After years commuting on MTBs with flat bars, riding drop-bars felt awkward at first - still is, on that bike, since that first set of bars was simply too wide for me. However, I soon got used to the idea of riding on the hoods and became quite comfortable with them, and a few months later, also started using the drops.

They soon became invaluable to my city-riding: Hard acceleration is so much easier when you're practically standing over the front wheel, and holding onto the hoods allows me to rock my torso back and forth to clear obstacles, or let my body slacken and soak up bumpy roads. With the vibration these roads and sidewalks transmit around here, having more than one position is quite important if you want to rest your palms.

My current bike - fixed-gear - has a small lever for the front brake near the stem, so no "hoods" - but I still have three (three-and-a-half, really) positions: Near the stem, I can utilize the brake and manoeuvre swiftly. Moving my hands to the forward curve allows me to rest the palms a bit, or lean forward for a skid or trackstand. The drops themselves offer two more positions: The regular, arms-parallel-to-the-ground aero position, and because they're quite long and uncut, I can rest on the straight parallel bit - more aerodynamic than upright riding, but not as demanding as the drops.

On my next bike, however, I'll look at bullhorns as an option.