rogerzilla
Legendary Member
My '92 Kona Cinder Cone has 105 mechs and a 12-21 cassette.
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Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I have a late 90s Raleigh Max MTB to which I've fitted touring gearing - so 48-38-28 triple up front (Spa Cycles' own brand) and 11-32 8-speed on the back.
It's a good bike for bimbling and for bad weather / mud / gravel, but it's definitely rather staid on dry tarmac even with slick commuter tyres (Schwalbe Road Cruiser) running at a decent pressure. And I'm not going to get anywhere terribly quickly whilst riding it, either.
Should I need to get anywhere more quickly than a gentle bimble, then I choose one of my other bikes.
It's a good bike for bimbling and for bad weather / mud / gravel, but it's definitely rather staid on dry tarmac even with slick commuter tyres (Schwalbe Road Cruiser) running at a decent pressure. And I'm not going to get anywhere terribly quickly whilst riding it, either.
Should I need to get anywhere more quickly than a gentle bimble, then I choose one of my other bikes.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I very rarely use the drops myself, but even if you're not using them, the fact that drop bars have a narrower hand grip width than flats means they always make the rider more aerodynamic. If I ride exactly the same route on the same day in the same weather conditions, riding both a flat bar and drop bar bike, I will invarably be 1-2 mph faster on drop bars for the same percieved effort. If I was willing to put up with the discomfort and poor traffic visibility of having my bars set really low as per the stupid modern roadie fashion, the speed difference would be a bit greater.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
The smaller the frontal area, the less effort is needed to punch a hole in the air.
It's been a while since I've done any fluid mechanics, but there *is* maths for that.
T4tomo
Legendary Member
me too!It's been a while since I've done any fluid mechanics, but there *is* maths for that.
The argument that if you don't use drops you might as well have flats is fundamentally flawed, as flats don't have hoods, the wrist angle from riding on the hoods is very comfy, plus you can move in an arc from there to the "tops", a luxury flats don't give you, even with bar ends.
Flats also encourage the inexperienced to lock/straighten their elbows when riding, which leads to discomfort.
- Location
- London
Don't agree - i spend a lot of time on my ski slope bar ends, which have several positions, so my wrists aren't twisted at all. I can move my hands to the bars for gear changes or braking very easily..
I also know where I'd rather have my hands when climbing.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I've got broad shoulders and I run my bikes with the bars high, cycle tourist style - so I'm about as aerodynamic as my old Land Rover. Add bulky outdoor clothing in cold weather, and it gets worse. Even without resorting to head-spinning mathematics, I just know that riding on 17" wide drop bars is noticeably less draggy than 23" wide flat ones, and my arms are pointing slightly inwards not sticking out sideways.
Drops are great for comfort. I'm not interested in the drops apart from headwinds, it's the ability to ride on the tops, corners, or hoods that I value. MTB style bar ends are not far behind drops for comfort. I often ride my hack Apollo with my palms over the bits where the bar ends clamp to the flat bars, and my thumbs hooked into the internal corners. It's similar to riding the corners of drops, and almost as comfortable if you wear cycling gloves - which I always do.
Flats being wider, give better mechanical advantage, and therefore control, on bumpy surfaces, but when riding steadily on a half decent road you only need to maintain a light grip on the bars to control the machine - you aren't fighting the thing.
battered
Guru
I find them better. In normal use I don't find flats any slower either.
battered
Guru
Blimey. I only have 2 on mine.
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
Mine's got three .. the one doing the work sat in the saddle
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
I have made a point of fitting narrow flat bars, not massive MTB style ones, which I dislike anyhow. Keeps things relatively slim.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Modern MTB bars are often stupidly wide, Basically a mindless fashion statement, because most rarely if ever see terrain rough enough to warrant them. They aren't really essential when riding to the chicken shop for a takeaway - which is the typical sort of use which the average MTB gets put to.
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
Maybe peoples arms have got longer? My 90's MTB has bars way shorter than the hybrids I got the kids a couple of years ago, and they are a half my size
- Location
- London
Good point - most, if not all, of the much-vaunted gravel bikes appear to have drops. Can't help but wonder if this is not because of functional reasons but marketing ones - the manufacturers are after the dollar of the sportive crowd. Or gravel bikes rarely actually go off the tarmac.
You are spot on on the mechanical advantage - a great help when wrangling a loaded bike.
Gravel bikes is trade-off for the American off-city terrain where paved roads are interspersed with non-paved for the long scenic rides and climbs and even commuting. Its a big country and paving road is quite expensive.
In the UK, nearly everywhere including scenic roads and climbs are paved with county exceptions. Off-road riding is intentional in the UK compared to the US. So there is a purpose for gravel bikes for the US market for those into road bike style riding on mixed surfaces.
Cyclo-cross makes sense here as a sport category. MTB too.
