go with 70s style flipped up drop bars. No new bars and no new levers needed.



ideasculptor
06.11.08 - 12:10 pm

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I wouldn't flip the bars. Not only does it look really bad IMHO but you are taking away the two best positions of a drop bar, the tops near the hoods and the hoods themselves.

I'd go to the Bicycle Kitchen or Bike Oven or Bikerowave and look for a cheap stem, some kind of upright North Road-type bars, and MTB brake levers. I've seen all these parts there from time to time. Wald also makes some cheap steel upright bars that would work too.

Also: Is that current configuration really too aggressive for her? What I see is handlebars way above the saddle, which usually means she'd be pretty upright. In my experience bars too high leads to bad handling. I'd go no higher than the saddle.

If she's truly a complete newb and not an athlete of any kind maybe she's just not used to riding a bike. I wouldn't conclude immediately that the bike is set up too aggressively. She's working muscles that are probably not used that much, so some pain is natural.

Also, when you are too upright it's hard on your lower back and ass since they take all the bumps. There's a reason why people who ride any kind of distances are generally bent over somewhat, but not too low, about 45 degrees: it's way more comfortable! Your weight is distributed better and your arms become shock absorbers.



cabhauler
06.11.08 - 1:28 pm

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@cabhauler

The setup in the photo is from before I set the bike up for her. The genius that I bought it from had raised the stem above the min insert line. Fortunately the bike had not been ridden much in that configuration so the steer tube was still OK. Also, the seat was in the two feet flat on the ground position. Once I put the stem down to the min insert and the seat up to her correct hight the seat was just an inch below the bars.

She's not used to leaning over to the bars and holding her head up. She'll get there quickly if she rides enough, but she needs to enjoy riding first. It's always the chicken and egg problem with newbs and their first bike. In her case I'm trying to hang on to this bike as it will be hard to reacquire one in her size if and when she ever wants a "real" bike.

Lacking both a car and spare time, I'm reluctant to make the rounds of Bike Kitchen/Oven and Bikerowave. I've looked around at some of the student ghetto LBS near me, but so far no luck.

I'll probably wind up ordering from Harris.




laoxue
06.11.08 - 3:58 pm

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you can always call around town rather than drive or bike



spiraldemon
06.11.08 - 4:03 pm

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Open Road Cyclery in Pasadena has some Soma Fabrications cruiser bars for around $20.






thinkpeace
06.11.08 - 4:59 pm

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OK, I thought that stem looked too high and I figured the person hadn't put a Nitto Technomic stem on it.

In that case I'd just get a upright bar of some kind. That Soma bar looks good. Velo Orange and Ben's Cycle also have some cool upright bars, some made by Nitto:

http://velo-orange.com/touristbar.html

http://velo-orange.com/niprha.html

http://velo-orange.com/volebaha.html

http://velo-orange.com/vomoha.html

http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=553

You could also spend some dough and get the Nitto Albatross/North Road, but that might be too much for a cheap bike:

http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/handlebars_stems_and_tape?page=1#product=16-122

http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/handlebars_stems_and_tape?page=1#product=16-127

http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1371

I think Orange 20 and Hollywood Pro Cycles might have some of these bars in stock and they can certainly order them for you, so go take a look and support your local store!

MTB levers should be easy to find at a co-op, I saw tons the last time I went, but there's plenty on eBay too.

I can relate to the whole "getting used to road bike" thing. On my first road bike I put Nitto Albatross bars on a tall stem, so I could practically recline. As I rode more I switched to drop bars and lowered them. I still appreciate high bars though, they are totally comfy for cruising around!



cabhauler
06.11.08 - 5:14 pm

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I knew that the collective wisdom of the Ridazz would come through.

The VO/Nitto Montmartre is precisely what I've been looking for and it's in silver! With the silver "reverse" brake levers they will look great on this bike. I think it will be worth the extra cost, as she may never want to change them back to the "real" road bars.

Though, VO makes me nostalgic for my Randonneuring days. Sort of like when I get my copy of (Vintage) Bike Quarterly in the mail. Sigh.




laoxue
06.11.08 - 5:41 pm

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@laoxue

Oh dang! You ride brevets? I did my first one this year and want to do more.



cabhauler
06.11.08 - 6:01 pm

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