I took up cycling at age 12 and have never taken a break from it. I love drop bars and would not have anything else on one of my road bikes. I kept getting tingles in the hands from my mountain bike until I added bar extenders to give me the neutral handshake position. An added plus for me is that my old school 4-finger motorcycle-style brake handles permit me to brake confidently from the extensions.
If I were starting out, I would get a nonsuspension mountain bike with handlebar extensions, followed by a relaxed-geometry road bike if I found the sport to my liking. My current stable includes one road racing bike (narrow tires and tight frame geometry), one relaxed-geometry sports touring road bike, one relaxed-geometry cyclocross/commuting road bike, and one mountain bike, plus one restoration-in-progress (Capo #2).
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069