Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I'll grant that the pressure is distributed a bit better across your hand with a flat bar, but I generally don't have problems with the amount of pressure on my thumb when riding on the hoods of a drop bar.
I can only say that it's a problem for me, and for a few other people I know. There seems to be some nerves and...well I don't want to say arteries, but some sort of blood flow through the area between the thumb and fingers, and my hands often feel a little numb after a ride, regardless of how much I switch hand positions. Do note I said "a little numb" - it's not usually more than an annoyance, it's nothing "dangerous" or anything, just annoying.
Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I can also move my hands back just a bit to the bends and then I've got the whole palm thing going on while retaining the supreior wrist angle.
I'm not actually entirely sure what you mean here - I can't imagine a position with drops where your whole palm is is contact with the bars while you haven't changed the wrist angle.
Originally Posted by
Andy_K
The wrist angle is my main point. If you just relax your arms and let them hang at your sides your hands naturally turn with your palms more or less in. It takes effort to keep them in a palms back position. So when you're holding a flat bar, it creates a bit of extra strain. On top of that, the angle at which your arm approaches the bar becomes super-critical to avoid having to bend your wrist. By contrast, with properly fitted drop bars it is almost impossible to bend your wrist in an uncomfortable position. It's as natural as shaking hands.
It takes some effort to keep your hands in the palms back position, but it also takes some effort to keep your back in the right position with curly bars as well, so I would often call that one a draw. Changing hand position for comfort is something regular people do all the time, supporting their body weight with their back is not.
As I said, I can only say that personally I can get a flat bar setup where I keep my hands in the right position and my hands never get numb, whereas I've never been able to get a dropbard setup that's 100% comfortable every ride...usually end up with some sort of ache in my hand on at the end of at least half the rides. It's not a huge deal, I just personally haven't found drops to be more comfortable.