Awesomeguy

At what distance is it better to switch to a road bike due to multiple hand positions on the handle bar from a hybrid (I don’t care for bar ends)?

tyrion

17 miles.

notthe1freeman

Seriously lol? That's pretty damn specific

tyrion

Yes it was facetious. 15-25 is my guess. A good 18 year old athlete can go 100 miles in the same hand position and have a nice dinner afterwards. Lots of variables involved here.

DeadGrandpa

If you are riding >15 miles per ride, I recommend that you get handlebars that give you more hand positions. Personally, I prefer butterfly (trekking) handlebars for pavement, and Jones H-bars for gravel and other non-paved surfaces. Drop bars just do it for me anymore. Your mileage may vary.

Whether you call it a road bike or a hybrid, you want a bike that fits, which means that you don't want to over-reach to your comfortable hand positions. You also don't want to sit more upright than you feel is best, because you will incur more wind resistance. If more aero seems to be your style of riding comfort, drop bars are probably your friend. To me, more hand positions are more important than keeping my spine parallel to the road. That position was for the 30yr old me.

flangehead

I commuted about 12 years on a hybrid before switching to a drop bar touring bike.

In addition to the distance, I think an important factor is the type of road or trail. I found the flat bar hybrid more maneuverable on dirt trails through brush and around pedestrians on a MUP. The drop bar works well for the long straight road stretches.

Darth Lefty 

I keep giving drop bars a try. Doing it again now. But never really happy with them. Drop bars do give you a lot of ways to hold them but each hold seems inferior in one way or another.

I can ride trails all afternoon on my hardtail and not think much about other handholds. And I've always got the brake at full power. The controls also cost a lot less. The one thing that's off is the wrist angle. MTB bar styles suit intended function. Average trail bikes come with pretty wide and straight bars for riding a lot out of the saddle. That would probably still suit an urban assault bike pretty well. A suburban commuter bike would probably benefit from more reach and more sweep. That's definitely what I found on motorcycles too.

https://whatbars.com/

You could also take a look at the Salsa Journeyman, which comes in flat or drop bar versions. The two versions have frames that are quite different, unlike some other bikes sold both ways with the same frame. The flat bar version frame is about two inches longer in the front triangle.

Awesomeguy

do you mean, drop bars DONT do it for you any more?

Awesomeguy

how long are you riding? Is you intended riding , only on trails or both trails and the road? IF it were the road how would you feel about it then?
My other concern has always been, braking on the hoods, is it really much more difficult than a flat bar?

DeadGrandpa

Yes, and I humbly apologize for not catching that error. I evidently got distracted while posting. It may have been because of the wine, or perhaps I was called to dinner just at that moment. We'll never know. Thanks for pointing out my error.

But yeah, I put trekking handlebars on my Jamis Renegade, and I like them much better.

And since they are smaller diameter than the drops, I use mtb shifters and brake levers.

Gresp15C

In addition to a drop bar, I suggest considering a swept bar. There are a lot of different types out there. A couple that come to mind are FSA Metropolis and Velo Orange Tourist. Another is Sunlite Elson, which I believe is a steel bar, but there have been advocates of steel bars for damping road vibrations, and the extra weight probably won't be excessive.

MTB style bars always pound the hell out of my wrists, even after just a couple miles. I think they are the right thing for off-road, but painful for most of us when riding on pavement. This is why you see people riding hybrids with their palms cupped over the ends of the bar, or their fists on top of the grips.

Swept bars rotate my wrists to a much more comfortable angle, and I can ride them indefinitely, like 50+ miles. It's like night and day. No need for multiple positions. Granted, everybody's body is different, but this is what my body is telling me. Just that bit of rotation, which you also get from riding on the hoods of drop bars.

I can't ride drop bars. My neck don't bend that way no more, and the reach is uncomfortable.

A practical benefit of switching to a swept bar is that you can use the same controls and grips, thus saving money. In some cases you might need longer cables.

Darth Lefty 

My commute is only about 20 min. Other bike rides of either type go for an hour or two.

My new gravel bike has really flared bars and I'm not much of a fan, it seems like for control the wide part should be higher and for aero the low part should be narrower... almost like the opposite of what they actually are. A flat bar with aero bars like you see on Craigslist would be... well, gauche, but better. I thought I would like it better than I do because I really liked randonneur bars on old Schwinns.

I am really not fond of drop bar brake levers and shifters. On the tops or drops there is no access, in the hooks the reach is too long (for me, my fingers are short), in the hoods it's weak. But it's a road bike, it really does not need to be as good as a MTB

sloppy12

I agree with this. On my commuter bikes I prefer swept back. commute is from 9-15 miles one way depending on my mood.

i Have drop bar bikes, I like drop bar bikes. I can go just as far on a swept back bar bike. I had the sunlite elson on my main summer ride, I switched to soma oxfords I like them better but the have some noticeable flex over the steel bars.

I dont think any reasonable commute distance could make it "better" to run drop bars. If you want to be more aero maybe go faster, like the looks go with drops. swept back bars will get you more upright and more hand positions.

wsgts

Don't discount your physical ability as well, when I started bike commuting I was a much bigger Clyde (basically means I was 300+ pounds) than I am now (248 pounds). If you want to give drops a try, you are going to be lean over likely more than you would have been on flats. If this is the case, your back strength, arm strength, and to a lesser degree abdomen will likely not last as long as what you were used to. For me, that was intentional to get stronger in those areas, just be aware that it's different.

Awesomeguy

what was the bike , you used when you were 300+lbs?

wsgts

This was a few years ago 2010 timeframe, but I started on a Trek FX Hybrid (don't remember the number). From there, I moved to a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which is a pretty heavy-duty steel touring bike, which had drops but mounted up much higher than a normal road bike. After I got into better shape (flexibility too), I was able to move to bars lower on the steerer tube to about even with the saddle height.

I still ride pretty much all my bikes with the bars about even with the saddle height, maybe slightly lower in a couple of cases.

mcours2006

No minimum. Once you get used to drop bar position, it's quite comfortable.

Paul Barnard

Bar ends are an outstanding option. Not that I would discourage anyone from buying a new bike, but I have bar ends on my flat bar commuter/tourer and it is great over longer distances.

Korina

I hate flat bars with a passion; they twist my arms and shoulders into an uncomfortable position. I love my Velo-Orange Porteur bar; a little bit of rise (or not, if you wish) and plenty of sweep; my body is in a much more natural position, and it just looks cool.

xroadcharlie

I'm sure everyone is different. I ride my comfort bike for pleasure 15 - 25 km. Have never had a problem with the stock handlebar which is angled slightly. I might try the bar ends, They look comfortable too.

I had a "10 speed racer" decades ago and had a lot of fun on that too. One thing is for sure, It was much easier to pedal at higher speed.

Now I get much more pleasure with the bolt upright position of my 3 x 7 speed comfort bike. More relaxed and much more comfortable seating, and that tall riding position (eye to eye with pick up truck drivers) offers an unprecedented view of the scenery, and the traffic for safety, with full breaking power and gear selection instantly.

mdarnton

A shoulder problem precludes drop bars for me but I'm considering butterfly bars for my hybrid to get some more hand positions.

lifanus

I have both drop bar and flat bar for my commute, which is usually 5-20 miles round trip.

Your butt will get tired first for longer rides than your hands.

And on flat bar, adding a comfortable Ergon grip with palm support really helps for longer rides, you don't really have the need to switch to a drop bar.

jack pot 

you should opt for the drop, horn, or riser bar that you would feel most confident with if a pot hole or pavement crack or vehicle emergency etc etc unexpectedly threw you off balance ... the best bar is the bar that you feel gives you the most control in the event of the unexpected ....... comfort is secondary to safety

CharlieFree

got rid of all my drop bars, my commuters all have swept back bars