On my Noodle bar Roadini, I keep up with others on ‘road’ bikes on a social ride just fine. My friend on an upright bike with Jones bars did not, and struggled to the point of it being unpleasant. The rest of us were not struggling or even trying particularly hard at all.
Drop bars by themselves are not magic. It's a combination of the lower frontal profile and the position they afford that lets you use the most powerful muscles in your body to propel the bike. When my wife switched from her Cheviot to her Ritchey Road Logic with drop bars, we did a fitting. The changes were significant. She went from 13mph on the Cheviot position to 20mph on the Ritchey Road Logic, and 8 mile rides to 60 mile rides within a few months (granted the Ritchey is also a good 10 pounds lighter than the Cheviot). It's difficult to get people who're used to the upright position to try what looks like an uncomfortable racing style position, but being able to use your glutes in addition to your quads really makes a big difference. That's also why bike fit matters --- you won't be able to sustain that position if it wasn't comfortable or anatomically compatible with your body. -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/49f7c15b-698e-440d-a1f8-47bb9d460689n%40googlegroups.com.
