Are Drop bars just an illusion for most?
 

I was riding today and I saw a guy with drops attached to his mountain bike straight bars.
Now I find myself in the hoods and the top of the bars most of the time. If I bought my bike with straight bars it would not look as "racy". So my question is, "Are drop bars an illusion?" for most of us riders who want to fit in?

A few years ago I would have said drop bars were a waste for me, as I came out of the mtb era and mostly rode converted flat bar bikes with bar ends.
In the last few years I have increased my ride distances quite a bit 200K + and needed alternative hand positions. I use aeros and drops but would only spend a short time in each, mainly for numbness relief and mostly rode the hoods.
Then I lost some more belly fat and began spending more time in the drops. Now I ride there most of the time comfortably so for me the drops are a good and well used option. Five years ago I would have said not. A big difference was losing the belly so I could pedal and breath easier.

Most people, IME, don't have their cockpit setup well enough to use the drops given their back flexibility. Hence why most people with drop handlebars stick to the hoods/tops.

I love my drops, I'm probably in them 95% of the time, no kidding. I'll use the tops if it's a longer climb or a really long ride to move around the cockpit a bit. Same with the hoods, not on them much.

Which reminds me I need to buy some drop attachments for my mtb!

What people need to understand is that drop bars are not for everybody. There are many people including myself who don't like drop bars and have no desire to use them. Ride whatever feels good and comfortable to you.

Reach and stack really affect this conversation.

Generally drop bars even at 440mm are narrower than flat bars. Narrow also matters for steering and aero.

I would say if you don’t use them much get a higher stack and a shallower drop handlebar. So then you can use both and have plenty of hamd options.

Also, even for the non racer I’d suggest a slightly aero drop bar. The flatter top section of the bar tops is heavenly to me compared to a round bar. Also, that “additional” position just short of the hoods being flat is really nice on an aero bar for comfort. Just buy one without much change in reach.

I'm about to get some experience with drop bars and am really looking forward to them. I currently have flat bars on all my MTBs with end bars in the upward positions so I can straighten my back and give my wrists a breather. Something tells me the road bike I'm working on will be like going from a wild mustang to a thoroughbred, or so I'm hoping. :)

It's true, I used my drop bars more and more as I lost most of my belly fat. These days I use the drops whenever I'm on the flat or going downhill, on smooth pavement.

This...

I use mine a lot. If you don't, there's a reason....most likely your set up is not "set up" for you. Mine was off and it was VERY uncomfortable, some tweaking and it's one of the most comfortable positions I have now besides my aero bars. Most people rotate them too far upward putting the wrist at an awkward angle or use drop that are too "dropped" for them. Try a pair of compact drop bars, that usually works for most people.

On old bikes, you basically have to brake from the drops unless you have superhuman finger strength, hah

I couldn't do any significant distance on flat bars, I need to change my hand position. I use all the choices drops offer. I would be really uncomfortable on descents if I didn't have drops.

Descending a steep mountain road on the hoods is foolhardy.

Hard braking on the hoods is risky.

If you never descend a steep and twisting road, and if you never expect to have to brake hard, then you can get away without using the drops.

As mentioned, I think the drops aren't used as much because bikes arent set up for the majority of riders to comfortably use them.

I have my bikes set up so I can use all parts of the bars, but that means I use shallow drop bars and have them set a bit higher than what looks cool.
Saddle to bar drop still exists, but the stem definitely isn't slammed.
I need to use all parts of the bars for hand and back comfort. Adjusting positions thru rides helps reduce fatigue, even if the change is just for half a mile or so at a time.


My wife doesnt use the drops, but she loves her road bike because her hands hold the hoods more naturally than a flat bar. Our hands fall with palms facing sideways, so holding STIs is naturally more comfortable. Even though the drops arent used, on drop bars there are still multiple hand positions- hoods, ramps, and tops- and that's 3x more than a flat bar.

Mtn bike w/ bars cut down some- hand position outside/outside= 24"

Road bike hand position outside/outside= 17"

I remember that within the (tiny) road racing community in my home town in 1990s Jordan, drop bars were the minimum "price of admission" for me to be taken seriously as a fellow road cyclist/aspiring racer, and I had to have either a Peugeot or a Raleigh to "fit in." So I just had to buy an entry-level Nottingham-made Raleigh with drop bars. In reality, though, I never found them particularly useful or comfortable. For me, they were more of a nuisance than a feature.

When I got peer-pressured (the "peer" being my MTBing brother-in-law) to get myself onto a road bike 20 years later, I found that I disliked them in 2016 just as much as I disliked them in 1996, but this time around I disliked them even more on account of the new-to-me brifters that I just could never seem to get used to (albeit I rode that 2016 Trek 1.2 only twice in 10 days before I returned it to the dealer and got an FX instead.)

As far as my own riding is concerned, the flat bars on my 7.6FX, with its two-finger brake levers and trigger shifters, are "just good enough." I'm more than happy with the one hand position. Perhaps it comes with aging, or perhaps it's because of hybrids (particularly road-like hybrids/flat-bar road bikes) becoming far more common today than they used to be even a decade ago, but I no longer feel awkward or embarrassed to hang with the more "serious" roadies with my "amateur" FX.

After a few decades of strictly riding flat bar, I got myself a drop bar bike last year. Riding the hoods is a better hand position for me than anything I have been able to set up using bar ends, primarily because the wrist angle is better.

I've been getting used to riding in the drops a lot this year, and I do find moving back and forth between what are essentially two back positions actually is helpful for comfort on very long rides. I'm getting into the sensation of standing on the pedals while on the drops because it's actually quite fast and, frankly, at my age, it feels good that I can do it.

But yeah, I still take my FX out for some century plus rides. It's both comfortable and fast, and great for hauling things on.

I don't think drops are for everyone, and I have done what I consider serious riding on flatbars, including 168 miles in one day. I don't think drops are an illusion, but I can't speak for most people. Even if one only rides the hoods, that's still something you can't really do with a flatbar.

I set up my cockpit to be comfortable in the drops. Hoods and tops are gravy after that.

How you get the drops comfortable could be a combo of many things, but moving toward short & shallow bars is my direction.

I‘m not a huge fan ofAutumn/spring riding. 90% of my rides are commuting to work. My workplace is east of my home. Means there is a period of constant sun glare straight into my eyes. Then the temperatures tend to be 0-10°C in the morning (full winter gear) and around 20°C in the early evening (stuff all that winter gear into the bag). But i do it nevertheless.

Yes. I agree with both perspectives here totally and this is my experiences

Wrong thread by accident? Lol.

I spend most of my time on the hoods like most people. I get up on the tops when I’m winded. But sometimes man, getting low in those drops is perfecto. The beauty of drop bars, even if you don’t use the drops, is the versatility of hand positions they allow. And yeah, they do look cool! Let’s not pretend that looking cool has NOTHING to do with it 😎

Most cyclists buy/use certain gear just to fit in?
Pretty pathetic imo but I certainly agree with you.
Check out all the hotshots cruising around at about 14 mph in $300 + clipless setups lol.

The way many people have them set up... yes. They may as well be riding a set of bull horns. Some folks I ride with literally never use the drops. Ever.

As others have pointed out many people have them set up too low.

I prefer being in the "drops" descending long steep hills. The tucked positions makes the bike more controlled and I can get more squeeze power on the brakes.
Like others have mentioned drop bars allow for a variety of hand positions ideal for long distance rides. That said I prefer the Ergos of the brake levers and rapid-fire shifters on flat-bars for everyday riding......

Curious as I've never had them, what about trekking bars instead of drop bars? :foo:

All this💪

I think the OP is on to something here. I see lots of cyclists who just cannot get in the drops. IMO, I think this is because too many cyclists buy aggressive racing frames with short head tubes. People buy something like a CAAD or Allez, both of which are for racing, and wind up having to run a giant stack of spacers with the hoods tilted to the sky to get their bars in a somewhat reasonable position. Even with these adjustments, many are forced to ride around 100% of their time on the hoods with locked out elbows and hunched shoulders. This looks like ****, it's uncomfortable and it reduces a rider's ability to safely handle their bike. More people should buy bikes with long head tubes and minimal saddle to bar drop. Get an endurance bike, a rando bike or even a touring bike. You'll be more comfortable and have a better ride. IMO, you should spend a good portion (if not the majority) of each ride in the drops with bent elbows. If you can't do that, the bike is too aggressive for you.

Side note: you even see the same thing in the pro ranks these days. I see pros all the time even PULLING on the front in World Tour races on the hoods with locked out elbows. I don't get it. When I was a kid in the 80s, pros were in the drops the vast majority of the time. No longer. Now, they set their bikes up ridiculously aggressively and then can't get in the drops.

The question is something of a red herring in my opinion. If you have shallow drops, the position of your back can sometimes be exactly the same on the hoods and in the drops, if you aren't riding stiff-armed. I use them interchangeably, except when riding at either extreme. It helps relax my elbows and wrists to change up, and neither is more difficult than the other.

This is really interesting in that I like seeing what trends exist(ed) elsewhere.
In the 90s, Raleigh and Peugeot were mostly afterthoughts in the US market. Raleigh held on a bit in the early 90s with their aluminum bonded to steel Technium frames, but sales were a relatively small within the market. Peugeot sold its rights to the US market just before the 90s and I cant remember seeing that brand in stores around me in the 90s.

Meanwhile, you had to have one of those brands to be considered legit over in Jordan.

Funny how popularity and brand trends work.
Neat bit of history, thanks for sharing.

I also am getting more and more use out of the drops on my Toughroad, it's all a belly fat thing. Have to get back to the shop one day and get the brifters set up better, too much of a reach from the drops, especially for shifting the Tiagras.

This.

If you want see some interesting images, do a web search of racers, say from Fausto Coppi to Eddie Merckx, Lemond and Hinault too, and see how much those world champs rode the tops and hoods.