Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
See the left photo in the hoods section, and how his wrist is resting on the top of the bar? I use bars with a bend and brifter placement that has my forearm almost horizontal when I'm doing that. So then look up at the left photo in the drops section. See how, if his bars were bent like I'm saying, he could move his hands to his hoods without changing his back angle, but thereby reducing the wind resistance of his forearm. Anybody else do that?
I often use that position for short flat or downhill segments on a longer climb where it is not a long enough time to really make the change in position to the drops worth while.
When descending something steep enough that I spin out my biggest gear (50x12) I will grab the bars in the drops at the section that is perpendicular to the road and get low enough that my forearms are parallel to the road. If I'm not cornering, I set the crank arms parallel to the road and very lightly squeeze the top tube with my knees. My chin is normally about 2 to 3" from my stem in this position. Haven't gotten up the cojones to try the pro, sit on the top tube, grab the tops, and bite the stem position yet, but the position that I first described was good for about 64 mph on the gnarliest descent in my area. In a regular drops position I only made it to 57 mph, and on the hoods it was barely 50 mph.