sdimattia

I know riser/flat bars are meant to be more stable than dropbars or bullhorns. However, i find I have greater control and more precise steering with dropbars. I have two bikes with 38cm and 40cm compact drops and two bikes with 490mm and 560mm riser bars. I realize that riser/flat bars need to be a minimum length to achieve greater stability but in an urban setting, I prefer to keep my bar width on the narrower side. And I'm short (and female), hence the sub 40cm drop bars.

I'm not asking which bar type is better for stability, that's both a redundant and personal question. I'm also aware that other factors affect "twitchiness" such as stem length and fork trail. I'm simply wondering if anybody else finds that dropbars allow for greater steering (in a non mountain biking setting) as opposed to flat/riser bars. I'll include gravel and CX as part of the non-mountain scenario as I know those disciplines frequently use drops as well.

Lazyass

The only road bike I've had with flat bars was one of my single speed bikes and the steering was more twitchy. I only rode them a couple of times before I switched to drops.

I believe the reason is your hands are higher and closer to the head tube. When you ride drop bars with your hands on the tops instead of the drops or brake hoods it's more twitchy as well, especially when pedaling out of the saddle.

DorkDisk

What do you mean by "greater" steering?

FWIW I ride flats, risers, and drops, and don't have issues with any. Setup is key.

sdimattia

I've never thought about it this way but that is an excellent point.

Not having issues necessarily but I prefer the more control I have with drops. At least, personally I feel I have greater control steering and turning with drops bars, contrary to the common belief that flats are more stable. With risers, when I turn the handlebars, the bike responds immediately. With drops, I guess the response is a little more muted and requires more "input" from me.

Pop N Wood

just had a recent go around on that question

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...ering-1233220/

Chuckles1

I instinctively move to the drops when any perilous situation arises, including hearing big diesel engines approaching from behind, seeing partially washed out gravel ahead, climbing a steep incline. The list could go on. Ive always thought of it as getting my center of gravity as low as possible. My ebike conversion (rear geared hub drive) is the only flat bar bike I ride, and I wouldn't want flat bars on any non-motor-assisted bike. The flat bars accommodate extra display, throttle, brake cutoffs for an ebike. Otherwise, my personal preference is always for drop bars with longish stem for non-twitchy steering.

ofajen

On the hoods, for example, your hands might be at about a 45 degree angle forward of the steering axis. So your weight and steering movement forward are at about a 45 degree angle relative to being tangent to the steering axis. This reduces the sensitivity of steering.

On a flat bar, your hands and whatever lesser fraction of weight are directed forward but fully tangent to the steering axis, so you get maximum change of steering angle per amount of steering input.

I would absolutely agree. We’ve had to ride on stretches of loose gravel recently when trails were washed out and repaired and during the winter things there are either frozen or muddy. In both cases I always reach for the most forward point because the main thing is to keep pedaling and steer straight. So the more stable the grip position, the better.

Otto

Rolla

I don’t. I’ve put a riser, a Jones, and a drop bar on my Black Mountain Cycles bike, and the steering feels equally stable and responsive with any of them. I’ve also tried a 60, 70, 80, and 90mm stem with each of those bars, just to dial in the cockpit length. Again, all responded predictably to steering input.

sdimattia

I'm not questioning the effects of stem length, I'm simply asking if some people find that drop bars give greater steering control over other types of bars. I did see this thread though when it first popped up. Interesting points were made.

I started out riding on flatbars with no issues. However, after 6 months later, I switched to a new bike with drops and now, for some reason, every time I go back to riding a bike with a flat bar, steering feels like if I'm steering from the drops all the time. I find it funny and intriguing that having gotten used to dropbars, a flat bar suddenly feels so foreign. I can comfortably go back to a drop bar, but not a flat bar.

Ironfish653

I think the bar style is only a small part of it. Stem length, saddle-to-bar reach, and the relative height between the saddle and the bars all play a role in how the bike feels to handle.

I think you’re also conflating stability with control.

I don’t know what kinds of bikes you have, but typical flat bar hybrids and comfort bikes put you in a more upright posture, with the bars above the saddle height, and your weight firmly biased towards the saddle.
Your drop-bar bikes generally have you leaning more forward, which brings your center of gravity lower, and more forward on the bike. It also tends to proportion your weight more between your hands and feet, rather than just your butt. Going to the drops increases this effect, which is why you feel more stable in the drops, you’re leading the bike through turns, rather than ‘steering’ and following the front wheel.

I still run my old XC Cannondale in the NORBA style ‘long-and-low’ setup (140mm stem, bars 3” below the saddle). It’s one of those bikes that works better the harder you ride. It’s still pretty stable in a straight line, but it’s able to make very fast changes in direction without getting upset, it’s just very responsive, so you have to ‘ride it’ the whole time.
One of my other bikes is an older Bridgestone roadster that I have set up to swap between flat bars and drops with three bolts and a few minutes work. It’s not as aggressive as the Cannondale, but it’s still a classic ‘sporting’ position. It’s also got a longer wheelbase, and the more relaxed head angles you find on older road bikes. It is very very stable while cornering at speed, even when doing path / gravel work, but you have to be very deliberate with your steering inputs to make it change direction.

What is more control? Is it ‘railing’ fast, flowing curves, or ‘cut-and-thrust’ of a tight single track or a crowded urban jungle?

70sSanO

I find these perfectly normal to twitchy assessments a bit odd.

I know that changing the bar location can impact the weighting and balance.

But it does nothing when riding with no hands.

In those cases steep angle short wheelbase bikes are not as forgiving when riding sitting up hands free. While other bikes seem incredibly stable, at least in my experience.

John

sdimattia

I actually have an easier time riding no hands on my drop bar Wabi Classic as opposed to my old flat bar Cannondale Quick hybrid. The Wabi is supposed to be not quite full on road geo but I still find the steering more predictable than the Quick. The handling of the Quick, before I ever rode on drops is what riding on drop bars now feel like. Going back to flats just feels . . . weird. It could also be that the position of the hoods is much more forgiving and comfortable on my wrists. The only bike with flat bars that feels stable, even sluggish would be the bike I built up for my dad which is about two or three sizes too big for me.

But, to each their own. For me personally, I prefer the steering response I experience with drop bars.

Kapusta

If you just swap a 40cm drop bat for a 490-560 flat bar on a given bike and don’t change the stem.... yes, it may feel twitchy. You will usually need a much longer stem for a narrow flat bar in order to (partially) make up for the drastically reduced reach of the bars.