Did you change from Hybrid to Drop Bar Bike

[Ace Demon]

I totally disagree. When I let my arms hang naturally at my sides, my palms are turned inward. To ride a flat bar bike, I have to twist my arms through 90 degrees to turn my palms down, which doesn't feel comfortable for long periods.

...but you don't ride with your arms hanging down. The likelyhood is that when you raise your arms with relaxed wrists the palms go to 45 degrees. Mine do. I don't need to to turn them to ride a flat - I mostly ride with my thumbs above the bar; bodyweight is on the palms and the thumbs have little more to do than provide location.

The problem with hoods is that they require full involvement of the thumbs - to locate, to resist the thrust of body weight and to oppose the fingers for braking. The only relief is to move up the horns so the base of the hand is snug in the notch. Can't brake from there though.

As I said, though, it's unlikely you're comparing bikes that give a nominally identical body position.

 

[lulubel]

...but you don't ride with your arms hanging down. The likelyhood is that when you raise your arms with relaxed wrists the palms go to 45 degrees. Mine do. I don't need to to turn them to ride a flat - I mostly ride with my thumbs above the bar; bodyweight is on the palms and the thumbs have little more to do than provide location.

Nope. They still face inwards (by "raise arms" you do mean bend them at the elbow - right? - because I don't ride with my arms stuck out in front of me). They flop inwards a little bit as my relaxed wrists bend, but I still have to twist my forearms through 90 degrees to get my palms facing downwards.

I'm quite happy wrapping my fingers and thumbs around the hoods. We're born with opposable thumbs, after all, so I figure it makes sense to use them.

But we're all different, so what suits some people isn't going to suit others. I just like my drops.

 

[mender]

Hi - just swapped both of our hybrids fr drops...

..we used drops all the time in our teens and early 20's - now in our 40's!

The drop bikes are so much swifter and when set up right fit better

 

[Ace Demon]

Nope. They still face inwards (by "raise arms" you do mean bend them at the elbow - right?

No. That isn't how you ride either. Distribute the bend at the elbow and shoulder. Keep the hands at shoulder width. As the elbows come up they naturally get further apart which is why the hands flatten. If the arms are kept parallel as the elbows are raised, that is not a particularly relaxed attitude.

I'm quite happy wrapping my fingers and thumbs around the hoods. We're born with opposable thumbs, after all, so I figure it makes sense to use them.

The thumbs have developed to oppose finger loads, not to accept significant thrust loading. This load also runs down the valley where nerves, tendons and blood vessels run. Tingles in under 15 minutes. Far better to put this sort of load across the palm than along it.

But we're all different, so what suits some people isn't going to suit others. I just like my drops.

Of course you do. But what irritates me is the cycling culture that seems to suggest they are the default for certain types of riding. I see lots of people that have had them for years yet have awkward handholds and have brake fumbles where novices with flats have no trouble. It's rather ridiculous when people have drops yet only ever ride on the stem (and have to reach forward to brake).

 

[lulubel]

As the elbows come up they naturally get further apart which is why the hands flatten.

My elbows don't. I don't naturally stick my elbows out when I raise my hands. I can ride a mountain bike "correctly", but it took me a very long time to figure it out, and I only got it when I watched videos of MTBers and finally told my OH, "Look, that's how they do it. They stick their elbows right out." It isn't natural to me.

The thumbs have developed to oppose finger loads, not to accept significant thrust loading. This load also runs down the valley where nerves, tendons and blood vessels run. Tingles in under 15 minutes. Far better to put this sort of load across the palm than along it.

No tingling. Judging from the callouses I get on the "heel" of my hand - I think you call it that (down near the wrist, opposite the thumb) - that's where my weight is resting. My fingers and thumbs are just wrapped round the hoods.

Of course you do. But what irritates me is the cycling culture that seems to suggest they are the default for certain types of riding.

I'm not really sure why you and I are arguing about this, then. I'm quite happy for anyone to ride whatever kind of bike they want. It makes no difference to me as long as I'm comfortable on the bike I choose to ride.

I just answered the question "Did you change from hybrid to drop bar bike?" I answered that I now only ride a drop bar bike because I haven't been near a hybrid since I got the road bike. But if you look at the results of the poll, the vast majority (72.59% as I write this) either ride flat bar only or both. So I think you may be "preaching to the converted" here.

 

[Ace Demon]

I'm not really sure why you and I are arguing about this, then. I'm quite happy for anyone to ride whatever kind of bike they want. It makes no difference to me as long as I'm comfortable on the bike I choose to ride.

As I said earlier, it is a pity that manufacturers only offer different bars without changing the frame. Any comparison is essentially flawed because the riding position changes.

 

[Black Sheep]

I had a mountain bike that was used for everything, transport, leisure and off road stuff, used to do more on road than off road.

decided I wanted a bit less rolling resistance that only a thinner tyre could give me so I got a road bike, not had any problems with the bars other than my 70's brake levers being a bit harder to pull than my wife's levers (she's converted from flat bars too - although I don't think she's used the drops much, just the hoods)

 

[rowan 46]

have never got on with drop bars I had a dawes road bike when I was kid. Which although the bike was lovely I couldn't get on with it. I swapped it for my brothers Raleigh chopper. A few years later my brother passed his driving test and I got the dawes back. Tried it for a while didn't like it and put flats on loved that bike but I have never gone back to drop bars they just don't suit me.

 

[soupy71]

Being a larger fella , 6"3 and 15 stone , i use a Hybrid as i broke to many spokes and had to many punctures Drop bar racer , reverted back 4 months ago and have had no problems what so ever. Also there is no better feeling flying past someone on a drop bar bike........lol

 

[Powza]

I've ridden a Dawes 201 hybrid for the last couple of years, mainly for commuting to work but also for occasional charity rides. I recently bought a Kona Jake cyclocross bike (with drops), intending to use it for longer runs.
I found it took a bit of getting used to - particularly the gear shifters - no numbers to tell me what gear I'm in, but as I become more familiar with the gear shift I'm finding it much better. I completed the Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride last weekend (54 miles) and found it much easier than previously on my hybrid or mountain bike. Apart from the general responsiveness of the Kona compared to the others (and it is not a particularly light or expensive bike), the great advantage of the drop bar is that it gives you several positions for your hands - I can change positions from on the hoods to the bar or to the drops. For a relatively old timer like me who is getting progressively more creaky and prone to aches and pains, this is a real advantage. I've had no problems adjusting to shimano clip-ins either. Hoping to get lots more miles in over the summer!

 

[MacB]

I think the default of, or move towards, drops for a road bike is reasonable but I also see a move away from drops as a default for touring bikes, though some might argue that means they're no longer a tourer. I've been in every direction and would say that I think drops need more careful setup and a lot of road bikes assume a lower/racier posture than many can easily adapt to. Hence you get the problems with sore neck, numb hands, etc, plus the narrower tyres will generally give a less forgiving ride. From moving to all drop bars I'm currently at:-

road/sportive type bike - drop bars but it's a more relaxed frame and much bigger head tube than standard off the shelf ones tend to have, very similar to a spesh roubaix in geometry - no plans to change the bars

general road/commute - have a Salsa Vaya frame and did have drops on it but have changed to On-One Mary riser bars with a lot of sweep. I just didn't use the drops on this bike as I do on the one above and, for the sort of distances and type of riding, I much prefer the flat bars. Certainly they've been fine for up to 50 miles. I may put a set up mini bar ends inboard of the levers to provide a 3rd hand position.

general shopping bike - old MTB with flat bars and bar ends - this will just get whatever is available, doesn't go far enough to matter

29er MTB - still in the build stage but will have another set of the Mary bars

So, in the space of a couple of months I've gone from a 3 bike stable, all with drop bars, to a 4 bike stable with only one set of drops.

 

[Ace Demon]

I think the default of, or move towards, drops for a road bike is reasonable but I also see a move away from drops as a default for touring bikes, though some might argue that means they're no longer a tourer. I've been in every direction and would say that I think drops need more careful setup and a lot of road bikes assume a lower/racier posture than many can easily adapt to. Hence you get the problems with sore neck, numb hands, etc, plus the narrower tyres will generally give a less forgiving ride. From moving to all drop bars I'm currently at:-

You're right that posture changes but that is the default provided by an industry that assumes a rider wanting flats wants a more upright position. This leaves people wanting a lower position little choice but to go for drops. Selling the same frames with different bars is wrong in my view. And this makes a drop/flat comparison rather nugatory.

But it is possible to make the comparison if you use different size frames and stems. So, in my case a 600 top tube plus 120 stem with flat bar is roughly equivalent to a 560 frame plus 90 stem with drops and hands on the hoods so I can remove the posture element and concentrate purely on the way the hands make contact with the bar.

Basically, I don't find hoods comfortable and they make braking very much more awkward.

 

[MacB]

You're right that posture changes but that is the default provided by an industry that assumes a rider wanting flats wants a more upright position. This leaves people wanting a lower position little choice but to go for drops. Selling the same frames with different bars is wrong in my view. And this makes a drop/flat comparison rather nugatory.

But it is possible to make the comparison if you use different size frames and stems. So, in my case a 600 top tube plus 120 stem with flat bar is roughly equivalent to a 560 frame plus 90 stem with drops and hands on the hoods so I can remove the posture element and concentrate purely on the way the hands make contact with the bar.

Basically, I don't find hoods comfortable and they make braking very much more awkward.

Interesting, I don't doubt for a second that some people won't like the hoods position, regardless of how it's setup. But I am fascinated by the variance of view on frame size, or at least TT length, required for drops v flats. Partly because I've just converted my Vaya back to flats and wouldn't have minded having the 60cm frame now I think the fit's ok, TT 585 and drops with 100mm stem to flats with 130mm stem and saddle back by 10mm, so I've gained 40mm on the deal, whereas that would be 55mm with the 60 frame. But I did look into this a bit before trying the switch and there seems to be differing views:-

At one extreme you have the flat bar tourer market and bikes like the Thorns - these make a big variance in TT between flats and drops, very similar to the numbers you mention

In the middle you have things like the Van Nicholas Amazon Rohloff which makes a variance more akin to what I have on the Vaya

Then there're a lot of flat barred road bikes that seem to make little or no variance whatsoever

Finally looking at the 29er market then the variance is around the midpoint as well - for example my new build is specced as 620mm TT and 100mm stem which compares to the Vaya at 585 and 130. My road bike is 570 and 110 by comparison, though it has a bit of saddle to bar drop as well.

I'll see how I get on with the Vaya in this configuration and, if need be, can always get the 60cm size...they do it in Ti

 

[User16625]

Got an SCR1.0 for road use and a Saracen Ariel for going up and down local mountains and off road. Im assuming this counts as a specialised mountain bike so I voted for only a drop bar bike.

 

[billy1561]

Voted ages ago for hybrid but am now riding a Synapse and love it.