Flat bar gravel bike.

[M_Chavez]

Yeah, I've got a pair of these and similar (identical?) litepros on my bikes. I like the wide base and the light weight. Two pedals have done a combined 1.5k miles this summer without issues. Third pair has seized after about 120miles - the nut that holds the pedal on the axle has tightened itself up when I was 10 miles away from the car. Stripped, cleaned and re-assembled with strong loctite - no more issues.

I've switched to drop bars these days, but I do miss flat bars with a pair of tiramisu horns sticking out of them.

 

[Moqi]

re pedals - i had a pair of composites aliexpress where the thread on one pedal (where the nut holds the pedal on was wrong - ie identical to the other side) and it kept on undoing itself. As i 've used several of the same pedal and they only cost £12 a pair i've kept them for spares. Quite honestly the cheap pedals from alieexpress are as good (normally) as the stuff you can buy in the uk

 

[M_Chavez]

I've been using a fair amount of Ali parts myself, yes. Ztto headsets seems to be as good as anything else, as long as you grease the cartridge bearings before you install them - there are two types of bearings: ones that don't have enough grease and ones that don't have any grease at all lol.

 

[retromart]

Re:

Hi, Im just building up my new Camino Al frame, and was initially going to go flatbar, and move stuff over from another bike, but even though Sonder sell a flat-bar variant whole bike, it apparently has exactly the same frame geometry as the drop-bar version, so as most advice seems to suggest flat-bar/drop bar geometries don’t mix well, ive now gone with a drop-bar setup, albeit with super-flared drops, as I also have wrist-pain issues when using normal drops, especially when braking – time will tell on this.

However, would be good to know how you have you found the ride geometry with the flat bars? It looks like you may have gone for a longer stem to extend the reach closer to the front wheel where the hoods might normally place you?

My build is still a way off yet, as I have a few items still awaiting delivery, but when finished it will be a 2x, hopefully giving me 30/46 and 11-36. Brakes will be SLX calipers , connected to the GRX shifters, and Im also planning to fit a PNW Coast dropper, if I can source one, so Ive also got a bit of tweaking to do before the build comes together.

 

[Moqi]

It rides great. Several bikes can be converted from drops to flats by increasing stem length - in my case 20mm when i adapted a specialised tricross. I've got a 100mm stem fitted rather than 80mm. It's a great bike to ride. It's got no toe overlap which was a problem with the tricross. It steers well - no vices that I've noticed- the tricross was a handful - . I've got a dropper post because of my hip injury - its a ks one i got for £67 from aliexpress. If i can find the link I'll send it to you if you want. I've got 3 of these and they have been faultless to date (thereby cursing them now) If you need any other info re build let me know. By the way you'll need adaptors for the brakes as they are flat mount not post. the derailleur cabling is full length - so plenty of cable ties to attach to the bike. I'm running 700 x43 tyres with full mudguards so tyre clearance is quite generous.

 

[retromart]

Re:

Thanks for the info.

good to know it handles well on the flat bar, gives me a fallback if the flared drops dont work out.

I have previously used the KS, on another bike, and was pretty good. The Coast stems not as cheap, though still 'budget'-ish, but the ext connector is on the lower post body, so will avoid a moving cable when in use. Its also got 40mm of suspension built in, so keen to also try that. If i cant get one, (tho expected march 2021), then it'll be the KS.

Already found out about the flat mount adaptors, after a lot of head scratching.... funny how the rear ones are really scarce, and cost double the normal post/is adaptors! - I got the SLX calipers for £27 each in the UK, a lot cheaper than GRX calipers, and will probably work better as well.

i also got caught out today when i checked the fitting of the front derailleur, only comes in braze-on flavour, and the (cheapish) clamp i just brought clashes with the lower bottle cage raised hole! Not sure i wanted to have to grind it off, but after yet more research, ive located an M-Part clamp, which looks to sit 10mm or so higher than my current clamp, and with the bonus of more vert adjustment on the bolt fix point as well, so all good (once its delivered).

so, still a week or two away from it being rideable, then I may try and upload a pic at some point.

 

[Moqi]

Hi -i used the flat mounts on my bike, because i've got a postmount brake on my orbea gain which has flat mounts and i thought they looked quite ugly. I bought a set front & rear with levers from the continent (just had to swap the levers over) for about £65.think they are ur200s or br200s.

Things to look out for with the brakes
1) if you are mixing and matching the brakes make sure you've got the right hoses. Shimano changed them in the past with different hose bores.They are now bh90 and bh59. The push in part of the fitting is either silver or brass depending on type. You need to make sure the hose matches the caliper. I don't think the lever end minds which hose you do, but the caliper will. You should be able to find which hose is right on the shimano docs site https://si.shimano.com/ The newer mtb brakes use BH90 but the road ones which are newer often use the older standard bh59 which seems odd. https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/ar ... -do-i-need

2) the brake hose threads through the fork , but only if it is bare at the end going through. It threads thru first time so there must be an internal tube. If you try it with the fittings on you'll end up trimming the cable and using new hardware (i know)

merlin still have stocks of the panacer sk colour edition tyres like mine if you fancy a bit of olde world charm. I chose the brown and green ones that look like old wildgrippers (but without the death slides when it's wet.)https://www.merlincycles.com/panaracer-gravel-king-sk-colour-edition-tlc-folding-tyre-700c-125260.html

You could try an emount derailleur that clamps behind the bb (presuming you are using external crank bearing type. I presume you've sorted out the head bearings . If not you can use an fsa one (about £25) or a ztto one from aliexpress for about £10-£15. They are a bit of an odd size.

 

[Moqi]

they are ur300s not 200s and the calipers are £20 each. they stop me ok and im 200 pounds of lard.