rumrunn6

wow that bike looks very appealing and resembles the setup on my most comfortable bike spec_sequoia_charcsilv_09_m.jpgDSC_8522.jpg

rumrunn6

a bike fitter recently told me that he uses 2 main measurements to make all his bikes feel roughly as comfortable as each other. so I took those measurements off this bike and applied them to my 2 other road bikes and sure enough they feel better! the measurements were saddle nose to bar, and from the lowest down pedal to the top center of the saddle. seems like simple logic but until someone told me to do it it had not occurred to me.

lyncch00

Wonderful advice!!!! I absolutely love this website. I too get a stiff neck sitting in front of my pc at this forum. The bikes pictured looked awesome! I particularily enjoyed seeing the confort Schwinn with drops on it. It looked great. I test rode a bike with drops again but this time I lowered the seat below the drops. The difference was night and day. The seat didn't hurt my butt and I was ably to easily grip the drops, the flats, and the hoods. No issues. It felt wierd but there were no issues. This post has made a difference. I will be able to get the bike I was eyeballing without regrets. All I need to do is save up a little more cash. Thank you all!

rumrunn6

OK but your saddle height should not be too low. Keep researching bike fit and saddle height. Kudos for you starting here on BF instead of at the register with a 2-wheeled mistake.

billydonn

Another thought/reminder to all: Because you have drop bars it does not mean you have to actually ride in the drops. They are there if/when you want them, but you still have multiple hand positions including the ever-popular hoods... where I spent nearly all my riding time. As shown in several pictures in this post, the drop bars can be positioned pretty high and lowered gradually if you adapt to riding. The Sequoia, a nice comfort road bike, is no longer being sold and has now become the "Secteur".

stapfam

Just to show the difference in bar heights- two pics of a couple of my bikes.

The Black OCR is my first bike and was a bit on the small side to accomodate years of MTB's. The Gold Boreas is still my most comfortable bike. Bar height is what you get used to- but I am one of the many that have found that a longer stretched out position with the bars quite low to the saddle works.

But your problems will now start. Next problem is what Saddle?

Rick@OCRR

I'm late to this discussion and all the points have been well covered by most of the posts above, but I just wanted to add that I've been riding drop bars (of many different brands, alloy and carbon) since '68 and if you want to do any kind of distance (i.e. over 20 miles) I totally recommend them.

Of course, this does not apply to recumbents, of which I little experience.
Or mountain bikes, since I use a flat bar with bar-ends for that application.

For road bikes, ridden on the road, drops are best.

Rick / OCRR

lyncch00

My last post didn't stick. Lets try it again. This forum and the people on it are great. The feed back I got on this thread was a big plus in helping me make up my mind. There is nothing like getting advice from people who have been there. I loved the pictures, some sweet rides indeed. I will purchase the bike with the drop bar.




I went back to the lbs and test rode it again. This time I lowered the seat below the drop bar. Butt pain gone. The drop bar felt much better. The difference was night and day. I was able to grip the drops, the hoods, and the straight bar without issues. I now have no apprehensions in making this purchase. Thanks again!

FrenchFit 

True, but you can use an adaptor, gain 2-3 inches. Very handy when you get a bike when the steerer has been chopped down and want to use stem with little or no rise. I put a lightweight one on my century bike, perfect.

wobblyoldgeezer

All of the sensible advice has already been posted, and I hope the OP has found something useful.

My additional, not very useful, offering

I used to race, a long long time ago. Possibly as a consequence, I find racing style bikes with their drops to be visually attractive. I have drops on my best bike, my ol'reliable tourer, and the tandem, and I'm very happy with them all

But it takes me a downhill where I can get over 40 mph or a 25+ mph headwind to actually use the lower hand position 'on the drops'.

Otherwise, I'd be just as happy with a pair of courier 'cowhorns' that the stokerspouse likes on the back of the tandem

dynodonn 

Since I work an urban commute, I like to go with flat bar setup along with it's rapid fire thumb shifters and hand brake position. Drops would be nice for an even more aero position( I have my bar currently set at 1 inch below the saddle) but I don't like the brake and shifter setups when working in traffic since they would be too slow in stop and start conditions. I endured the hand pain/numbness for some time, even after trying various grips and bar ends, but finally found some relief after installing a pair of Ergo grips, and now pain/numbness is almost a non issue.

bill_pfaff

Nice bike! Hope you don't mind if I use it as a possible model to cut my hybrid over to. It really looks workable. You might have a new style of bike here.

a77impala

I have five road bikes and they all are set up the same, the dimensions from the nose of the seat to the center of the handlebar and from the top of the pedal at the down position to the top of the seat. I can hop on anyone of them and they all feel the same. The bikes range from 53cm to 58cm frame sizes.
One other dimension I try to maintain is the seat one to two inches above the handlebar.

a77impala

For some reason this posted twice, sorry

I will add that I have arthritis in my neck, I started riding drop bars about 5 years ago and if anything they help my neck.

slowray

Loved the drop bars when I was younger, but an old football injury to the neck has risen its ugly head. After a metric century in the drop bars three fingers on my right hand would stay numb for days. I mean stick a needle in them and I wouldnt flinch. Seems by the position of my neck while in the drops I was pinching a nerve due to a vertabre going away. Switched to flat bars with large bar ends allowing numerous hand positions (this was before the hybrid bikes) everyone looked at me like i was from mars. Believe me at first i missed the drops but now out of necessity I wouldnt go back to them. The flat bar has made my ride so much more enjoyable and being a barrel chested irishman at 260 lbs it doesnt matter if im in the drops or not im pretty much a unfirled sail when sitting on a bike. Try them both but if you go to a straight bar get a good set of bar ends to aid in hand positioning.

Garthr

Upright bars don't have to be confining. Here's my road bike with Nitto Albatross bars. I switched to these after using drops most of my life.
I really disliked mtb brake levers, which confine your hands. These are wickedly comfortable... when I first tried these I thought "what have I been missing all these years?"

I bought the Albatross bar because they can take TT reverse levers, freeing the entire bar for your hands. I can sit more upright, or more aero just by how far forward or back I grab.

rumrunn6

drops - yes!

lhbernhardt

I've posted this before somewhere, but I will repeat it here: Drops are much more versatile, but they're usually set up or used incorrectly.

When most people look at a drop bar, their natural inclination is to put their hands in the drops and assume this is the "normal" position. It just looks so inviting, and most products invented lately are ergonomically designed for the optimal position. But drop bars were invented over 100 years ago, and they are counterintuitive! As a result, people ride in the drops and wonder why it hurts, and they raise the bars too high to accommodate riding in the drops, and you get this whole Rivendale approach to drop bars which is totally wrong!

The natural, default position on a drop bar is with your hands on the top of the brake hoods! If you look at properly-designed modern carbon fiber bars, they are set up for this position, at long last! You only get into the drops if you are:
1. pushing hard into a stiff headwind,
2. in the final kilometer of a road race, setting up for the sprint
3. wanting to stretch out your back temporarily.

I've done entire randonneur brevets up to 600 kilometers without once getting into the drops!

The top of the drop handlebars should be around the same height as a flat handlebar. Because of its superior design, the drop bar gives you more hand positions on the tops, and they give you an extra position in the drops for the situations described above. They also put your hands into a more natural position vis a vis the brake levers.

Get the drops, get them set up properly, and use them properly!

- Luis

cyclinfool

Here I thought this thread was about club rides....

Interesting options people have presented. Drops work for most of us - good luck