Are Drop bars just an illusion for most?
#326
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I would say that you only need drop bars if you are competing in road races, track, or you ride extremely long rides in areas that frequently have a strong headwind. Other than those reasons there is no reason to have drop bars. Casual riders with drop bars spend 99% of their time on the hoods...
If you don’t find drops useful when road riding, then you have never been taught how to use them properly.
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I'd get the best of both worlds by adding interruptors/cross levers on a drop bar.
I've found when riding a road setup for urban street commuting, having these cross tops are useful in quick braking decisions. Secondly when I want to keep a constant, not the top speed but in a tolerable posture. These levers allow for much more freedom in body position.
I've found when riding a road setup for urban street commuting, having these cross tops are useful in quick braking decisions. Secondly when I want to keep a constant, not the top speed but in a tolerable posture. These levers allow for much more freedom in body position.
#329
Senior Member
Let me get this straight. It's not dropped bars vs. flat bars. It's dropped bars vs. flat bars with bar ends. Is that right?
My hands don't fit flatbars with my wrists in their least stressed position. Bar ends look like they offer a single eminently usable position, but my hands fit without stressing my wrists on the ramps, the hoods, and the hooks of the dropped bar.
I'm inclined to agree with those who argue that dropped bars offer important benefits.
My hands don't fit flatbars with my wrists in their least stressed position. Bar ends look like they offer a single eminently usable position, but my hands fit without stressing my wrists on the ramps, the hoods, and the hooks of the dropped bar.
I'm inclined to agree with those who argue that dropped bars offer important benefits.
#330
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I would say that you only need drop bars if you are competing in road races, track, or you ride extremely long rides in areas that frequently have a strong headwind. Other than those reasons there is no reason to have drop bars. Casual riders with drop bars spend 99% of their time on the hoods, which is equivalent to bar ends on a flat bar. In city riding I think that flat/riser bars are much preferable since they offer more control steering the bike.
Cheers
#331
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Then again, Pantani seemed to like that climbing position. Maybe his bars were higher than the average pro's setup?
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#333
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https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...162293-do.html
63mi with 5000# if climb, which is a lot for this region. As a result, I went down a lot of hills and had plenty of saddle time to think about my hand positions.
Ends up when it's an actual descent that's more than a few degrees, I hit the drops. I think it's to get speed more than for safety though.
Since pictures of hood holding is in this thread, here is a blurry pic of mine while going down a slight descent(which turned into a significant descent and I hit the drops). I dont see how I could lose grip with my hands on the hoods- I have 1 or 2 fingers wrapped under the lever body.
I consciously thought about how I was breaking from the hoods and with 2 fingers I stop fine on long(relative) descents that are 5-12%.
Nothing new was really said right there, but I'm wasting time in a hotel tonight as I'm riding g 60mi of gravel tomorrow before heading home.
#334
Senior Member
Let me get this straight. It's not dropped bars vs. flat bars. It's dropped bars vs. flat bars with bar ends. Is that right?
My hands don't fit flatbars with my wrists in their least stressed position. Bar ends look like they offer a single eminently usable position, but my hands fit without stressing my wrists on the ramps, the hoods, and the hooks of the dropped bar.
I'm inclined to agree with those who argue that dropped bars offer important benefits.
My hands don't fit flatbars with my wrists in their least stressed position. Bar ends look like they offer a single eminently usable position, but my hands fit without stressing my wrists on the ramps, the hoods, and the hooks of the dropped bar.
I'm inclined to agree with those who argue that dropped bars offer important benefits.
That said, I'm not arguing that drop bars would come in handy in headwind situations. (Or on fast descents, of which there are roughly 0 found in my vicinity.)
#335
Jedi Master
I've noticed the same thing riding in the driftless. Some of those descents can really sneak up on you, so I just automatically hit the hooks when the road starts to drop. I would have very conciously decide to stay on the hoods and probably have to move back there after my body automatically went to the hooks. Maybe it's because I'm old and have been doing it the same way for a long time, but I wouldn't want to be up on the hoods at 45+mph going over a bumpy bridge crossing a creek at the bottom of the valley. Before reading this thread it never really occured to me that some people would actually prefer that hand position on fast descents.
#336
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Technically speaking, there is also no limit in how far a person can walk. So does that mean people should walk instead of using a flatbar?
#337
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#338
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Dude, you broke the chain!
In other words, there's no disputing the usefulness of drop bars in competitive cycling. Commutess and many others were debating the usefulness of drop bars for non-competitive cyclists, i.e. the rest of us, the "others", the dullards who so brazenly dare to muddy up the purity of the temple that is Bike Forum. Which is the whole point of this thread, if I recall.
In other words, there's no disputing the usefulness of drop bars in competitive cycling. Commutess and many others were debating the usefulness of drop bars for non-competitive cyclists, i.e. the rest of us, the "others", the dullards who so brazenly dare to muddy up the purity of the temple that is Bike Forum. Which is the whole point of this thread, if I recall.
That being said, I am very comfortable on my FX, but I'm definitely as comfortable on my drop bars.
#340
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#341
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#344
Senior Member
Never cared much for drops and the brakes levers always felt out of touch. Give me a swept back bar like my Jones bar and I'm happy. I frequently ride no hands when I'm cruising to give my hands a break. I prefer to be upright where I can look around. Yeah I'm slow with the wind resistance but speed isn't my thing.
#345
Senior Member
I have and have had pretty much every bar type and for distance I go back to a drop bar because it's the only one that allows for a completely relaxed upper body position with dropped shoulder blades, dropped elbows and neutral straight wrists. The width of a drop bar factors into this since it's supposed to be similar one's skeletal shoulder width. This in turn means that the arms extend directly forward from the shoulder. With a 60cm wide straight bar the arms leave from the shoulder at an angle which is problematic for keeping the shoulders relaxed.
The other issue with a straight bar is in wrist rotation. It's difficult to get a neutral straight wrist position with a straight bar IF one does not push elbows out in a pronounced fashion or if the bar does not have significant sweep. And with significan't enough sweep we're getting back towards drop bars aren't we?
As to pronounced outward elbows, firstly it's a taxing non relaxed position to maintain and it makes dropping shoulders / shoulder blades difficult.
For mountain biking the wide elbows out position is an asset, but I would not want to hold it for 100 miles, or even 30 to be honest. That's the reason for my mtb I use inner bar ends which narrow the hand position and allow for a straighter elbow drop, but it's honestly not enough. For distance drop bar is king
#346
Senior Member
Never cared much for drops and the brakes levers always felt out of touch. Give me a swept back bar like my Jones bar and I'm happy. I frequently ride no hands when I'm cruising to give my hands a break. I prefer to be upright where I can look around. Yeah I'm slow with the wind resistance but speed isn't my thing.
#347
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#348
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#349
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Was using just the tops and flats so I did this.
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#350
Single speeder
Drop bars have only one more position than flat-bars with bar-ends, and that is the drops. And the drops can be very uncomfortable for a lot of people. Braking on the hoods, and in the drops both have their challenges. Using flat-bars, you can very easily get on the grips and have full braking using one or two fingers. I think that going up an incline with flat-bars is easier than drop-bars because when you use the bar ends you can really swing the bike back and forth while standing. I also think that bar-ends are an absolute must on flat/riser bars.
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