Originally Posted by
amazinmets73
Uh, what would lead you to believe I was insinuating flat bars provide superior handling for road cycling? I was referring to off-road riding on rough terrain.
You didn't refer to anything in your OP.
Flat bars are usually much wider than drop bars. So they might be favored for rough off-road terrain as the extra width give you leverage advantage over the bumps that are trying to make the wheel go where you don't want it to go.
But I don't see where tire width is going to favor one bar type over the other. Terrain, maybe. But have you watched cyclocross?