Paul Ko

Drop bars obviously work but are inconvenient.

bcpriess

If you want to make sure you ride in your drops, get barcons.

Metieval

it doesn't help drop bars out any when people ride bikes that are too large for them.

Ironfish653

This.

While we seem to be in the minority around here, there's some of us who will never be comfortable on a 'traditional' road drop bar.
Being raised on BMX and MTBs, as well as being a competitive rower in HS and college, riding the hoods and ramps always felt 'elbows in, wrists out' to me. Going to a 44cm bar, and rotating the hoods in towards each other helped, but was never great.

'Dirt Drops' weren't on my radar, until i saw one on a bike at a public event, and it all made sense.

Running a Salsa Cowchipper now; wide, shallow, flared drops, everything lines up right where my hands expect it.

jadocs

If you can’t comfortably ride in the drops you are not fit properly to your bike. If you only ride the hoods you are only riding part of your bike. The control, leverage and power that can be had in the drops is a whole other dimension you are missing out on.

bicyclridr4life

Way back when, when my bikes came with drop bars, I never used the drops.

bicyclridr4life

Way back when, when on my bikes that came with drop bars, I never used the drops.

philbob57

'Dirt drop' bars look a lot like 'randonneur' bars. I hate 'marketing'.

mstateglfr 

My gosh such a judgy rant is unfortunate to read.
Forcing someone to ride a bike that is uncomfortable is probably the fastest way to turn them into an ex-cyclist. Why on earth would riding an uncomfortable and ill-fitting bike be the best approach?
That's like telling someone who can barely lift 100# to do a bunch of sets at 100# instead of them working their way up to it.
Or telling someone who runs a mile in 10min to go run at a 7min pace.

Neither will be comfortable or enjoyable and the best way to ensure continued exercise is thru success and enjoyment.

Also- not all cyclists ride for exercise as the main goal. It's a hobby too- social enjoyment, transportation, sight seeing, etc. Declaring that everyone must lose weight to reach some arbitrary ideal you have in mind to fit on a bike is absurd.



This I can agree with in full. A reduced emphasis on movement in school is a tragedy that we will realize only after looking back decades later.

FiftySix

"Dirt Drop" sure is easier to pronounce in American than ransomewhere, um . . . randomnowhere, um . . . randomnewer, um . . . arrgh.

mstateglfr 

Rando bars have an upsweep on the tops. Dirt drops dont.
Dirt drops flare on the drops. Rando bars dont.

Then there is the width- dirt drops/adventure/gravel bars are typically measured from the ramps or hooks. Rando bars are typically measured from the drop ends. This makes rando bars absurdly narrow for all the top hand positions.

Then there is the drop and reach of each type of bar. That is often different too with rando bars being a bigger drop and longer reach.


I hate marketing too, but when there are actual differences, it isn't just marketing.

Metieval

yeah?
they make beach cruisers and E-bikes for that kind of people.

as for drop bar bikes, it's a fitness thing Usually.





just saying drop bars don't have to be an illusion, it can be a goal. stretching is easy, which is all that drop bars are, how limber are you?

As for belly fat being in the way, that wasn't my call, Re-read through the comments above. some of them even mentioned that losing the belly helped them, duh!!!

and no where did I say force people to ride ill-fitting bikes. I just said most people could make a vast difference in their physical body in 30 days.

mstateglfr 

No, people who tour, commute, and ride socially shouldn't be relegated to beach cruisers and bikes. Again, absurd.
A big % of cyclists around me are seasonal and social riders. During nice times of the year, they will ride 20-50mi with friends from bar to bar thru the day. They should in every way have access to comfortable bikes and handlebars are one of the 3 contact points, so the bars should obviously be comfortable. Even if they ride on the tops, there are 3 hand positions vs 1 for flat bars.



I took the following to mean that. Because it seems you are saying to not fit the bike's geometry to the rider and instead, the rider should figure out how to fit the bike. Sure seems like the only way to do that is to have the bike be ill fitting to begin with.

Metieval

Social riders, social drinkers, *COUGH* social eaters!!!

Don't bash on the drop bar over lifestyle choices. The premise of this thread.
the drop bar isn't the illusion, the Illusion is that an inanimate object is to blame instead of their carefree lifestyle of being a social eater, drinker, rider etc........

which is also bringing about the E-bike craze. Probably why they sell 100x more flat bar hybrid e-bikes vs drop bar e-bikes.


point is people will pick food over work, and they will pick bar rides over fitness rides.
that's fine, just pick the flat bar bike to go with it.

Kapusta

The idea that how low a handlebar you are comfortable with is a metric of good life choices is pretty screwed up.

The idea that you are going to change your flexibility and body composition in 2 to 4 weeks enough to change your optimum frame geo is also pretty whack.

And BTW, for people with many lower back issues, toe touches as a stretch can actually be pretty bad for you. There are safer and MUCH more effective ways to stretch your hamstrings.

FiftySix

I think the recumbent cyclists are being dissed here.

Metieval

like i said making PE optional in school was detrimental.

no stretching, no exercise, sitting all day. (sitting is the new smoking)

years of muscle imbalance, along with years of restrictive shoes, poor diet, poor hydration, nutrient imbalance, and now we blame a bad back?

the same can be said for cycling if it the only means of exercise a person gets. Years of only cycling will be painful.

as for changing the body in 2-4 weeks is easy. especially stretching. Do you do it once a day, or 7 times a day?

just ditching the inflammatory foods, will change a persons size drastically in 2 weeks. even if the weight loss was minimal. and goes a long ways towards allowing the hips to rotate properly.

yeah I do feel sorry for a adults with back issues, foot issues, spine issues, neck issues. and I blame a society that is unwilling to look at the root cause.

Steve B.

For who ?

I cannot stand riding flat bars for more than about 10-15 miles. Too limited in hand positions and my back gets tired. I’ve drop bars on 3 well fitting road bikes, superior in every way. I also spent near half an hour in the drops last week on my commute into a 22 mph headwind along the beach. Would have sucked worse on a flat bar.

Its interesting that its seemingly a European thing that touring bikes should be equipped with flat bars, while in the US most manufactures of touring bikes give you drops. The US has it right, IMO.

FiftySix

I got my bad back the old fashioned way. By lifting heavy things at work and being bent over for long periods while working on machinery.

I got my bad knees and ankles the old fashioned way. By injuring them playing sports.

I got other injuries the old fashioned way too. Car and motorcycle wrecks can do that sort of thing.

Schtuff happens and then ya gotta deal with it the rest of your life. But, I'm still riding bicycles, I just can't deal with low bars well. Whether it's drops or riser bars that are inverted.

Boomshakalaka, bookshakalaka . . .

Kapusta

No shortage of judgment and assumptions there.

Change your body type in two weeks? Sorry, no.

wolfchild

Judging other peoples fitness level and health by the type of handlebars they ride or the type of bike they ride means that your logic and reasoning is all screwed up and you don't know anything about other people...My flexibility and fitness level is above average and I still choose to ride either flat bars or riser bars which I have mounted a little higher because that's what I prefer. I feel like it gives me better control of the bike when riding in traffic or when ripping around on singletrack trails. I am not a drop bar guy and never will be. And no I never stretch because being physically active on the job and working out with weights and doing calisthenics maintains my mobility and flexibility.

wolfchild

I guess it could be done if somebody goes on a two week fast and starves themselves eats no solid food and drinks only water. Not the best solution for loosing weight, in my opinion.

Koyote

Bingo.

I chose my new bike in part because it has a higher stack… Combined with a shallow drop handlebar, I can now comfortably spend more time in the drops. Gives me another hand position, even if I’m not super aerodynamic.

Metieval

it isn't starving yourself with proper re-feeds.

that you see it as "starving" exhibits your ignorance (lack of knowledge) on fasting.

Koyote

fyi: In my case, the “root cause” of my back problems came in the form of a full-size 1992 Lexus sedan which rear-ended my subcompact at about 45 mph. But thanks for your input.

Judging from your post, I’d say that reducing the physical education requirement is not the only problem in our schools...They also seem to be doing a poor job of teaching proper grammar.