dbf909

I ride the levee roads out from Atlantic, Markham, and Lox in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Over the last few months I see flat bars 10 to 1 (maybe more) over drops on these trails - and the majority of folks I encounter are riding full suspension or front suspension hard-tail MTBs with MTB tires. I see a few Hybrid style bikes as well with about 50/50 front suspension and some seatpost suspensions too.

Some of the doubletracks get pretty rough - they are pretty eroded with lots of sharp coral rocks and not comparable to what I've seen on gravel roads in other parts of the country. The North-South roads seem to be smoother in general than the East-West roads (that is relative though). The last person I saw riding a drop bar bike with 28 or 32c tires did not look happy - they were getting beat up pretty bad.

My son and I ride Giant Roams with 700c x 40c tires at present. Neither one of us is over 165 lbs and I've found that about 45psi is about the minimum for these tires to prevent pinch flats and/or rim damage. We run them at 50 to be safe. These bikes are pretty effective at maintaining a nice leisurely pace of 10-15 mph depending on the wind and are relatively comfortable. Not terribly expensive or sexy but they serve us both well for now. Although even with the front suspension there are areas that can be pretty brutal on the arms and back.

I'd go with what you are comfortable with - drop vs flat - but you might want to pick up something used/cheap and ride it around out there for a while first before you invest some serious $. Get a feel for the levees and then decide what style of bike will work best for you.