Did you change from Hybrid to Drop Bar Bike

[mjr]

I just don't fancy being bent over double when I am doing something I enjoy when I have a choice not to.

It's a choice. Unless you get a quite aggressively- proportioned road bike, you wouldn't have to be bent double, although the option of getting down in the drops and lessening wind resistance would still be there. Even among drop bar bikes, there's a choice. It facilitates ways of riding - it doesn't dictate them.

Similarly, I was on the Dutch bike today, but I was leant forwards and hunkered down into the headwinds at a couple of points today. It's not as effective for that as a road bike, but it can still be done... Dutch tri bars

 

[youngoldbloke]

I just don't fancy being bent over double when I am doing something I enjoy when I have a choice not to.

Common misconception about drop bars. The big advantage is the variety of positions available. Most leisure riders will spend very little time actually 'on the drops'. But they are there if you want to get in a more aerodynamic position. Choice is yours of course. I've ridden drop bar bikes for well over 50 years, and even after my recent hip replacement and a ban on bending too far I've stuck with the drops, temporarily raising the bars with the help of a steerer extension - and I'll be staying with dropped bars for the foreseeable future too

 

[SuperHans123]

I have Ergon grips. 3 different riding positions possible.
Also, regardless of which one of the three I pick, I am always within fingers reach of brakes and gears without having to move my hands.
I have to ask, if roadies spend so much time 'On the hoods' where you have to move your hands to brake etc, why not just get a hybrid where you don't. Makes no sense to me.

 

[KneesUp]

You can brake from the hoods.

 

[SuperHans123]

You can brake from the hoods.

Granted but way way more leverage on a flat bar bike.
Google 'can't pull brakes from the hoods'
All roadies struggling with braking.
Sod that going down Kittle Hill on a wet day.

 

[Alan O]

I have to ask, if roadies spend so much time 'On the hoods' where you have to move your hands to brake etc...

My cycling is mainly touring style - I'm not interested in going fast, and don't wear lycra (I did once accidentally buy a pair of socks that had lycra in them, but after sensitive therapy I managed to put the trauma behind me ).

And I'm always happy to say hello to other cyclists, whether they're riding anything from a butcher's bike to a featherlight carbon wonder.

I've mainly used drop bars all my cycling life, and it's just not true that you have to use the drops to brake. In fact, in most conditions I can brake just fine from on the hoods. I ride flat bar bikes too, and I'd say there's little difference between my control of brakes on drop hoods and my control using flats in most situations - the relative positions of my bum, head and hands, with a bike comfortably set up for me, is very similar in both cases.

Sure, there are people who find it difficult to brake well on the hoods, and those people should use different bars - but to assume it's a universal given is simply wrong.

In some situations, braking from the drop position is definitely better, but I also think it's better (for me, others will differ) than if I were braking on flats - the dropped body position and lower centre of gravity make me feel more stable. And though I'm not competitive, I find the drop position by far the best for powering up short hills (which I enjoy doing) and for the occasional fast downhill sprint (which I also enjoy).

I've tried various bars - I currently have butterfly bars on my tourer as a trial, and they have some very good points, though I probably won't keep them.

And I think that's what everyone should do - try the options, and it's for each of us to use what suits us best with our different body sizes and shapes and different balance, psychology, etc. It's plain wrong to assert that "These are my favourites, so everyone else is wrong".

 

[SuperHans123]

To each his own Alan as you say.
I prefer the upright style and tend to sit down and plod up hills. As long as I make it to the top I'm happy enough.
I have no interest in aero dynamics or speed although when in the mood I'll ' have a go' and tend to average between 12-13mph.
As long as you are enjoying it, that's the main thing.
I still have that child like wonderment of getting to places under my own steam.

 

[Alan O]

I have no interest in aero dynamics...

If you saw my body you'd know I don't either

 

[SuperHans123]

If you saw my body you'd know I don't either

17 stone 6ft, aero dynamic properties of Roland from Grange Hill

 

[youngoldbloke]

You can brake from the hoods.

Very true. 2 fingers usually sufficient, and of course you change gear from the hoods. No movement of hands required, just the finger/s.

 

[KneesUp]

Very true. 2 fingers usually sufficient, and of course you change gear from the hoods. No movement of hands required, just the finger/s.

I have bar end shifters on one drop bar and down tube shifters on the other ...

 

[youngoldbloke]

I've DT levers on one, Campag shifters on another, and Shimano shifters on the others - so plenty of opportunity for my hands/fingers to be in the wrong position . Yes certainly do have to move my hands from the hoods when using the down tube levers - I should have said .... 'on most modern bikes you can change gear whilst on the hoods'

 

[cyberknight]

Granted but way way more leverage on a flat bar bike.
Google 'can't pull brakes from the hoods'
All roadies struggling with braking.
Sod that going down Kittle Hill on a wet day.

Not really , road brakes need less cable pull due to lever design , well set up caliper brakes are a match for cantis / v brakes.If your on about disc brakes then yes they have better braking in the wet but given the proliferation of disc brake road bikes these days ...................

 

[SuperHans123]

When I grew up, I had various bikes from a Tomahawk to a Hawk Cycles 'Chopper' style bike like the one in the picture through to numerous BMX's (My real bike passion) then had a huge gap.
Bought a Mongoose Tyax (Average mountain bike) about 10 years ago to get to work and back and since restarting cycling in earnest 4 years ago, I have had 6 hybrids comprising 4 Specialized, a Boardman Pro and a few pub bikes.
One common thread runs through them all and that is the upright seating position which I love.
Also, I grew up in Townhill, possibly the roughest council estate in Swansea.
If you saw a road bike in my youth it was usually some brave soul 'passing through'
All there were were Choppers, Tomahawks, Budgies, Strikas, Bombers, all Raleigh BMX variants and the occasional Kuwahara and some crappy Johh Menzies BSOs that only just qualified as bikes.
It's what I know and love. (The Kuwahara in the picture I built up myself three years ago and still own and the grey Specialized is my current ride although I changed the seat to a 'normal' width Body Geometry one)

 

[RoubaixCube]

17 stone 6ft, aero dynamic properties of Roland from Grange Hill

I think there are quite a few of us in the same boat brother