chrisvu05

So I was toying with the idea of rotating my bars such that the bottoms of the drops are parrallel to the ground as opposed to the tops of the bars being parallel. Anyone have experience with this? I believe it was the classic way of setting up bars. I was hoping it would allow me to use the drops more often in race situations as I feel like it is awkward staying in the drops in the current position.

Retro Grouch 

So whose bike is it? Why do you care what I think or do? Angle the bars on your bike whichever way you feel is best?

mrt10x

This is the reason I went to a classic bend bar..so I would have have more bar parallel to the ground. I was never smart enough to rotate my ergos so the small bottom section was parallel. Give it a shot b/4 buying new bars... you will have to fiddle with the placement of the brifters.

chrisvu05

Dude get a life. If you don't feel like responding to the thread then go crawl back to where you came from.

climbhoser

I am more comfortable in drops when I have the bottoms parallel to ground...but then the hoods are less comfy (comfy enough up to about 60 miles, though).

Solution: compact bars! Looking at the EC90 SLX3 it seems like you can get both, which looks money. It might be worth considering.

Retro Grouch 

But then I'd have to give up my grouch membership card.

chrisvu05

^^^Life is good man...why waste it being a grouch?

Reynolds 

If you want to be comfortable both on the hoods and and the drops you may end up being uncomfortable on both. I'd say set up the bars to be comfortable in the position you use most.

Retro Grouch 

Who said being a grouch was a waste? I'm not the one who has to ask strangers how I should tilt my handlebar.

jim6b

I have accumulated a collection of bars in an effort to get where you want to go. My problem is that the best for the flat lower return, the Deda Newton and Cinelli via Plam, have a step drop where the brifter is positioned (which may be good for Campy). I my case, the Shimano brifter's levers become a bit of a reach. Your hands could well be large enough to eliminate this problem. At the moment I have compromised with an FSA omega compact which approximates flat on the drops and positions the hoods and levers nicely. But I will be getting back to the Newton, best riding feel, and try to work around brifter issues.

Davidlean

My FSA wing compact pro bars allow me to have both the top and bottom almost parallel to the ground. I can't say enough about how much I like them.

Cyclcist4879

Its a community. Please ask questions, and hope for helpful responses.

rmwkokomo

The Newton is optimized for Campy. If you insist on using Shimano, the Deda Supernatural is designed to be optimal for use with their brifters and would likely be a better fit.

Longfemur

It's whatever angle and lever placement which allows you to ride on both the hoods and in the hooks without a bent wrist. There's no standard, because it depends on your anatomy and particular bike fit. The actual bottom part of the drop doesn't really matter, because no matter what you do, it's not going to be at any angle you can't ride on. The hooks are more important because for example, when descending, you need to be able to hold the bars there and comfortably reach the brakes. I've never found that with a proper road bike position, even a moderate one, it's all that comfortable to have to ramps parallel to the ground. It feels better angled slightly down (the ramp is the top part that leads to the brake levers).

The bad news is that it takes about 10 years of trial and error, taping and retaping followed by long rides before you find the sweet spot :-)

ShadowGray

Personally I place it with the bottom closer to parallel than the top, mainly because when you ride with a drop from the saddle your arms are going to be angled downwards. It may not look very good, but I don't have to bend my arms too much to get it into a comfy position.

rousseau

Why do you hate Canada? What did we ever do to you? If you don't like hockey, then turn the channel. If you don't like maple syrup, don't put it on your pancakes. If Celine Dion annoys you, don't buy her CDs. Fer crissake.

I mean, honestly...what's your problem?

chrisvu05

Didn't ask strangers to make my decision for me...I asked strangers for anyone with experience with the set-up I was thinking about. Ultimately my decision will be made by myself.

ElJamoquio

Don't waste your time, Chris.

chrisvu05

yeah i know..

AEO

depends on the bar, but for deda newton with shimano 10sp brifters, get the end of the lever in line with the bottom of the bar and the top section should pretty much level out.
Then set the bar so that neither top nor bottom is parallel to the ground.
works for me...

for campy style, flat top with the brifters in the same spot.

carpediemracing 

Since the drops on a properly set up bike will give you the best control, you should make sure that your bike is controllable from the drops. This is one of the reasons why I don't like ergo bars, because I find that I only have one position in the drops (and it's usually not the position I want).

I'd experiment with rotation of bar and placement of brifters until you can easily, without any contortions, brake and shift from the drops without moving your hand. You should be able to do the same from the hoods as well, but since it's harder to set it up so you can do it from the drops, start there.

pic of my current set up, with my hand there as a reference. I've placed my finger and thumb for shifting either direction. It's a little less awkward in real life since I don't have to hold a camera off to the side while I ride. I regularly shift up and down from the drops, under pressure, and in rapid succession. If I accelerate in the wrong gear I'll just shift, no real thought to it, and sometimes I'll change my mind and shift back, all in perhaps 1-2 pedal strokes (i.e. 2-4 downstrokes).



Complete post (it's a bit OT but relevant as far as being able to use the drops while riding):
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...for-crits.html

I find the drops to be my safe, secure position - when in doubt, get in the drops. I don't want to be doing any weird maneuvers while on the tops or hoods, that's for sure.

cdr

btw I thought by "tops" you meant the center part of the bar - and I thought, "Well, of course the tops are parallel to the ground, just perpendicular to the direction of travel".

Retro Grouch 

Hey chrisvu!

Reading over this thread I was a lot nastier to you than you deserve. I apologize.

Matt Gaunt

OP, I would say definitely spend the time trying the setup as was suggested above. For me, I couldn't bear having the drops parallel with the ground and you only know that once you've tried it. I also couldn't bear to have to much of an angle between the hoods and the tops, it just really winds me up as it pushes my wrists forward.

Equally, there are lots of people who will say the exact opposite and fair play to them. Just not for me. Check sig links for a pictorial example of what I'm talking about.

gfrance

Not a complete derail, but I too am having issues with bar comfort. I'm using Shimano DA 9 speed from about 2000. Had it on Deda Newton Shallows, but my hands could never get right while on the hoods. It's as if there is too much U shaped dip or not enough space to actually grab the hood properly. I've just changed the bars out to FSA Energy T (which is about the same as the Newton but with a bit more reach and drop). Even though it's only a week set up that way, and is a bit better than the Deda, it is still not good. I use Tektro levers on my SS with older 3TTT bars and it feels perfect. But no matter what measurements I take, I cannot get my road bike to feel the same. I'm wondering if Shimano 9 speed is just incompatible with some bars....(no problems with any variation in the drops).

chrisvu05

No worries man. Didn't take anything personally. I actually would've been shocked if I had started a thread and someone didn't give me a hard time. That is the nature of BF.net these days.