Doh

Is that possible or recommended? I've never seen one before but sometimes i prefer having a drop bar rather than a flat one w/ bar ends. The reason is because when i ride, its usually more comfortable for me to grip the bar in a vertical position rather than horizontal, unless im climbing hills. Do you guys think its weird?

Phatman

I think that a drop bar would put your weight too far forward while mountain biking, and you'd go over the bars a lot. just my 2 cents.

khuon

John Tomac would approve...






Actually he wouldn't.

jhota

the early (late '80s) Bridgestone MB-1's came with drop bars too.

squeegy200

I think he won the first Downhill world championships on one of those bikes

Doh

Wow, so i guess it's possible =D. Now i have to go buy a dropbar and figure out how the braking is going to work. BY the way, what are those forks on his bike? They look rigid to me.

khuon

Answer Accu-Trax. They were one of the most covetted aluminum forks at one time. and yes, they are rigid. Suspension was just in its infancy in 1990 and didn't really start coming into the scene until 1991/1992. I like to point at those pictures when people say that you absolutely must have and need suspension for MTBing.

jeff williams

Khuon, anybody...who made the crankset?
I want one. In red.
Killer R-wheel lacing, really neat bike.

khuon

I believe they are Tioga Revolver cranks. Tomac and tioga had a pretty tight relationship.

jeff williams

https://www.firstflightbikes.com/Tomac.htm
Hmm, don't think so- or maybe different model, thanks tho-.

khuon

I think they're either an earlier version or prototypes. Not many people made two-piece cranksets back then (early 1990s) and I think Tioga was the first. Then of course came Bullseye, Magic/CODA and Grove Innovations. Take note all you people who thought Shimano came up with such a revolutionary idea. I do however understand that these cranks had problems with failure at the spider.

jeff williams

https://www.purplelizard.com/images/h...onal/grove.htm

Some of the cranks on these Grove look close.

khuon

The Grove cranks were similar but I don't think the Tomac bike is sporting them. I remember seeing a few Grove Innovations bikes up close and thought they were hot but sadly I never got a chance to ride any of them.

Feltup

It is called cyclocross.

serious

Possible yes, recommended, absolutely no. Those vintage pictures are ridiculous in today's context. Straight bars allow far more manoverability than drop bars ever could. On very technical terrain, drop bars are a liability.

H23

In a world where people ride bikes like this....

https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/g/skid10.htm

It really is silly to worry about whether or not one part or another "is weird" on your bike.

GV27

Yeah, everyone knows how bad Tomac sucked in the technical stuff.

Being uncomfortable is a liability. Give it a try if you think it might work for you.


I had a Klein Attitude of similar vintage with similar "big tube" aluminum forks. They actually gave an amazingly soft feel compared to the steelies I'd been riding off-road with for the previous 15 years. I've thought more than once about trying to go back to that.

seely

Care to elaborate? You make several claims with no reasoning to back it up... I've used drop bars on an MTB before and can't say I've found any negatives to them.

serious

Several claims? I only made one claim about drop bars. If they are so great, why doesn't everyone use them? Why don't we have them on motocross bikes? Because you don't have the strength advantage and manoverability of straight bars. Don't even get started on DH for this.

seely

1st claim: Possible yes, recommended, absolutely no
2nd claim: Those vintage pictures are ridiculous in today's context
3rd claim: Straight bars allow far more manoverability than drop bars ever could. On very technical terrain, drop bars are a liability.

I can't see any merit to any of these claims. The first one is sheer opinion though its stated as an indisputable fact. The 2nd is just stupid, because the same trails that were ridden when drop bars were en vogue are the same trails many are riding today. Obviously if you are a freerider, you don't want drops, but for the casual XC rider, they are more than adequate/safe/comfortable/efficient... 3rd, I used to run a NORBA Nationals course (Waco, TX... a very technical course) with drop bars, without any issues whatsoever rocks, drops, climb after climb, no problems. You sound an awful lot like someone who hasn't actually used drop bars on an MTB making claims without having any first hand experience. Bikes are as subject to fashion as anything else. Drop bars are out of style, but it doesn't mean that they don't work. Heck, Nashbar and On-One has seen the need to bring back the mustache drop bars, which a lot of riders are using off road these days. Particularly on singlespeeds.

Maelstrom 

I would think, with my limited xc knowledge and watching the WC races only, that drop bars would work 90% of the time. I don't see much in those races that REQUIRE straight bars. Might offer a new perspective as well...

Also, at least from what I have seen, old xc races where drop bars were used, were more technical than todays standard xc race. Again only from what I have seen on tv or movies.

I doubt many people would argue using drop bars on a dh race of todays standards. Even Tomac said he thought it was insane to run drops on his dh races. In dh you really are much better off up and back. Not down and forward. You could ride dh on drops, I just doubt you would have the speed or control

ghettocruiser

The problem may be everyone's definition of mountain biking is a little different. I've done some races where drop bars would have maybe made me faster.. but then I would suggest that I was just using a mountain bike in a cycle-cross race. There is nothing wrong with that really, but mountain bikes were designed with more difficult terrain in mind.

Bike handling has less to do with the shape of the handlebars and a lot to do with the position of the rider. On technical trails, there is no question that having your weight further forward and you hands lower (which I think is the point of a drop bar) makes the bike more difficult for me to handle. I've never actually put drop bars on a mountain bike, but I have ridden cross and road bikes on dirt, and I just can't ride over roots and drops with my weight that far forward. On smoother trails and wide-open roads, I'd say the drop-bar position is faster ... although a flat bar on a negative-rise stem is almost as good, albeit with less hand position options.

But to answer the original question, if you are seriously thinking about putting drop bars on a mountain bike, you are probably not using it on trails where you are at risk of pitching over forward. Go for it.

khuon

Another option to a full dropbar conversion is to use these barends...

Road-Ends

serious

Sorry seely, try as hard as you want, but drop bars are not ideal for the reasons that gettocruiser already mentioned. Of course they work, but so does a rigid setup. That is not a good enough reason to recommend it to somebody. In other words, there is a difference between what is possible and what is recommended. And this nostalgic idea that that nothing has changed in trail difficulty since the 1990 is silly. Some of the XC trails in Mont-Saint-Anne are shared by the DH people and many XC racers choose to run through challenging areas to avoid a crash. I want to see 1 person doing those races with drop bars!

Feltup

You don't have to be in the drops all the time. There is also a top if you didn't know. Some of the trails here are shared with DHers too, I ride them on a rigid SS. I have ridden with FS bikes when on my SS and I was droping them on hills and downs. Just because people ride FS on trails doesn't mean they have to. Same with drop bars.