Frames suitable for flat bar?

[Ryan_M]

I have a 2020 Giant Roam (L)... well the frame anyway. Everything else on the bike has been changed out over the years. I also swapped the sus fork for a Toseek carbon one which IIRC is ~10mm shorter than the shock it replaced. I want to get a frameset to clean it up and get away from the frankenstein look, convert to through axle, add fender mounts up front, and winter is coming so I need a bike project. All in all I think I'm fairly happy with the fit of the current frame though have been thinking on trying a slightly shorter stem. Anyway... I've been looking through the usual suspects and seems pretty much everything is designed for drop bars. I found the SPcycle G068 which seems like a pretty close fit. Are there any other's I should be considereing?

Thanks

[coffeebreak]

Don't think any Chiner brands advertise flat bar framesets separately. I have ridden drop bar to flat bar converted Specialized Diverge (which seems like a popular bike to do this mod) and it was fun. The owner had even put a super short stem for some interesting handling. I feel framesets with relaxed geos like gravel/endurance are better suited for flat bar conversion.

Personally I converted my Salsa Journeyer from drop to flat to Surly Corner Bar replica from Aliexpress and it was fire! I did not change the stem and stuck to 100mm (on 57 frame) even with flat/corner bars. Journeyer has a weird geometry and the 100mm stem worked with flat bar.

Right now I am in the midst of converting Cannondale SuperSix into some flat bar monstrosity. I am yet to decide what groupset to go with - the easiest one is to put Shimano RS700 105 flat bar shifter to pair with Ultegra 11 speed drivetrain but I don't have that shifter. I do have old XT M8000 shifter and derailleur but it will look weird on 25c tires, Ultegra road bike so may be during 11/11 sale I will order rest of the bits for flat bar conversion including some lightweight mechanical brake levers.

Btw, I did order a flat bar. My thought was to get a narrow flat bar but those are impossible to find on Aliexpress. So I ordered a cheap Kocevlo (I like that brand) in some monstrous 700 or such size and cut down the ends to make it 500mm. Once I have the full kit I might actually cut it down to 440mm and see how it works. The stem is 100mm on 56 frame as usual for me but it makes me sit way too upright...I think. After the build is done with few test rides if it doesn't work out my plan is to get one of those super long 130-140mm stems.

[Pedaldancer]

There are several successful flat bar builds made with the Carbonda 707 Gravel. The frame itself has a race geometry .. so it's quite long which makes it suitable as flat bar build.
In general if you look for race geometries you can find frames that could do the job.
Of course you will then not use the shortest stem , but maybe something around 100-120mm.

[Mikelizio]

So I ordered a cheap Kocevlo (I like that brand) in some monstrous 700 or such size and cut down the ends to make it 500mm. Once I have the full kit I might actually cut it down to 440mm and see how it works.

Hello to everyone , my first post here .
I did the same path few month ago , converting a road bike to a urban bike .

I bought the shorter handlebar in Aliex ( 600mm ), but it can be shortened only a few cm ( 3 or 4 ) because towards the inside the diameter increases compared to the standard 22mm and it is difficult to mount brake command , so better to check before cut !
Have a good ride ! Mike

[Ryan_M]

have you noticed that spcycle has a typo in their BB call-outs (86.5mm) in the images? that's confusing!

Sorry, I think I'm missing something... Looks to like the T47-86.5mm spec is pretty consistent in all their documentation?

[Serge_K]

can i ask what the point is? a drop bar gives you 4 different hand positions, a flat bar 1. A drop bar will be faster for the same watts because of your body position.
Is it to be upright going around town? Or is it some vibe i'm missing?

[Pedaldancer]

can i ask what the point is? a drop bar gives you 4 different hand positions, a flat bar 1. A drop bar will be faster for the same watts because of your body position.
Is it to be upright going around town? Or is it some vibe i'm missing?

Why are you asking that? If somebody wants to go flatbar, then let him/ her just use it. Using a road bike frame will create a very agile light bike... sometimes called "fitness bike".
Not everybody in the world wants to ride a road bike handlebar  ... even if you might not understand it.

[Serge_K]

I asked what the point is to understand. When i started commuting, i first bought a hybrid (basically an entry level "road" bike with a flat bar), and i pretty quickly bought a real road bike, for the same commute.
Where did i write that i dont want people to ride flat bars?

[Ryan_M]

Why are you asking that? If somebody wants to go flatbar, then let him/ her just use it.

It's a fair enough question. So far it just seems he's looking for more information on my decision.

can i ask what the point is? a drop bar gives you 4 different hand positions, a flat bar 1. A drop bar will be faster for the same watts because of your body position.
Is it to be upright going around town? Or is it some vibe i'm missing?

The point is comfort. I'll say "we" because the GF's bike is very similar to mine. We have horns on our bars so there's a few hand positions available. The bikes are mostly used on rail trails and country roads. Rides are casual and sometimes short (30-40km) puttering from winery to winery. Sometimes the'yre a bit longer, we have a 115km tour next week. In either case speed is never a priority so the drops would never be used. On the mechanical side I like the ergonomics of flat bar mounted components. They're cheaper (especially since I already have the parts), and I find they work better. At this point I don't see any advantage to the drop bars that are currently popular, used on gravel bikes.

[Pedaldancer]

I asked what the point is to understand. When i started commuting, i first bought a hybrid (basically an entry level "road" bike with a flat bar), and i pretty quickly bought a real road bike, for the same commute.
Where did i write that i dont want people to ride flat bars?

It is somehow classical thing that someone asks for something and then the answer is not about possible solutions but questioning the whole thing... example : " why do you want that, the drop bar has 4 different grip styles..., a drop bar is faster..."

[coffeebreak]

FWIW even with a single position flat bars can be lot of fun as well as comfortable. I have done couple of metric centuries on flat bar hybrid.

[00Garza]

Apparently seaboard makes a flat bar specific gravel frame if you don’t mind alloy.

I just found this on AliExpress: $268.98 | SEABOARD CT1 Road Gravel Frame 700C Disc Brake Barrel Shaft Aluminum Fork nternal Wiring Flat Handle Aluminum Alloy Frame
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mt0ncNA