Originally Posted by
SurferRosa
This is just me, maybe not you... If it were me, I would raise them on the bar, so I could ride on the hoods, brake from there, and still reach the lever in an emergency when in the drops. I very seldom brake when I'm in the drops. First, I'd make sure that that bar is the right bar for me and not something that makes it even more difficult for me to apply the brakes, like crit bars ... which really suck for me, maybe not you.
I almost never ride on the hoods. Somehow I never thought of riding on the hoods when I got my first road bike a very long time ago, and so I got used to only riding on the drops. When I realized this during my first touring trip, I thought it was a kinda funny. The only bike I use the hoods on is my touring bike, and the levers are extremely light and offer no resistance whatsoever (modern Shimano 105 brifters). Therefore, if I wanna brake on the hoods, the levers really have to be light on the hands. If not, I can't do it. Hope this explains the reasoning behind it.