Riding on Hoods vs Drops

[numbnuts]

I always ride on the hoods and the bendy bits is there to hold my bar end shifters

 

[Joe24]

Numpty question: Do you normally hold the tops (hoods? i.e. the flat straight bit!) when indicating?

I dont hold anything, i just sit up, take my hand off and use both hands to indicate and do big hand signals.
I spend longer on the hoods, i'm already pretty low on the hoods so ith a head wind it isnt bad. I go on the drops if its a strong headwind, or if it gusts, if i'm going really fast and if the person infront is lower then me. If i really want to be low then i put my elbows on the bars and tuck down low, get some good speed up then
The drops arent bad, but mine are set up low down so theres no real need to be on them all the time.

 

[walker]

Just a silly question, but I see a lot of references on various forums about people spending most of their time on the hoods.

I spend about 80-90% of my time on the drops and only switch to hoods if I need to change hand position or when going uphill (seems to help).

Is there some reason to stay on the hoods I'm not aware of?

I spend most of my time in the hood, this is south east London

 

[upsidedown]

Ususally hold the brake hoods when indicating as you can brake as well !

I'm usually on the tops, i can indicate and use my ineffective late 70's suicide levers at the same time, before slamming into a crossing car at a barely reduced speed.

 

[swee'pea99]

I use the drops at least four or five times a year - for going into force 8 headwinds. Otherwise hoods: better comfort, better visibility. At the risk of stating the obvious, it largely depends on how you have your bar height set, relative to your saddle height. Specifically *because* I ride on the hoods, I have them about 2" below my saddle height - which means my drops are perhaps 9" or 10" below: too low to be comfortable. If you wanted to try 'hood-riding', I guess you'd start by adjusting your bar-height accordingly.

 

[Tynan]

as ever everyones different

I reckon I get an extra 2mph when I go into the drops, not worked out whether that's because I put more work in or just better aerodynamics

or both

 

[bobg]

Just as a matter of interest, do many of you chaps set the bars with the "ends" - ( the final bits of the drop ) - horizontal, and the brake levers set to allow for easy braking from the drop position ? I'm told that's "correct - if there is such a thing as "correct " on bike set up, but I find that if I do that the the hoods are too far down the curve of the bars to ride on?

 

[HJ]

When I just to ride a road bike I just the hoods a lot when riding round town as it was easier to see what was doing on around me, only dropping to the drops when I was going for a blast...

 

[monnet]

Leisure and pleasure, I'm on the hoods. In traffic, I'm on the hoods for visibility and bike control. Eyeballs out with the the chain gang - down on the drops and hope my legs can go a bit faster.

 

[Chris James]

Just as a matter of interest, do many of you chaps set the bars with the "ends" - ( the final bits of the drop ) - horizontal, and the brake levers set to allow for easy braking from the drop position ? I'm told that's "correct - if there is such a thing as "correct " on bike set up, but I find that if I do that the the hoods are too far down the curve of the bars to ride on?

The setup you describe is pretty old school! Modern pros seem to kick their hoods up a bit, and you see some recreational cyclists with the bars tilted WAY up, so much so they have no chance of operating their brakes from the drops.

Me, I tilt the end of the bars to face slightly down (towards my rear brakes?), I can operate the brakes from the drops comfortablly with a couple of fingers but it makes cycling on the hoods (and particularly uphill) more comfy.

Like most of the posters here, I spend the vast majority of my time on the hoods. Only going on the drops for max speed or for long downhills.

 

[bobg]

The setup you describe is pretty old school! Modern pros seem to kick their hoods up a bit, and you see some recreational cyclists with the bars tilted WAY up, so much so they have no chance of operating their brakes from the drops.

Me, I tilt the end of the bars to face slightly down (towards my rear brakes?), I can operate the brakes from the drops comfortablly with a couple of fingers but it makes cycling on the hoods (and particularly uphill) more comfy.

Like most of the posters here, I spend the vast majority of my time on the hoods. Only going on the drops for max speed or for long downhills.

Ah, that'll be it then, I always seem to be about 20 years behind everybody else, and there was me thinking I was a rebel by tilting the drops down a bit and lifting the hoods an inch or so.. Like Rich P the old belly has a tendency to intervene...

 

[Chris James]

Sorry, I meant the horizontal setup is old school. If you tilt up your hoods a bit you are going all Lance Armstrong.

 

[Joe24]

For me its about an extra 0.5mph on the drops. With my elbows on the flat section i get about 1mph. It all depends though, sometimes its more, sometimes its very slightly less.

 

[LLB]

Im 95% on the hoods. Any time on the drops really hurts.

Depends on geometry I suppose.

As do I, I'll probably be swapping to a hybrid before the end of summer as I feel like a bit of a fraud on the roadie

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I mostly use the hoods, switching to drops for a change of position or for fast downhill bits. I find the hoods much more comfortable over any distance.