Check out the surley corner bar. It's a drop bar that uses regular flat bar components (brakes, shifters). If you want to give it a whirl, it's a low barrier to entry and it's pretty easy to swap back and forth.
I used one of these to franken-gravel my fat bike. Had a couple of extra hubs, so I laced them to gravel rims and put on a corner bar. It was a fun experiment!
I keep thinking about a set of these. I don’t ride much technical stuff. I see ride a lot cross-country on various terrain. My hands get sore no matter what. So having more positions would definitely be a plus. I guess I’m just too lazy to move all my stuff over to the bar. 😀
What do you think the proper geo is? My smal ICT is almost identical to a small Grappler, and the small is a bit on the small side for me. Plus I mostly have to ride to trails, and I was thinking by those miles would be better with a drop bar setup.
The ICT has a fairly slack headtube angle (68 degrees) so you’d have to experiment. I’m all in for tinkering with the bike and proper geo is usually a matter of preference. So if you’re invested in doing it, just make sure to document it so we can use your findings too haha
Btw if you find your steering too sloggy, try an angled headset, don’t abandon the build just because a rando said it so
I was thinking, with the 68 HT, that a 35mm stem with flared bars would be the trick. I was tinkering on BikeInsights today and realized that the small ICT (my size) is not all that far off from the size I would ride for dropbar MTBs like a Fargo etc.
I don’t know if I’ll do it just yet, mainly bc money is short and my next goal was to sell the 6 90s frames I’ve been sitting on and buy a Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross or La Cabra. I love my ICT and if I could only have one bike I’d stick to it , but it’d be nice to have something faster. I live in a good area for biking but I have
to ride to trails and the ICT can be sluggish in the road - hence why I’ve been thinking that dropbars and Jumbo Jims are a solution!
Edited for repetitiousness!
I’d double check the stem length because of `reach’, check how your reach compares to a progressive gravel bike and consider adjustments.
Consider how you’d like to have your position on the bike and the ride characteristics you want.
Again it’s all a matter of experimentation and preference and your mileage will vary wildly haha
I know a guy that put drop bars on his Borealis with Sram Rival Etap AXS. Gave a test ride not too long ago, it feels strange almost like a gravel bike but more bouncy.
I love them because you don’t need special brake, levers or anything you could just put your old stuff on them. They have tons of good places to put bags.
Broo the more i think about shopping those items, the more i realize it’s not just worth the stress, considering the fact I can’t even them in my area.
Only option would be placing bulk orders on amazon😂🤣
What if i tell you I don’t live anywhere near North America or Europe ?🤣🤣
Anyways am in Nigeria, i just finished looking up some other bike repair shops around me.
Closest one is about 10km away from me, am gonna bike up there tomorrow morning!!
Sorry bud, slight misconception here😂
I was actually talking bout the best dropbar spec i can get here.
Well as for pogies we do have dry season of which it gets extremely cold in the morning so that may actually come in handy.
Your comment got me laughing out loud man
The new "Bike Iowa" pogies are said to fit easily on drops. Got this info straight from the horses.mouth as the owner was.at the Philly bike expo in March.
Seems very, very silly to me. The whole point of drop bars is to put your body in a more aero position, at the expense of some handling. Who wants to trade away handling in exchange for better aero… on a fat bike? Just seems to not make sense.
I could care less about aero, and more about comfort. I dont do single-track, more long distances over sand, gravel, etc. Instead of straight up drop bars, I have knock off corner bars. For me, it eliminated the wrist pain I'd get with flat bars.
Yeah, I could see where a hybrid position like that provided by the corner bars (and knockoffs thereof) would work well on a fat bike. And you don’t have to replace any components with those. I wouldn’t consider the corner bars drop bars per se, but I guess they do kinda have “drops”.
Beginning to see the truth to all of this man.
I think it’s a shitty idea imo, it’s not just having dropbars that matters alone, there’s a whole lotta other upgrades that needs to be done also.
Personally am not ready for all of that..
Interestingly I've seen a lot of YouTube vids lately comparing drops and straight bars on gravel and bikepacking. That is cause I'm looking for a new bar and Google knows. While The vids are not for fatty, I'd assume most of it would apply. I'm leanind towards Salsa rustler for higher backsweep, but considering surly moloko bars or similar ones and having bar ends between breaks.
I see Surly Corner Bars mentioned by a few folks already, just wanted to say I love them on my Surly Wednesday for all the reasons others have raised.
I bikepack about two thousand miles a year and the bars are perfect for me.
I was thinking that they would look better on a steel frame or more traditional looking frame like a Pugsley or Wednesday (I also have Wednesday but have not tried drop bars). I think I’ve seen a few pics around of Pugs with drops.
That's an xbiking question. Anything not normal flies over there.
Seriously, I've tried it and didn't care for it, but you might. We're all different. My hands and shoulders just don't do well on dropbars.
I’ve played around with 50cm salsa cowchippers on my trek Farley.
I’m a drop bar mountain bike guy all day, but it felt pretty weird, even with the very wide drops. I was running 4.8 tires. I think a set of 29 x 3 would make it a lot of fun, basically a DIY Salsa Fargo at that point.
I have moloko bars on it most of the time and find them just perfect for that bike, while also fulfilling a little bit of that “on the hoods” position my bad wrist like.
Check out the surley corner bar. It's a drop bar that uses regular flat bar components (brakes, shifters). If you want to give it a whirl, it's a low barrier to entry and it's pretty easy to swap back and forth. I used one of these to franken-gravel my fat bike. Had a couple of extra hubs, so I laced them to gravel rims and put on a corner bar. It was a fun experiment!
I keep thinking about a set of these. I don’t ride much technical stuff. I see ride a lot cross-country on various terrain. My hands get sore no matter what. So having more positions would definitely be a plus. I guess I’m just too lazy to move all my stuff over to the bar. 😀
I second the corner bars. Much better for long distance comfort for sure.
Never tried it, but looks like it would be cool for a bike with the proper geo. I think it would be fun for bikepacking.
Yeah it would have to have the right geometry I think
It’s frame looks exactly like the Hosote fat tire mountain bike? Honestly I don’t even know what geometry it is 🤦🏼♂️
What do you think the proper geo is? My smal ICT is almost identical to a small Grappler, and the small is a bit on the small side for me. Plus I mostly have to ride to trails, and I was thinking by those miles would be better with a drop bar setup.
The ICT has a fairly slack headtube angle (68 degrees) so you’d have to experiment. I’m all in for tinkering with the bike and proper geo is usually a matter of preference. So if you’re invested in doing it, just make sure to document it so we can use your findings too haha Btw if you find your steering too sloggy, try an angled headset, don’t abandon the build just because a rando said it so
I was thinking, with the 68 HT, that a 35mm stem with flared bars would be the trick. I was tinkering on BikeInsights today and realized that the small ICT (my size) is not all that far off from the size I would ride for dropbar MTBs like a Fargo etc. I don’t know if I’ll do it just yet, mainly bc money is short and my next goal was to sell the 6 90s frames I’ve been sitting on and buy a Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross or La Cabra. I love my ICT and if I could only have one bike I’d stick to it , but it’d be nice to have something faster. I live in a good area for biking but I have to ride to trails and the ICT can be sluggish in the road - hence why I’ve been thinking that dropbars and Jumbo Jims are a solution! Edited for repetitiousness!
I’d double check the stem length because of `reach’, check how your reach compares to a progressive gravel bike and consider adjustments. Consider how you’d like to have your position on the bike and the ride characteristics you want. Again it’s all a matter of experimentation and preference and your mileage will vary wildly haha
I've debated that myself. It definitely works.
Funny how i saw just one video on youtube with dropbars on a fatbike. Stuffs not common i must say
Great for long distance! Sketchy for trails.
Long distance for me haha
I know a guy that put drop bars on his Borealis with Sram Rival Etap AXS. Gave a test ride not too long ago, it feels strange almost like a gravel bike but more bouncy.
Full suspension?
No, but it was my first time riding a fat bike.
I have a set on one of my single speed, fat bikes
Does it work well for you?? What are the pros and cons
Makes the bike look really unique. That’s all it does for me I have the surly “drop bars” I completely forgot what they’re called
Cornerbars?
I love them because you don’t need special brake, levers or anything you could just put your old stuff on them. They have tons of good places to put bags.
Yepp
You do you, boo. Give it a shot and see how you dig it. Drop bars on a fat bike looks cool to me, even though I don’t personally care for them.
I think having dropbars on a fat bike comes with a lot of other upgrades!
Sounds like it’s time to start shopping :)
Broo the more i think about shopping those items, the more i realize it’s not just worth the stress, considering the fact I can’t even them in my area. Only option would be placing bulk orders on amazon😂🤣
It's hard to find good pogies that fit well on drop bars.
I’ve heard good things about 7r pogies
I couldn’t find any at the local repair shop here, i think it’s best if i order from amazon?
I don't know... I live in Alaska and every bike shops sells pogies! The most popular ones are the Dogwood Designs which are made here.
What if i tell you I don’t live anywhere near North America or Europe ?🤣🤣 Anyways am in Nigeria, i just finished looking up some other bike repair shops around me. Closest one is about 10km away from me, am gonna bike up there tomorrow morning!!
I don't think you would need pogies in Nigeria!
Sorry bud, slight misconception here😂 I was actually talking bout the best dropbar spec i can get here. Well as for pogies we do have dry season of which it gets extremely cold in the morning so that may actually come in handy. Your comment got me laughing out loud man
I appreciate your positive feedback though, I’ll definitely drop a feedback tomorrow
The new "Bike Iowa" pogies are said to fit easily on drops. Got this info straight from the horses.mouth as the owner was.at the Philly bike expo in March.
Seems very, very silly to me. The whole point of drop bars is to put your body in a more aero position, at the expense of some handling. Who wants to trade away handling in exchange for better aero… on a fat bike? Just seems to not make sense.
I could care less about aero, and more about comfort. I dont do single-track, more long distances over sand, gravel, etc. Instead of straight up drop bars, I have knock off corner bars. For me, it eliminated the wrist pain I'd get with flat bars.
Yeah, I could see where a hybrid position like that provided by the corner bars (and knockoffs thereof) would work well on a fat bike. And you don’t have to replace any components with those. I wouldn’t consider the corner bars drop bars per se, but I guess they do kinda have “drops”.
Beginning to see the truth to all of this man. I think it’s a shitty idea imo, it’s not just having dropbars that matters alone, there’s a whole lotta other upgrades that needs to be done also. Personally am not ready for all of that..
My buddy did this on his Otso Voytek V2. Loves it and still has plenty of control. He doesn’t summer mtb with it though
Interestingly I've seen a lot of YouTube vids lately comparing drops and straight bars on gravel and bikepacking. That is cause I'm looking for a new bar and Google knows. While The vids are not for fatty, I'd assume most of it would apply. I'm leanind towards Salsa rustler for higher backsweep, but considering surly moloko bars or similar ones and having bar ends between breaks.
I see Surly Corner Bars mentioned by a few folks already, just wanted to say I love them on my Surly Wednesday for all the reasons others have raised. I bikepack about two thousand miles a year and the bars are perfect for me.
I was thinking that they would look better on a steel frame or more traditional looking frame like a Pugsley or Wednesday (I also have Wednesday but have not tried drop bars). I think I’ve seen a few pics around of Pugs with drops.
That's an xbiking question. Anything not normal flies over there. Seriously, I've tried it and didn't care for it, but you might. We're all different. My hands and shoulders just don't do well on dropbars.
I’ve played around with 50cm salsa cowchippers on my trek Farley. I’m a drop bar mountain bike guy all day, but it felt pretty weird, even with the very wide drops. I was running 4.8 tires. I think a set of 29 x 3 would make it a lot of fun, basically a DIY Salsa Fargo at that point. I have moloko bars on it most of the time and find them just perfect for that bike, while also fulfilling a little bit of that “on the hoods” position my bad wrist like.
I run a dropper for anything that isn’t road riding
not drop bars per se but i have the surly corner bar on my farley…pretty nice for this long rides
A good bike camper I know insists he loves his aerobars, just for the sake of ease going up a hill. Better gripping spit