Ditching Your Drop Bars Is SUPER Easy!! (And Comfortable)

Flat bar gravel bike conversion on the Poseidon Redwood.

Flat handlebars on a gravel bike are good for sitting more upright and in a relaxed position. Some would argue you get more control with the wide bars as well as more braking power due to the brake lever ergonomics. Cheap and easy modification in this walkthrough video!

Parts used in this video (affiliate links):

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[richardblomshield]

Watched 6 drop bar to flat bar conversion videos, yours by a wide margin was the best, most complete and easy to understand stand. Thanks for the list of components for conversion.

[sbrown]

So helpful! I've got a drop bar Mini-Velo that I wanted to put swept back riser bars on for comfort. This video is great for checking out before getting the pliers & wrenches out. Thanks!

[kellymckenzie]

Did this on my x. I even did bar ends (full dad). However, I did inner bar "ends" to have a more roadie position on long straights. I also switched to compressionless brake housing. Whole new bike!

[Woopigmavs]

I mainly ride road bikes but have had an eye on the redwood for awhile as a gravel option. I became a dad this year and have now found myself lusting after a chill flat bar option. This flat bar Poseidon might be the winner. It’s like the dad bod of the bike world and I love it. Could be fast if it made the effort to slim down but it won’t, and can take a beating day in day out. Great content!

[edbraley]

If you make a complete cockpit assembly (bar/stem/brake levers/shifter/grips/cables) it's relatively easy and quick to swap back and forth from a drop bar setup to a flat bar setup. You only have to remove the cable crimps to disconnect three cables, pull them through the frame and fork, remove the stem cap and loosen the stem from the steerer tube to get the whole assembly off. Reverse that process; install the other assembly, adjust the cables and crimp the ends. I'm doing this with my Redwood.

[reckon]

The Teravails look amazing on the Poseidon.
It's a few days early but I wanna say congrats and happy 2 year YouTube anniversary. I wasn't there for your very first video, but I've been watching ever since your 1x vs 2x video.

[tongpocalypse]

Feel like the FR5 levers are long pull. Also, why not take the entire cockpit + cables + housing off as a complete set? You can't reuse the brake cables anyway and it'll be much easier to swap back to the drop setup. Despite this, nice conversion. Flat bar gravel/road bikes are fun.

[ziptiefighter]

It bears repeating, I too have stumbled upon a solid vid for drop-to-flat/alt conversion. Thankyou, sir.
#likedANDsavedANDsubscribed

[jp]

Going this way on a 94 Stumpy FSR that I resto-modded to drops with advent X back in 2020. Never got quite comfortable with the long reach even with the short stem. Definitely a cheaper swap than what those advent x drop levers costed.

[StormLaker]

Yours is by far the best explaining this. I do fine turning wrenches, but I am all thumbs when it comes to working with getting the cables right. I'm going to take mine into a bike shop so it looks somewhat factory. I kinda want to get some cable shielding that has some wild color to it like Neon Green or red to complement my grey/black bicycle....give it some pizzaz, lol.

[peterwilliamson]

Love the video thank you. I think gravel bikes are great because of their low weight but I wish more of them would offer flat bars.

[richardbryanesq]

Excellent! I'm waiting for parts to setup my new Winspace G2 frame in a flatbar configuration.

[jbandt]

I did this with my specialized awol. Hydraulic brakes, and shifter conversions can add complexity and cost to this type of conversion. This one however, looks pretty simple. Gotta say, Hydraulic is nice, but there's something to be said for the simplicity of cable brakes.

[uwebacker]

Hi, your video shows, what i want to do to my NS RAG+2. Thanks a lot for it...the front rack too👍🏼where can i get it?

[armandoaguilera]

Im saving your video to refer to in the process of changing my dropbars to flatbars instead of investing in a new bike.

[marciooki]

What a coincidence 😂 i done the same to my bike last night!
Ride on!
By the way, the bike looks great 👍

[martyduffy]

I just recently bought the Ozark Trail gravel bike. I'm 68 years old. Live outside of San Antonio. I'm looking forward to getting on our beautiful bike trails. I really don't like the drop bars on this bike. I would like to go to the "Dad Bars" would the brake levers and shift levers that you used work on the Ozark Trail? I really enjoy your videos. I looking forward to building this bike. I would really appreciate your input.

[ProjectWheelhaus]

Working on doing this to my Cannondale Topstone 4

[amitkumar-wjgn]

Did this with my Marin Four Corners...never going back to Drop bars again!! Better brakes (hydraulic), lower gears and much better handling off road.

[estebanfeliciosi]

Have you thought about a mid drive electric motor for this bike? it may be a good machine. thanks!