I had no idea how much I used them until I commuted for a month or so on a fixie with a front brake on the tops...then, I got on my road bike every weekend and for the 1st 10 minutes, had that spit second where my brakes were gone because I was on the tops, not the hoods! I think I ride the hoods because I don't have brakes on the tops. I never would have thought that until I started riding the fixie without hoods.