Road Cycling - Hooks, drops?

Is there a difference between the hooks and the drops? I thought the term was interchangable until a few days ago when something I was reading (which I can't find now) led me to think that maybe they were two separate areas. Hooks up front where you can reach the brake levers, drops the flat part further back? Inquiring minds want to know.

Rainman,

The great Sheldon Brown says in his glossary:

Drops - The lower parts of a drop handlebar, the area below the brake levers.

Hooks - The drops of a drop handlebar, as in "riding on the hooks."

So what does that mean? It sounds like the hooks and drops are the same.

Ron

Hooks up front drops in back, thats all.!

On a careful re-reading of Sheldon Brown's definitions, I'd have to say he seems to consider the terms interchangeable. The ambiguity in his definitions is the kind you find in even the best dictionaries!

To me, "hooks" and "drops" refer to the same thing, but describe that thing in two different ways: hooks emphasizes the hooked appearance of the part of the handlebar beneath the horizontal tube; drops emphasizes the fact of beneath-ness rather than shape.

But a case could be made for "riding on the drops" meaning hands on the straight bottom portion, and "riding in the hooks" meaning hands in the curved portion (with brake levers accessible).

I can think of at least five different hand positions I use, depending on terrain, traffic, and whether my hands just need a little change to rest them. The above are two of them....