Originally Posted by
chaadster
Well if that was your basic point, we sure had to carve a lot of fat off to get to the meat of a awfully simple observation, didn't we?
I think the problem I have with the way you say things is that you go beyond simply stating that drops offer more positions, which is inarguable, but that they are, per force, low, aero, comfortable, relaxed or whatever, and that simply is not true. This:
is simply not true, and I can't understand why you keep making the assertion.
Those attributes come by virtue of the setup, purely and simply. It's quite easy to set up drop bars very aggressively, such that nothing is relaxed, or conversely, close and high, such that no grip is low and aero. It's the same for a flat bar.
I've got to agree.
From a number of hand positions ... a flat bar with some biokork GP3s has a similar number of "usable" hand positions as a pair of drops. I rode both in the last month extensively.
I like that flat bar better for the type of riding I do.
I think the US market is infatuated with drops because they don't get good flat bars with two-joint adjustable stems.
In essence, the US market only has the ability to evaluate one option.