I commute in heavy city traffic and really like drop bars. But it does require more flexibility and core strength than a more upright position. In return, I get much better aerodynamics and a position that I'm used to from sportbikes, so I feel right at home as far as feel and control. Don't mind where the brake levers are. My only complaint is that if I try to pull up on the bars to wheelie up onto a curb, I either have to be very precise with how I do it and where my elbows are or I have to have my hands out of the drops and up on the top flat part. Otherwise, I get a sudden and unwanted stretch in the fibers of the ligaments that connect ulna and radius (the two forearm bones).