B1KE

Is there any genera rules of thumb on handle bar tilt? On my 2 bikes I have them pointed down from the neutral position.

2. Does tilting the handle bars up or down effect reach?

3. What does removing spacers vs tilting handle bars down do to your position on the bike? What are the pros and cons?

willydstyle

I have poor hamstring flexibility and a short torso, so I find that tilting my bars up a bit helps comfort on the hoods. It does, however, also make it so that braking with the drops is more difficult or an awkward wrist angle.

Removing spacers will make your reach lower and longer, which can adversely impact hand comfort and if you're not flexible enough for the reach back and/or saddle comfort as well.

Carbonfiberboy 

Adjust bar tilt to get optimal long ride comfort. Ignore reach. Reach is dependent on saddle position and stem length. Adjust saddle position to get the weight on your hands which you prefer, then adjust stem length to get reach you prefer. Those a slightly interconnected. I now have several stems in my spares box.

Set your hoods so that they are even with the ramps on your bars. Like this:



or google Images for "hoods ramps bars". Your brake levers should be about vertical.

Then adjust bar tilt so that the heel of your hand or your wrists rest on the ramps when you're going hard, like this:



or this:



Or see:
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...bar-setup.html

B1KE

Very useful, thanks!

berner

Around here in coastal Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts we can ride most winter days. When it does snow it will usually be gone in a few days. Nevertheless, we get fewer miles in during winter months which means a period of rebuilding fitness in Spring. As a consequence, in Spring, I raise the bars a bit to about level with the saddle and lower them after a few weeks and some miles. I've found when the bars are higher they need to be tilted back a bit to alleviate wrist discomfort. Once the bars have been lowered several cms a few weeks later, the tops are set level. It all boils down to what each of us finds comfortable for the types of rides we do.

Kevindale

There are a few general rules that people like to follow, but the variety of dropbar shapes means general rules have lots of exceptions. Many people insist that the bottom of the bars (the terminal sections of the drops) be parallel to the ground. For vintage bars, this makes the bar section leading into the hoods steeply angled down/forward, which is pretty uncomfortable, though this works well for other bars. This is also an esthetic choice, so take it with a grain of salt.

Another rule is to angle the bars so that the terminal sections of the drops aim towards the rear axle, which tends to flatten out the ramps/hoods, and is what I tend to prefer. This is pretty much what Carbonfiberboy is showing, which I think is pretty ideal. If you find yourself wanting to angle the bars so that the ramps/hoods are angled significantly upwards, I suspect you may have the bars too low.

I now have some aero drop bars on my modern bike, and I have them set up so that the tops are as level as possible, allowing me do a quasi-TT position with my forearms on the tops. I did some tricks when I taped the bars to make sure the hoods were super comfortable (the way the shop taped my Rival levers/hoods originally was very uncomfortable). On one vintage bike I'm in the process of replacing the vintage bars (66-42s) with a different vintage shape (64-40), since I don't think I can get the original bars comfortable both in the hoods and in the drops. Ultimately, as others have mentioned, there's an interplay between seat setback, stem height and length, bar reach, bar drop, etc. And bar shape. And width, too. Going from 44 cm to 40 cm bars was a big improvement for me.

jimincalif

This is too much: