I’ve had my S40 for a few months now and there’s one thing about it that still puzzles me. Why spec this bike with drop bars and road brake/shift levers? It’s not that I cant ride the bike set up like this but I only hold the bottoms of the bars and I can’t rest my hands on top of the brake levers as you would on a DF bike. So why use this setup? It seems that some other handle bar would make more sense, something akin to a cowhorn, something like the Satori NOIRETTE, with mountain bike shift and brake levers. I’m thinking about doing this and am also thinking of swapping out the Microshift derailleur for something wireless. Has anyone done this? What bars have you used and do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
S40 handlebars and brake levers
- Thread starter Art G
- Start date
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
The original Cruzbike Silvio, ancestor of the S40, was sold as a frameset, designed so the buyer could put their existing road bike components on it. The bikes meant to be ridden as a typical road bike would be--Vendetta/V20, Silvio/S40--are still set up with road bike components. The Q45 and T50 use different handlebars and MTB-style levers.
I ride an S30, a limited-run Cruzbike from around 2016 that's in between the V20 and S40. I run my handlebars flipped over, with the ends pointed almost straight up. They aren't the stock Cruzbike bars; I needed a different width and different amount of flare in the ends. The brifters are upside-down, with the left hand shifting the RD. Brakes are cabled to match a normal setup. Clicking on the S30 link in my signature will take you to my build thread if you want to see pictures and specs.
Plenty of Cruzbikers have swapped out handlebars, levers, and derailleurs, and documented it in the forums.
Velocivixen
Well-Known Member
I like the “new” CB Mountain handlebars that come on the newer Q45’s. I bought a set, and it’s sort of like a flared “dirt drop” handlebar, but has 31.8 at clamp area & 22.2 down at the ends for MTB brake levers & plenty of room for long grips. Might want to consider that.
Decher Kritzmire
Member
Soma Gator bars which have the 31.8 clamp area and smaller 22.2 bar diameter for mountain bike parts. I had the Cruzbike mountain bars but they had less forward extension and less outward angle than the Soma bars. If I located them for my desired reach I got knee interference and if I allowed for knee clearance my arms felt cramped. The curved slider would have probably fixed this but the bars were less expensive. Microshift thumb shifters on IRD adapter mounts (plus a couple layers of aluminum can shims) because the diameter of this bar changes along the path to the clamp. These adapter mounts are also hinged which makes them much more versatile in terms of location than the slide on variety which won't go near or around curves . Shimano Tiagra flat bar levers which work with the TRP Spyre road brakes. I most often rest my hands on the forward drop bends.
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