Flat Bar Road Bikes: Everything you need to know to build your own

There are a tonne of reasons why you’d want a flat bar road bike. Maybe it’s just something a bit different, maybe you don’t want drop bars, maybe it’s to make the bike feel more upright for about town, or maybe (like me) cos it looks sick. There are plenty of flat bar bikes on the market though; a great proportion of our guide to the best commuting bikes, and all of the best hybrid bikes are flat bar, but making your own brings something different to the table, especially if you use a road frame. 

Converting a road bike, ‘cross bike, or tourer to flat bars is a relatively simple affair, though there are certain things that you need to consider, mainly in terms of making sure road and MTB components play nicely with each other. If you get it wrong with the shifting then the worst-case scenario is that you have bad shifting, which isn’t ideal but is rarely fatal. If you don’t get the brakes right then it’s far more serious, so pay attention.