View Poll Results: Flat-top or Conventional road handlebars
Flat top
13
16.67%
Conventional
52
66.67%
I like both
8
10.26%
I'll wait to see what Botto says first for fear of retribution and ridicule
5
6.41%
Voters: 78. You may not vote on this poll
Flat top road bars or conventional?
#1
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Flat top road bars or conventional?
Which do you prefer? and state roughly how much time you spend on the hoods or bar tops when you ride. I'm on the hoods or tops 95% of the time.
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#2
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flat top is awesome! great when u want to rest your forearms on the bars...very comfy...also i found them great for climbing
#4
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Hoods 90% of the time. Tops only when going up hills or "glass-cranking". Drops when pushing into the wind or going downhill; better aerodynamics and better control respectively.
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When my speed gets greater than 12 mph or so, I'm in the drops. At first, it was uncomfortable, but now it's more comfortable than riding on the hoods.
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The advantages of conventional bars with the variety of hand positions is obvious. When riding, I probably spend 40% on the hoods, 30% drops, 30% tops.
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+1 I have an older flatbar bike, and even with bar ends there weren't enough hand positions, and of course no good aero position...
#9
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I'm talking about road bars with flat top sections, not mountain bike bars on road bikes, knuckleheads.
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#10
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Well you titled your post wrong then, knucklehead, and gave everyone the wrong impression...
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hoods 15-20% down in the drops the rest, but i need to lower my bars a bit, i just built the bike very recently, so i dindn't wanna cut the steer tube too short, you can always cut more off, i expect when i lower em i'll be 40% hoods, 60% drops, but then i'm 20 so my back doesn't mind
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I spend roughly 90% of the time in the drops, 8% on the hoods and 2% on the tops. I don't see too many hills. I used to spend a lot more time on the hoods, but I guess I just got comfortable on the drops.
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2. Can you ride in the drops on flat mountain bars? cuz I kinda thought that was the giveaway.
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hoods 50%
drops 30%
tops 20%
i try to climb in the drops occaisionally to get a slightly different workout
drops 30%
tops 20%
i try to climb in the drops occaisionally to get a slightly different workout
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Conventional...call me old fashioned, or just call me old
I'm probably on the hoods 75%, drops 20%, tops maybe 5% at most.
I'm probably on the hoods 75%, drops 20%, tops maybe 5% at most.
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Round handlebars in classic Italian shallow-drop configuration. Ride on tops, hoods, and drops as needed with probably a 10%, 60%, 30% division, respectively.
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If you ride on the tops a lot, then there is likely something wrong with your bike fit (stem too long, handlebars too low, etc.). The only people I know that like flat bars are either very casual riders (less than 2 hours/week) or have medical problems (arthritis, bad back, etc.).
#20
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i disagree....i am not a racer or anything but i ride about 10-15 hours a week and i much prefer the flat tops...to me its just soo much more comfy when im on the tops than a round bar.