Originally Posted by
nickw
If you spend 95% of time on the hoods I think you need either a) work on flexibility or b) raise your bars, but maybe you have some unique bodily limitations that don't allow for it. I think you should be comfortable on flat ground in the drops on a touring bike for an extended period of time. That is the whole point of having a drop bar after all.
Careful raising your bars too much though, tends to take pressure off your hands and on to your butt....which can influence saddle choice.
That's just not true..
Back in the day it may have been the case but with todays compact drop bars the hoods are the intended hangout point while the drops are for control and aerodynamics.
If you look at the pro peloton, most riders use hoods most of the time and swap to drops when the situation so dictates.
Back in the day when bikes didn't have functional brake hoods and had those horrendous deep drop bars even the pros spent a lot of time in the tops, and bars were often level with the saddle.
With today's bike design, the bar is placed so that the rider uses 95% of their time at the hoods as bars are lower than they used to while still having the drops in the same place (compact bars you see)
So no, if not doing a TT, one should not ride extended periods in the drops and if one does, the bar is likely too high