seeker333

Thousands of drivers text message daily, most of them believe it is without issue, and it's a bad idea too.

Flat bars bend back at 3-5deg such that grip area reach decreases 10-30mm behind the stem center. Drop bars bend forward such that the normal "hoods" hand position increases reach 70-120mm. The overall reach difference resulting from swapping flat to drop bar is an additional 80-150mm. This cannot be corrected by shorter stem, which is why reputable manufacturers design their frames with ETT/reach proportional to the intended usage/bar type.

Salsa's bikes are designed with due regard to bar type and reach. A perfect example is Marrakesh, sold in two versions differing geometrically only in ETT/reach - one intended for flat bar, one intended for drop bar. This difference is ~60-70mm, which is hardly trivial WRT to fit and comfort in touring application. Spend some time studying Salsa's geometry tables and you will see this fundamental difference, even for the example you gave (Deadwood/drop bar vs Blackborow/flat bar).

Changing MTB controls to road bike is an expensive proposition, and many road brifters are simply incompatible with MTB derailleurs. A pair of Shimano brifters alone are ~$300. A smarter choice would be to buy a bike fitted with the desired components in the first place.

DropBarFan

I did a MTB flat-to-drop conversion w/spare road-racing handlebar & stem & indeed it put too much weight forward causing slightly twitchy handling. OTOH for these Euro tourers one could use shorter adjustable stem & shallow-drop bars that would be pretty close to original position.

AFAIK Magura hydraulic brakes not even avail with drop levers though there's a converter gadget avail. I'm puzzled why so few of the nice Euro tour bikes have drop bars. Sure, avg N Euro bike is a practical commuter so most folks there are used to flat bars. However avg N Euro doesn't ride a €2.5K bike to the grocery store, one would think that there would also be many former sport/racing riders used to drops.

DropBarFan

Was 47 the max allowable? I apologize for implying Koga is German company, but lumped it in since Dutch & Germans seem to have similar approaches to bike market.

fietsbob

I just dont see a need for wider, I suppose it could fit a 60 wide 26".. the chainstay is curved outward,
and the Fork though a pretty short travel (Spinner) is pretty conventional suspension type..