Patrick - as far as I know, "honking" may have been used for either seated or standing positions, but the way I recall Sloane describing it, it consisted of placing one's hands on the flat bar tops. It's difficult to imagine hands in that position when standing on the pedals.
Also, in pacelines that I have ridden in the distant past, I have found that the hands down on the hooks with the fingers "just reachable" to the brake levers is the optimal position. That way you can gain maximum aerodynamic advantage while "feathering" the brakes as necessary to keep and appropriate distance from the rider ahead of you. In fact, when Campagnolo was occasionally criticized by some during the 70's that their Record series brakes lacked adequate stopping power, they responded by saying that their brakes were designed to "modulate speed," not just to stop the bike. On Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 2:38:28 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > I generally agree with George's information, only "honking" means standing > and pushing hard on the pedals, usually uphill. I think it's an old British > term. Also, I don't think that you use the hooks for drafting, tho' I > confess that my knowledge here is gained from reading, since I have never > ridden except in the most temporary and casual of pace lines. > > But I do agree (same caveat) that Platypuses and such are *not* optimized > for fast paceline riding, while the fast boys' CF racing bikes are.. > > Back to regular programming. > > Patrick Moore, who "got into" cycling at age 14, the year before the book > came out. > > > On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 1:25 PM George Schick <bhi...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I'm old, old, and old enough to have used Eugene Sloane's "Complete Book >> of Bicycling" as my guide into serious cycling back in the early '70's. In >> his book he goes through great pains, including photos, to explain the five >> or so hand positions available to a cyclist riding with standard drop road >> bars. Jock as done us a favor by posting an autobiographical photo of him >> riding with his hands on the brake lever hoods. In addition, hands may be >> positioned on the bend of the bars with just the first part of the index >> finger digit on the brake lever hoods, they may be positioned on the >> downward bend of the bars, and they may grip the flats on the top of the >> bars, and, of course, all the way down on the drops. All of these >> positions may be used to the advantage of the rider as conditions vary >> through climbing, fatigue (especially in the lower back, but also in the >> hands), and when riding into a strong headwind. If a rider is approaching >> a steep incline he/she has the option of either gripping hands around the >> brake lever hoods and standing (muscling) up the slope or staying seated >> and gripping hands around the flats, spinning at high cadence all the way >> up (what used to be called "honking"). If a rider is in a paceline he/she >> has the option of either gripping the brake lever hoods and crouching down >> or going hands all the way down on the drops in order to gain best >> advantage of the draft behind the cyclist ahead. Sloane recommended using >> a bike set up this way for touring as well and never recommended (to the >> best of my recollection) the use of bikes set up differently except for >> casual riding (unless you're Freddy Hoffman). >> >> Upon viewing photos of these long wheel based, step-through framed bikes >> with upright bars, I see none of the same advantages that drop bars offer. >> Can one still ride competitively in fast, paceline oriented, club rides on >> bikes like these? Sure, but you're going to pay a penalty in unnecessary >> exertion and, as time goes along, the physiology of the extra stress and >> strain on joints, ligaments, and muscles is likely to take a toll on one's >> body. The choice is one's own, but as others have advised here, there are >> practical alternatives. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/acf2a8f1-c8c2-4e10-8524-a04aae388d4bn%40googlegroups.com.
