Campag4life

Whether putting weight on hands is good or bad is your individual focus….not the premise of the OP or even point of discussion. That wasn’t the question asked and your focus on this construct only confuses the issue. Lowering the handlebars which places more pressure on the hands (good or bad for the rider) improves tracking is point of discussion. Not whether putting more pressure on the hands is desired versus not. As stated, the physics involved do not depend on the rider or the bike…same physics born out of more forward weight distribution of lowering the handlebar…any rider…any bike.

Fiery

Feel free to keep massaging the issue however you like to make yourself feel right in a discussion that you forced to begin with. If the OP found my answers confusing or off topic, I'll offer my sincerest apologies - he just has to say the word.

Campag4life

Simply defending the subject at hand. A rider's preference for bar height which portends pressure (psi) on a rider's hands given force to the pedals and riding position is a separate discussion and shouldn't be confused with the physics of bar height affecting hand pressure and bike handling which is the subject. Combining both confounds the issue and why the dynamic attempting to be discussed is unrelated to the rider or the bike which you asserted.

johngwheeler

OK, some interesting points have been raised here.

To add to the debate, I find that I often ride on the hoods with my forearms almost horizontal, as I try to lengthen and strighten my back. Would I benefit in terms of either shoulder/neck comfort, or control of the bike by having the bars a bit lower so that I reduce the bend at the elbow?

fietsbob

Longer Trail increases stability...its the result of a combination of head tube angle, fork offset/rake, and wheel radius..

Campag4life

Not really John. Reason why riding with hands on hoods with horizontal forearms and flatish back is so aero is because the forearms are taken out of the wind stream. This is also why this position is more aero than riding in the drops. Most of us limited by our hip/back flexibility...so if you lower your handlebar further and try for same back angle, your forearms will catch fractionally more wind...force being proportional to the sine of the angle relative to horizontal.
HTH

Fiery

Possibly. Intuitively it seems so - you keep the same back angle but have the arms a little straighter which reduces muscle tension somewhat. However, the body doesn't always work intuitively, and what looks right on paper might not feel right in practice. One of the things that can make it less comfortable, especially in the neck and shoulders, is that the lower bar will increase the angle between your upper arms and your trunk and having this angle too large can cause shoulder and neck pain. I'd say it's still worth a shot though, you won't know will it work until you try it and you can always go back to your old position if it doesn't work.

This is speaking from the perspective of comfort, since that's what you asked about. From the perspective of aerodynamics, keeping the forearms as close to horisontal as possible is the better approach.

Campag4life

Agree with Fiery in the context of comfort which is what you asked John. Worth a try for the reasons Fiery explained. I answered in the context of aerodynamics but John you did ask in the context of comfort and sometimes having the arms closer to straight i.e. slightly bent as Fiery stated is more comfortable than all the way bent which relies more on your core to control your torso position.

Will give you another data point John. When setting up handlebar height you have to look IMO at the broader view of all three positions which always tends to be a bit of a balance or compromise between positions. For example, I set my bars as low as possible that makes the drops sustainable for about 5 minutes of riding at least without neck or back too stressed. With a compact handlebar in my case, this generally brings the tops and hoods in about the right place to allow moving around the bar...I use all positions as I ride which I find is the best hedge against fatigue.