Originally Posted by serious
Do you really think that top XC racers care about looking cool over winning? Can you be that naive? Have you not seen enough drop bars in cyclocross to understand that where is appropriate people will use whatever makes most sense?
No, I think top XC racers are huge weight weenies, and the 1/2lb or so from the extra bar material + extra set of brake levers means they'll do without the drop bar, even though it has more positions just for that weight advantage. Life is about trade-offs, and racing is a particularly intense form of life. If flat bars are so much better for off road, why don't 99% of cyclocrossers ride them? Because that's not what a cyclocross bike is "supposed" to look like. Same with XC mountain bikes.
I mean, seriously: the bars are in the same place; one is a different shape. How can there be that much difference? I'm seriously interested, because I might be wrong (it happens). I think the people in favor of the equality or superiority of drop bars have presented some well-reasoned thoughts and advantages. The flat-bar types have just said "come on, don't be dumb" in more or less those words. Prove me wrong. Use some logic, some evidence, or something besides inference and "common sense".