Will - great advice on all points (and I think many "silent" others do as well). You've zeroed-in on all the key items regarding positioning the bar height, shallow drop, level line of the brake lever hoods, saddle distance and profile. The only thing I can think to add is the advantage of the multiple hand positions possible with drop bars - down on the hooks (drops) in strong wind or drafting other riders, on the brake levers themselves, on the bar slightly above the brake lever hoods with the index finger angled outward, and of course on the flats of the bars. All of these seem to be either overlooked, ignored, or disputed among many who think drop bars are a wrong design for proper road riding. Too bad that many decades of road riders thought differently about them.
On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 12:58:13 PM UTC-5 [email protected] wrote: > I think I'm a contrarian voice in this forum: I exclusively run drop bars > on any bike that is not a mountain bike. To a certain extent, I think it's > a what-you're-used-to kind of thing. If they don't work for you, that's > okay! > > That said, I like bars that have shallow drop and where I can get the > lever hoods in a straight line from the tops (so there's a continuous > surface along the top of the bars). Getting them the right distance from > your saddle and the correct height is non-trivial. I think a good starting > point is level with your saddle. I like to set them up so the drops are > usable (higher than your average roadie). > > Also, if you're using drop bars, you probably want a different saddle > (narrower) than swept-back bars, which might be contributing to discomfort. > > > > On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 12:28:42 PM UTC-4 Jamie D. wrote: > >> I keep trying drop bars in various forms and fashions and can never seem >> to get comfortable. Obviously this is subjective but in your experience is >> higher bars with shorter reach the most comfortable? Is there a >> 'goldilocks' zone? Any wisdom you could share would be greatly appreciated! > > -- 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/7bd03709-4534-46b7-af77-7aa37d80ed21n%40googlegroups.com.
