Racer Drop Bars: do you actually use them?

Cookie_Monster

So since getting my road bike I've done about 6,000km this year and I doubt very much if more than 2-3km of that dist has been on any part of the bars below the brake mounts.

I just really do not feel safe or stable using them at all, feels like much less control and uncomfortable as stretched out a bit more.

So do you guys use them a lot / at all? I much prefer the aero bars tbh (even though I haven't bothered putting them back on over here yet )

Wishbone Ash

I use them 99% of the time. The only time I go up is when taking a drink. I feel much more in control on the drops. Perhaps your bike is the incorrect size if you feel stretched out?

NeedMoreGears

I got a road bike about five years ago, having had various non-drop bikes for the previous twenty years or so. I initially spent all my time in the drops - because it had them most likely. After a year or so I became much more comfortable with bending my arms more and staying on the hoods.

However unlike the OP I find the bike is far more stable in the drops and I generally get into them whenever I need to turn or brake hard. I would also go down to the drops if the headwind was particularly strong.

If I had aero bars, I 'd probably fall off a lot (more).

C3PO

Like the OP I almost never use the drops and rarely see the guys I ride with using them either! Maybe if I'm ever sprinting for a race win ........ !

Lumen

If your drops are uncomfortable your bike fit and/or handlebar setup is wrong.

I use mine about half the time.

Redmond101

Use my drops 70% of the time! Each to their own I suppose

smacl

Great question! Just got my first drop bar bike week before last week after over a year on the hybrid and still haven't ventured out of the hoods. Glad to hear use of the drops isn't mandatory, although it seems like you'd get better leverage on the brakes from the drops. Slightly off topic, but is it normal on road bikes that the front brake is on the left bar, whereas it is on the right on my hybrid? Kind of confusing, as I tend to do most of my braking on the front, with the right hand, which is now the wrong way around. Haven't tried any big descents yet, and I suspect braking on the first few will be fun!

Johnners1878

I'd guess around 70/30 - I get into the drops when I want to go faster/harder/into the wind. Cruise along on the hoods, drops for making an effort...

Surveyor11

When the belly is in the way, I generally avoid:pac:

ROK ON

I use them on the turbo,
I use them always descending,
On flat stretches of road I use them,
If I am in the front of a group I use them.
On long rides I use them frequently, just in order to break up the positions that I use on the bars.

I dont use them when climbing,
I dont use them in traffic,
I dont use them when out of the saddle.

You should be very comfortable in the drops - particularly when descending. IMHO, it feels far safer to descend at high speed in the drops with your entire torso as close to the bike as possible.

ROK ON

smacl wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but is it normal on road bikes that the front brake is on the left bar, whereas it is on the right on my hybrid?

There is no normal. I have a view that it is easier. You brake with your front brake. Thus on roads where people drive on the left you need to signal when turning right. It is easier to signal and brake effectively with the front brake set up on the left. But whatever yoou are used to tbh.

el Bastardo

Don't use drops often unless either it's windy or I'm going downhill, in which case I've better access to brakes and more control over the bike (especially at high speed). My bike doesn't fit as well as it should (I didn't follow the shops recommendation because the previous time they had been wrong and I ended up with a bike that was too squashed).

smacl wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but is it normal on road bikes that the front brake is on the left bar, whereas it is on the right on my hybrid?

Not really 'normal', but you do get them on some bikes. It's all to do with where the country that the bike was built for.

manwithaplan

I use them a fair bit in races. This means that I should probably use them more in training but I generally don't. I always use them when descending, both to get more aero and to get a bit more braking power if needed.

I have only gotten a drop bar bike for commuting recently and, oddly enough, I find myself using the drops a fair bit. I probably hammer it more on my short commute than I do in training!

Satanta

I barely use them. I am getting a proper bike fit this week though so after that I might be more comfortable on them.

Cookie_Monster

Lumen wrote: »

If your drops are uncomfortable your bike fit and/or handlebar setup is wrong.

the lack of control making it feel uncomfortable more than anything else tbh.

Lumen

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

the lack of control making it feel uncomfortable more than anything else tbh.

Lack of control of what?

redzone

I use them when desending or when working into a strong headwind. If you're desending at speed the bike is more stable and if you need to brake you will get better leverage/braking performance in the drop position. Try braking at speed when desending while gripping the hoods, you will notice a big difference. Most other times I'm in the hoods or flat when cruising or climbing.

Its also a safer position for gripping the bars when decending at speed as you can grip the bar better, if you hit a bump or hole and you are on the hoods your hand could come off more easily and we all know what happens next.:eek:

Cookie_Monster

Lumen wrote: »

Lack of control of what?

much less feel from the steering on the down bars and much less control on rough ground and downhill. extra braking power is the only real advantage I use it for the very rare time.

redzone

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

much less feel from the steering on the down bars and much less control on rough ground and downhill. extra braking power is the only real advantage I use it for the very rare time.

I found this aswell but just kept at it and after a while you will get use to the different steering feeling. Have a look at Youtube for some good tips.

Lumen

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

much less feel from the steering on the down bars and much less control on rough ground and downhill. extra braking power is the only real advantage I use it for the very rare time.

Your experiences would run counter to received wisdom, which is that the drops give more control due to increasing the weight over the front end. More weight means better balance between front and rear and less deflection over bumps.

You don't see much descending on the hoods in the pro peloton.

Cookie_Monster

Lumen wrote: »

You don't see much descending on the hoods in the pro peloton.

good for them, I hate cycling in groups too as it happens

triggermortis

I only use them for hard braking, going down long descents for more speed or in strong winds. Only sussed the last one recenctly (Doh!)

wayne0308

I bought my first road bike last year having never used a bike with drop bars before. Initially I always used the hoods and the flats of the bars near the stem as that was what I was used to, the drops just felt plain weird to me.

Once I got used to it though I began to find the drops more comfortable, I actually feel like I've more control and power that way. The hoods are still a bit more comfortable though as I find I can sit on the saddle a little more upright and therefore use my sit bones more.

Overall though I'd probably use the drops about a third of the time, more so if it's windy.

cdaly_

Aerobars and hoods most of the time. Drops when descending (particularly on unknown roads) and on certain roads with bad surfaces where I'd feel unstable on the aerobars.

ROK ON wrote: »

smacl wrote: »

is it normal on road bikes that the front brake is on the left bar, whereas it is on the right on my hybrid? Kind of confusing, as I tend to do most of my braking on the front, with the right hand, which is now the wrong way around. Haven't tried any big descents yet, and I suspect braking on the first few will be fun!

There is no normal. I have a view that it is easier. You brake with your front brake. Thus on roads where people drive on the left you need to signal when turning right. It is easier to signal and brake effectively with the front brake set up on the left. But whatever you are used to tbh.

It's easy enough to change them over. You just pull the inners out of the levers. and feed them back through the other levers.

Khannie

I find it significantly harder to breathe when using the drops so generally only use them when there's a strong headwind. I'm guessing from the amount that the regulars use them it means my setup is wrong?

Lumen

Khannie wrote: »

I find it significantly harder to breathe when using the drops so generally only use them when there's a strong headwind. I'm guessing from the amount that the regulars use them it means my setup is wrong?

Not necessarily, although its possible that your handlebars are too narrow.

Power does tend to drop as the hip angle closes; this is one of the reasons people use the tops for seated climbing.

Hail 2 Da Thief

I always use the drops when descending, far greater control compared to the hoods!

smacl

cdaly_ wrote: »

It's easy enough to change them over. You just pull the inners out of the levers. and feed them back through the other levers.

Sounds like a plan. Do you typically have to strip off and replace the bar tape for this type of operation? By comparison to the flat bars, the brakes on drops and hoods seem like a fair bit of messing.

jinghong

I use them if I'm cruising at a decent speed, over 30km. The more bent over you are, the less power to the pedals, but more aerodynamic you become, so it's a tradeoff. wind drag increases more than you go faster (not a linear relationship), and most of your power is used overcoming it. For instance, an extra kg weight is similar to having a pencil sticking out of your helmet at higher speeds

Chips Lovell

Descending, riding on the front of the bunch, riding into the wind, bridging gaps, sprinting. In other words, any time I'm moving fast.

doozerie

One of my bikes has compact bars (so the drops are shallower and therefore easier to reach) - that bike is also the closest of all my bikes to the best fit for me (based on a professional bike fit). Another of my bikes has a very similar setup in terms of reach and drop from saddle to top of handlebars, but is fitted with regular bars (so the drops are deeper). There is a significant difference in how I ride the two bikes - for the former I am happy to switch back and forth between drops and hoods, for the latter I only move to the drops for descents, to sprint (if even then), riding into a headwind, putting a long effort in, etc. When I do use the drops on the deeper bars it is for short spells only. The shallower bars are just more comfortable and I can stay in them for longer as a result. Not only that, but I have more control of the bike when in the shallow drops than when in the deeper drops (partly due to differing frame geometries too so it's not entirely due to the bars).

Based on my experiences I think looking at your current bike fit is a good place to start to figure out why the drops don't feel comfortable. Perhaps being in the drops will never be particularly comfortable for some, but I think if it is actively uncomfortable then there is probably something wrong. The something wrong could be unrelated to the bike of course, it could be a physical impairment, injury, lack of upper body strength, lack of flexibility, etc., but reviewing your fit on the bike is no harm either (easier said than done, mind you, I've spent 20 years meddling with my fit on my various bikes but still needed some significant adjustments after all of that).

cdaly_

smacl wrote: »

cdaly_ wrote: »

It's easy enough to change them over. You just pull the inners out of the levers. and feed them back through the other levers.

Sounds like a plan. Do you typically have to strip off and replace the bar tape for this type of operation? By comparison to the flat bars, the brakes on drops and hoods seem like a fair bit of messing.

No, you should just be able to pull the inners through. The big problem you'll likely meet is if the ends are frayed. Getting them to stay together for the feed back in is the problem then. I would just twirl the inner as I insert it to keep them together. If they're too badly frayed, just replace the inner with a new one (only a euro or two each).

doozerie

cdaly_ wrote:

No, you should just be able to pull the inners through.

The outer cables often need to be swapped between the levers too, which would require removing the bar tape. You might find that the first portions of outer cable for each brake are about the same length as each other, in which case you won't have to swap the outers at the lever end just at the other end, but this wouldn't be the case for all bikes.

Jawgap

One bike has anatomic shaped bars - with the "flat" bit - Ilike using the drops with these.

Another bike has the traditional curled bars - not so much fun in the drops.

I use mine when it's windy and about 40-50% of the rest of the time - always on descents.

I never use them when commuter racing - hands free or on the hoods I think is the official commuter racing position

Dubba

I use them when I want to go faster and on descents for stability.

I sometimes stay in the hoods and lower my body position into a semi-tuck get more aero when pushing it, but generally I prefer the drops.

-Trek-

I use them when I'm trying to go fast, not really working out for me though.

Dermot Illogical

99% of the time I'm on the hoods. I really must try out the drops some day.

cdaly_

doozerie wrote: »

The outer cables often need to be swapped between the levers too, which would require removing the bar tape. You might find that the first portions of outer cable for each brake are about the same length as each other, in which case you won't have to swap the outers at the lever end just at the other end, but this wouldn't be the case for all bikes.

Oh you're right. I forgot that bit. Darn...

feck sake lads

it's no big deal where your hands are wherever is most comfy.if you look at the pro's these days most of them ride the hoods and if they are on the drops more than likely they are using shallow drops so not so much of a stretch.;)

FISMA

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

So since getting my road bike I've done about 6,000km this year and I doubt very much if more than 2-3km of that dist has been on any part of the bars below the brake mounts.

Cookie Monster,
You're not a sprinter, are you?

Cookie_Monster

FISMA wrote: »

Cookie Monster,
You're not a sprinter, are you?

no

irishmotorist

I'd have very rarely used them up until about 6 months ago. Similarly, I felt in less control of the bike and slightly disconnected from the steering. I also felt more vulnerable - a bit more face down. I reckoned that I must be just not used to them and was working too hard in a headwind. So on flat straight bits on my commute, I started using them. It took a bit of getting used to, but I'm much more comfortable in them now and on a strong headwind day, find them much better. I'm more solid feeling and I can stay in a rhythm easier I haven't done any long fast descents in Wicklow on them, but I think that will just be a matter of increasing my confidence.

LCRC_BAX

smacl wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but is it normal on road bikes that the front brake is on the left bar, whereas it is on the right on my hybrid? Kind of confusing, as I tend to do most of my braking on the front, with the right hand, which is now the wrong way around. Haven't tried any big descents yet, and I suspect braking on the first few will be fun!

Generally if the bike is built by a mechanic in the UK or RoI they will put the front brake on the RHS, this is just a traditional thing. On the Continent they have the levers the other way around, ie; front on LHS, I prefer the other way as I can control the brake better with my right hand, but you do get a smoother cable run into the front brake if the lever is mounted on LHS.

J Madone

Would use the drops anytime descending or heavy braking, in fact anytime i know i need to change direction a couple of times in succession.
Way more control being on the drops in my experience.Bike feels much more planted and secure. Hope you sort it out, maybe something on your setup is not quite right.
Did the Kilmessan race this year, Spent 2 hours non stop in the drops average speed 41.5kmh hanging on, must say my neck hurt me for three days after it.
Eating stems,not part of a healthy diet!

kenmc

I use the drops pretty much the whole time. Mostly I'm on the lower flats, not in the curve, but obviously need to pop up there for braking. Only time I'm not on the lower bars is when on a long seated climb, or in sketchy traffic where I like to sit up to gain visibility and be a bit more visible, or occasionally just for a bit of a change of position. Sprinting, cruising, descending and small climbs, all in the drops.

Re the LHS/RHS for the brake lever, I believe it's to do with turning right and the need to brake suddenly; the front brake is much more effective than the rear, so if you're turning right, and indicating with your right hand, your left hand is the braking hand. If this is the front brake, and you suddenly pull (e.g. a car about to squish you) it you are likely to tumble since the handlebars with only one hand on it will probably kick hard under sudden front braking, whereas the rear won't cause such a violent reaction.

On the other hand (doh, sorry), if you are turning left you are possibly less likely to have to jam on, and you can probably get away without indicating (you're not moving out across traffic) so the RHS brake being the front is less of an issue. And of course on the continent, they drive on the other side, so everything would be reversed.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it anyway! I find it extremely wierd to have a LHS front brake, like the Dublin Bikes do, although that hardly matters on them cos they're not exactly what you'd call effective anyway!

Lumen

kenmc wrote: »

Re the LHS/RHS for the brake lever, I believe it's to do with turning right and the need to brake suddenly; the front brake is much more effective than the rear, so if you're turning right, and indicating with your right hand, your left hand is the braking hand. If this is the front brake, and you suddenly pull (e.g. a car about to squish you) it you are likely to tumble since the handlebars with only one hand on it will probably kick hard under sudden front braking, whereas the rear won't cause such a violent reaction.

That doesn't work so well if you're making a right hand turn on a wet descent, particularly with carbon rims. I want as much braking force at my disposal as possible, and that comes from the front.

IMO the best argument for "right hand front" is that right handed people apply more force and with greater control using their right hand, and when braking at the limit you want that combination of force and control on your front brake since the rear brake doesn't do anything.

Raam

Those who don't use em, if they weren't there, then you would miss them.

kenmc

Lumen wrote: »

IMO the best argument for "right hand front" is that right handed people apply more force and with greater control using their right hand, and when braking at the limit you want that combination of force and control on your front brake since the rear brake doesn't do anything.

Well the logical conclusion of that is that since the europeans tend to have lefty front brakes, then the majority of europeans must be left handed, which is not true.

rp

kenmc wrote: »

Well the logical conclusion of that is that since the europeans tend to have lefty front brakes, then the majority of europeans must be left handed, which is not true.

But DIN standard for bicycles mandates front-brake-right, and the Germans *are* the majority of Europeans.

Roger Hassenforder

other than the 0.000004% of the time when Im waving my arms triumphantly in the air, Im usually on the drops, although i think it makes my gut look bigger

feck sake lads

Lumen wrote: »

That doesn't work so well if you're making a right hand turn on a wet descent, particularly with carbon rims. I want as much braking force at my disposal as possible, and that comes from the front.

IMO the best argument for "right hand front" is that right handed people apply more force and with greater control using their right hand, and when braking at the limit you want that combination of force and control on your front brake since the rear brake doesn't do anything.

eh wrong just ask a boxer:D:D