LeeG

Drop bars for 40 yrs. Then I got old and fat and switched to swept back upright bars. IMHO straight flat bars are an abomination appropriate for motorcycles and mtn bikes where you’re descending steep inclines but not good for regular riding without a range of add-ons/bar ends for more positions. When I was transitioning to upright bars I was also commuting with heavy front panniers and found drop bars inadequate for low speed maneuvering in traffic. Traditional swept back are much better than straight bars. Drop bars are standard for racing, high output and aerodynamics.

groovestew

The most upright position is with the hands on the tops, but otherwise, I certainly identify with your observation. Honestly, someone could sneak into my garage at night and swap all my drop bars for bullhorns, and it would be weeks before I'd notice.

But I still like drops. I had a flat-bar 90's hardtail mountain bike that I converted to drops, cuz I like 'em better. The odd time I ride a modern mountain bike in the mountains, the uber-wide hand position feels almost hyperbolic.

adlai

I pretty much put drop bars on everything I ride.

drop bars are the only way to redistribute some of your weight onto your arms. Flat bars can’t do this really.

the argument I see for flat bars about maneuverability doesn’t make sense. This isn’t like an old car that requires arm strength to turn the wheel. It might make sense for mountain bike applications but even then only like technical stuff. Most bike riding is not extreme turning.

you can still ride a drop bar like a flat bar if you feel like too.

tornado60

This is probably true of me if you just see me on a short ride around town. But When it gets longer like my commute I definitely move around. True there are other bars that offer multiple positions. The two things for me are:
1. There is usually a set of drops in my parts bin.
2. I like drops

StarBiker

After having a few vintage roadies, including one that was fitted for me from a bike shop years ago I have never found drops comfortable, and vintage road bikes unforgiving. And reaching, another neck killer.

To each his/her own.

Cdubs

I have a good size climb at either end of my commute and I find the drop bars way better and more comfortable for that commute. If I am just commuting on the very flat bike paths in my city I take one of my upright cruisers. But like most people said it is just a matter of personal preference but when commuting in the city I think most people prioritize speed and drop bars typically allow for a better position for that purpose.

slickrcbd

You know, for all this debate on which is supposedly better for you, I can say that I read about how great drop bars were supposed to be when looking for a bike back in 8th grade that my parents were going to buy as a graduation gift.
I got the drop bars, but found that I disliked them. I rarely used the lower bars except when ducking low-hanging branches (of which there are 2 on Wilkie Road on the way to the Bussie Woods Forest Preserve when riding on the sidewalk.). I tended to always use the upper position, but disliked how close my hands were together and found the bike did not corner well.
I replaced that bike my parents bought about 5 years ago and got straight, or at least slightly curved handlebars and I find that I like them a lot better and am more comfortable.

I feel that ultimately, that is the only thing that really matters, that I personally found the upright bars more comfortable and that I liked them better.
I believe that for casual riders, the two are about equal and whatever feels more comfortable to that person is the superior pick. The advantages for racers don't matter if you aren't doing racing, and might not outweigh the discomfort if you don't like them. Granted, some people might find the lower bar positions more comfortable.

I know they were not as uncomfortable before I outgrew the frame by an inch or two and the handlebars were higher relative to the seat as I had to have the seat at the absolutely highest position in order to use the bike. When I was smaller the drop bars were not as uncomfortable in the lower position, so that might be part of my bias. When I got the bike, it was slightly too big, when I replaced it it was slightly too small. Amazing how much I grew in just the four years of high school.

George P

20km around the city, with a dorp bar there is much less fatigue in the hands than with a riser (fixed).

SebWGer

I'm still playing with different options for my commute. After a few months with swept back bars and two days on my old Miyata single speed road bike, I went back for drop bars and now to a 29" hardtail mountain bike which is lighter than my usual commuter. Apart from the weight, the front suspension and wider tires help a lot with fatigue on our sometimes not so great bike paths. I also take a slight detour on my way back home through some single trails in the nearby forrest which helps a lot with the fun factor of the commute. Experimenting with different commuting styles is fun... There are way more factors to account for than just the form of the bars. Tire widths, frame material, bars, gear ratios, route planning, cargo options (rack + panniers/frame bag/handlebar bag/backpack...). Great fun!

ScottCommutes

You can't necessarily win this one, either, because you don't really get to choose your commute. The first half of my commute is open roads through a flat, swampy area where I would prefer drop bars to tuck and go faster. The rest of it enters urban areas with more and more stop lights and bad pavement and traffic and pedestrians and bikes. I essentially want a road bike for the first half and a mountain bike for the second.

Trakhak

Solution: mountain bike with aero bars added.

I spent the first 10 of 20 years of bike commuting on a drop bar bike, enjoying it for the suburban miles and tolerating it for the city riding. Then, because I decided I cared more about reliability and safety in city traffic than speed, I switched to a mountain bike.

Finally, I added a set of aero bars to the mountain bike. All the advantages of the toughness and safety of the mountain bike, at roughly 90% of the speed of the drop bar bike. Now that I'm retired, I do most of my miles on an aero-bar-equipped hybrid. There are no disadvantages, except maybe looking weird to other cyclists.

storckm

Personally, I can't stand flat bars for any length of time. For the last year or two I've had dirt drops on my commuter set pretty high. I use the drops pretty often.

base2 

I rarely weigh-in on threads like this, but here goes: The flat bar with aero clip-ons is a really good idea. Flat bars just plain suck if they are to be used for any length of time outside their mountainbike domain. The aero clip-ons provide an elbow biased fit that completely eliminates any wrist, palm, and nerve derived pain in the forearms, shoulder and neck. This pain happens because the wrists are bent at an unnatural angle and carry a bunch of weight that should be bourn by the riders core. The unnatural angle also kicks out the riders elbows forcing the neck muscles essentially double duty to support the lats & traps so the triceps can hold the riders torso upright.

Don't get me wrong. Flat bars are fantastic for standing and leveraging around a bike for short rides in wildly varying terrain. But for moderate to long-ish distance on flat-ish terrain for medium to long times, the neutral wrist position is the way to go. On road bikes, the drop bar is the most common, however it is used. On a city/utility bike a bar with a lot of sweep like a Soma Sparrow, or a North road, or a touring bar is the better choice. The decision between "road" and "swept back" ought to be determined by the distance and speed intended.

Dutch style utility bikes really top out at about 5-8miles at about 12-14mph. For this, there is no substitute. Swept back bars and upright posture sitting on a seat are the absolute best for this.

For greater distance and speed than the Dutch, road handlebars on a bike that uses a saddle is the solution. The key for either is the neutral hand/wrist position that either shifts the weight back to the saddle for ease of low effort use or the core muscle engagement for performance. Either way the result is the same: To keep the weight off the hands and let the arms fall in a generally straight relaxed line from shoulder to contact point.

Flat bars don't offer any of this, nor are they meant to. Mountainbikes are for mountains. It is unfortunate; the influence mountainbikes have in the American marketplace essentially crowding out the more utilitarian and practical uses that other bikes are better suited. Americans are anything other than realistic when assessing their actual needs. Utility bikes like the English 3 speed are just too humble to appeal broadly to American consumers. (Though this is beginning to change thanks to infrastructure adoption. Practical bike companies like Public, Linus, Pashley, Momentum, Gazzelle, and various e-bikes to cover Americas poor urban planning and excessive car culture derived distances with roadbike like speed at recreational utility effort are gaining in popularity.)

Due to the aspirational "can do all, must do all," nature of American consumers based on "adventure" or "pioneering spirit" or whatever you wish to call it, ill-suited flat bar mountainbikes often get bought based on the idea of recreational activity, dominating mountain trails, or the allure of practicality. But sadly, those bikes often get shoe-horned and force-fit into ordinary utilitarian uses that Dutch bikes or drop bars satisfy better. The truth is most flat bar mountain bikes never even see a dirt path in their entire existence or are rode for more than a dozen miles or so around a campground a couple of times and then get dumped or discarded as uncomfortable or impractical. Then we get discussions about: "Why handlebars with neutral hand positions?" ...If only the OP titled the thread with those words instead.

FWIW: The OP needs a Dutch bike. Every "mountainbike" that is used for utility like commuting or groceries gets turned into a Dutch bike...eventually.

downtube42

Over the decades I've commuted different distances, on many different types of bike. Bars have been drop, flat, swept. Pros and cons to all. They all get the job done. For me, fun is a part of my commute decisions, and currently I'm finding a drop bar fixie fun. One day I'll tire of it and switch to something else. It comes down to preference, simple as that.

SebWGer

I live in northern Germany less than 250 miles away from the origin of the Dutch bike. A Dutch bike was my first thought when I wanted to try something more comfortable. I tried it for a while and yes, they are comfortable like nothing else but as you said, they also top out at lower speeds. My commute is 18km (11 miles). I don't have the time or energy to push a dutch bike 22 miles every day.

Dutch bikes are awesome for Dutch conditions. Perfectly paved and perfectly flat bike paths, no curbs, only few lights (consistent driving speeds) and the occasional cobblestone. We don't have those kind of conditions here.

What I have are country roads, potholes, different gradients, badly maintained bike paths in the city and strong head winds.

That's a great idea. I hadn't thought of that. I'll try that as soon as I can get my hands on cheap aero bars.

AeroFred

Yeah, exactly, that's my experience as well here in France !
I've riden most of the time with flat bars on mtb terrain. I've had a drop bar bike, but didn't ride it as much. That was untill I began touring !
Then I realised how confortable and practical drop bars are . . .
But it's important to have the right drop bar width, When on the hoods, you shall be at shoulder width.

Darth Lefty 

I am lucky enough I do have trails between home and work, and it's a short enough ride. So sometimes I ride the MTB. And I enjoy it, so I share it here. But that hardly translates to "Americans are stupid because their 'pioneering spirit' makes them buy mountain bikes for commuting." That screed belongs on 1990's Usenet. You can ride any kind of bike anywhere you want. But people have not been buying new mountain bikes for commuting in many years, and the industry has not been pushing them, unless you give it a really broad definition. A mainstream mountain bike today, with its 800mm handlebar, 1200mm wheelbase, dropper post, Maxxis Minions at volleyball pressure, probably rear suspension, and huge price tag, is obviously wildly inappropriate for a city street. The ones with rack and fender holes are only a few entry level models, or misanthrope iconoclast brands we still love to talk about like Surly, Rivendell, etc.

base2 

Darth Lefty I didn't say Americans are stupid. That's dumb. But there is a definite disconnect between commuting bikes people think they are buying and the products available and sold by America's largest retailers as "mountain bikes" in the marketplace.

We both know actual mountain bikes and BSO's aren't even related. As evidenced by sales volumes, most of the general population doesn't. Hence my lament about the unfortunate disproportionate displacement of actually useful bikes that are actually good for what people think they are buying them for.

We both agree that actual mountain bikes make for poor commuters. People that buy & ride actual mountain bikes know this. Your commute is short and you are using it as a mountain bike.

Do you have any better theory about why so many adventure themed bikes are bought, hardly used and subsequently discarded in short order by Americans?

What is it about the adventure theme that makes an item uniquely attractive? Can you explain the market domination in America these "bikes" have? Surely Wal-Mart, Target and Pacific Cycles that make & sell the most of bicycles sold in America have tapped into something. It's certainly not because they are useful, capable or offer a good value.

downtube42

I did a century on a rigid mtb once. Ezpz century, riding and chatting with a buddy the whole way. It was over before we knew it. The only Dutchifucation was running 1 1/4" slicks. No pain, just a day of easy miles.

Another time I did a two-nighter riding an old Schwinn 3 speed with swept bars. Day 2 was 90 miles. Panniers, tent, sleeping bag, food. Roads were mostly chip seal. Again, not an ordeal, just a few days on a bike.

At Paris Brest Paris, a 1200km 90 hour ride, you'll see every kind of bike known to humanity, and a few home constructs nobody has ever seen. Any kind of handlebar made will be there. You'll see a dude on a pure race bike sporting an ill advised 20 lb backpack, and another dude on a flat bar fixie carrying nothing but a light rain jacket.

For a nine mile commute, ride whatever makes you want to get up in the morning.

zandoval 

The only reason I use Bull Horns is because I can no longer get in the Drops... Ha

Colorado Kid

Wind, quite simply. The wind is rotten around here. It lets you drop down and get a little lower. Save power and energy.

Darth Lefty 

Shimano did a bullhorn brifters in a flat bar road groupset called Metrea a few years ago. I really crushed on the styling even though it wasn't quite as nice as the concept that they had shown a year earlier. Some things that had been shapes became graphics, and the concept color was navy while the final product was gloss black. The crankset looked like a spaceship (similar to contemporary DA) and the RD looked nice too. They never marketed it in the States, and I never got a bike that it would look good on to bother collecting via import. But still I remember it fondly.

Darth Lefty 

@base2 I think most people don't buy bikes for commuting but for recreation. And so having a do-it-all bike is fine, and it will be fine for occasional commuting. I also know that the largest portion by far of Walmart bikes are kid bikes that are going to last a couple years of occasional use, not adult bikes anyone intends to use daily. So in that light the way you want people to use bikes is coloring your facts. People who want good bikes optimized for a task have no particular barriers to getting them

edit - had first ended with "except maybe the monopoly pricing in the USA" but that's really more for parts. Complete bikes seem really competitive again now that the covid boom is past

ThermionicScott 

I am still trying to wrap my head around seeing ElliptiGos on PBP. Over 8 years ago. It's so easy for us to get into this "X bike is best for Y task" thinking when it's really hogwash.

MattoftheRocks

I’m flexible and use the same torso @45-30° & knees bent pose on bike that I use surfing, skiing, skateboarding- my hands are naturally hanging around the height of my knees and about a foot out. Perfect for classic flatbottom drops on a large-for-me frameset, stem slammed. When I’m taking a break from riding and just sitting upright for a sec, the tops of the drops are kinda uselessly far away.

Modern Vestigial Drops I have to treat as Bullhorns with little bonus underhooks. I don’t like them on bikes that weren’t designed for them.

With any part of the bar near level with the saddle it’s way too in-my-face and I get a little claustrophobic. I accidentally solved this by, for a different purpose, grabbing a small road frame and putting a long seatpost and a long & low stem holding wide MTB/cruisey Dimension Arc bars on. I’ll be trying VO Milan bars with a Nitto Jag drop stem so that when I’m in full headwind-cutting/rain-ducking tuck my forearms can be nicely V’d and hands close to the stem but low.

I really haven’t ridden my Drop Bar bikes much the past two years because of this little mod’ed flatbar road bike.