Kapusta

A good time to give up on drops is when you are tired of spending money and time trying to find one that works.

Rage

Maybe give mustache handlebars a shot?

ThermionicScott 

Have you tried Nitto B105/B115? They seem pretty close to the SR road bars to me (as long as we're not talking about the anatomical bend or randonneur varieties.)

genejockey 

I can live with the 42s. It's part of the C&V aesthetic, since that's what they used to put on bikes for guys my size.

Now, the 40cm bars on my Schwinn Circuit - those had to go.

ofajen

I have 45 cm B115s on my old Schwinn road bike. These days they would qualify as long reach and deep drop but it think it’s only 100mm reach and 140mm drop.

Otto

macstuff 

I notice that things digress rather quickly.....

Aaah for the days of the Kelly adjustable handlebar.
I imagine that if still being sold today, the Kelly bars would have modern refinements like modern metals, adjustable angle and level on the fly.

Kelly's were a type that butterfly'd at the stem and could be drop bars, track bars or tourist style. But you would need to stop and have a wrench handy if you wanted to change positions while riding.

ThermionicScott 

Yeah, I lose track of the drop and reach figures, but I have a mix of B115s and SR Road bars on my road bikes and like them about equally. Just to be clear, I'm not recommending them for the OP, just thought the Nitto bars might be worth considering for genejockey if he wanted something like the SR bars, but wider.

subgrade

At birth.

Flip Flop Rider

I'm thinking the same thing

livedarklions

If nothing else, trying it is a good n+1 rationale.

wolfchild

95% of cyclists who use drop bars don't even have enough flexibility, mobility and skill to ride in the drops.

wolfchild

I've changed from flat bars to drops then to riser bars then back to drops then to flat bars and then back to drops. Right now i have two bikes set up with drops and one with flat bars. I am happy with my current set ups and that's how i will keep my bikes.

Medium Size Dog

If you don't like 'em, you don't like 'em. If it hurts, stop it. In addition to all of the fit, angle issues and handlebar choices, a contributing factor to comfort and endurance in any position is strength and flexibility of wrist, hand and fingers. Exercises that also include forearms, elbows and shoulders help make any position or handlebar choice more versatile and tolerable

ThermionicScott 

[citation needed]

chaadster

Sprinting high-pressure 23c rubber from the drops at +1,000w across flat tarmac is an experience without peer in the world of cycling. Yeah, you can drop the wattage off a bar-end equipped flatbar, but the feeling of control, precision and efficacy simply isn’t there. But again, a flat bar is the more more versatile bar for my tastes and habits, so it’s a matter of having the right tool for the job at hand, and I’m fortunate to have enough bikes to have the precise bike for 95% of the jobs I face. Having to pick one bike and one bar for everything is a demand I don’t envy.

Koyote

And 95% of statistics about cyclists on drop bars are pulled out of someone's a**.

tobey

I don't have a problem with the drops except in those rare instances when I want to both be in the drops and standing. I find that that somewhat difficult as my wrists bang into the drops.

thumpism 

I use riser stems with drops on some bikes and adjustable stems (adjusted with upward tilt to raise the bars) with drops on others, all with barcon shifters and they are all acceptably comfortable. The advantage of an adjustable stem is that you can try different positions without a lot of hassle. Some folks think they look dorky and those folks may not be wrong.

chaadster

Or they may be not only wrong, but ignorant of history. Jacquie Phelan ruled MTB on such a setup:

Flip Flop Rider

you talked me into it, thanks!

Nyah

Never a need to "give up" on drop-bars, they are the best. I tried flat-bars - once, about two years ago (after 23 years on drop-bars exclusively) - when I borrowed a bicycle with them for a quick ride up the road and back. It was such an alien, haphazard feeling (especially when riding down hills) that I never wanted a bicycle with them. They offer zero benefit and a whole bunch of detriment. I too rode BMX bicycles when I was young lad but, even those bars had some back-sweep to them. My first rear-derailleur bicycle was a junky MontgomeryWards 10-speed left over from the 'late-'70s before I bought my first new bicycle appropriately sized for me, a Trek 520 (the one in my profile). I think it's just a willingness to get accustomed to the handlebars. Maybe your riding environment too, though. I was riding mostly rural roads when getting accustomed to the drop-bars.

Jeff Neese

I'm comfortable in all three positions - the flat, the hoods, and the drops - but even more comfortable when I'm switching between all three. For long rides, there's no question that I'm using one of my bikes with drop bars.

Phil_gretz

I ride drop bars exclusively for road or mostly smooth surfaces. I have learned how to size my bikes properly, plus years of riding have taught my body how to adapt to slight variations in position. My commuter and touring bike have small saddle-to-bar drop. My road bikes have varying degrees of drop, depending on how I intend to ride them. Randonneur bars, ergo drop bars, traditional road bars, narrow, wider...they all can be made to be comfortable for me. So, not only haven't I "given up", I'm a strong proponent of them.

My wife and I do use flat bars for our mountain bikes, but even that has required many subtle adaptations to make them as comfortable as they can be. Ergon grips, cutting to best width, rotation of controls, stem length (obviously, and inversely related to bar width)...all of these are necessary.

If my wife isn't comfortable on her bike, that is to say if there's the slightest thing she finds distracting, I'll know about it in short order. So...

Happy Feet

What I know about drops for me (to be comfortable):

1. Seat - bar should be roughly parallel. Having bars too low means I pitch forward and put too much weight on my hands. Going to the drops beyond that is too much.

2. Flared drops help put the wrist/hand in a more natural position. On traditional drops I have to flex the wrist a bit to hold the drops.

3. Angle of saddle is critical. Here one needs to decide where one wants to spend the most time; hoods or drops. A saddle optimized for hoods will put a bit of pressure to the perineum which causes numbness or pain after a while. A saddle optimized for the drops causes one to put to much weight on the hands to hold ones self up when in the hoods. I tend to slide forward off the nose of the saddle (exaggerated to make the point).

Before adjusting that I found drops uncomfortable for long periods because I would numb out the perineum. I now have two bikes with drops. One, my FG, is optimized for the drops. The other, my touring bike, is optimized for the hoods. On my touring bike I also have aero bars.

livedarklions

I love the drop bars, but I don't agree that they are inherently superior for everyone. If someone really has found they don't like them, I don't see much point in feeling obligated to learn to put up with them.

OTOH, I also think there's lots of good reasons why riding the hoods on a drop bar is a better hand position than I can get comfortably on any flat bar and there's nothing as convenient as brifters on any other kind of handlebars. So for me, use of the drops is a fairly minor consideration--I doubt I spend as much as 10% of my riding time on the drops. I am pretty aero on the hoods, however.