Originally Posted by
bkowa092
I just rode my first time using drops -- previously used bullhorns -- and I hate the feeling of them. I feel as if I am laying on my stomach while peddling. I also feel it is easier to loose control while steering with them. Does anyone else feel this same way, or could they just be adjusted the wrong way?
Don't panic over it. I thought so too before I started to experiment. For me, my drop (Deda Shallow 215) was a little bit too low so even the roof was too low. So I bought a stem riser to rift my handle bar for about 3-4 cm. It worked quite perfectly. I was able to use the drop part in addition to the roof. At that point, the roof was at the height of the saddle. You might try that.
Apparently what you need to pay attention is that your pelvic bone should "stand" on your saddle and your lower back (not the upper back) should be bent forward. (But your arms should not be over-streched.) If you can't do that, you should adjust stem-length/angle and column height. Of course, your geometry may be so wrong that you need to resort to some esoteric parts ... meaning virtually impossible to use drops.
Once you achieve this, you will realize that you are leaning uncomfortably forward even if your adjustment is correctly done. This is because you are not use to the drop-riding posture. This is NOT a problem. You have to get use to it. A book recommended me that I do some situps to develop my stomach muscle; I tried and this helps.
Before getting use to the bike. You have to adjust your saddle position. Since you are already using a bullhorn, you probably don't need to do this. Your seating posture has changed and it is highly likely your knees are positioned wrong as well. You have to adjust for this by moving you saddle back/forth/up/down. It is likely you have to move your saddle up. This will screw up your original position, so you have to go back and repeat the processes. (or you can just leave it and leave your knees health to chance.)
Well, you are not done yet, you got more problems. One drops are quite different from another. Later I bought a Nitto B105 because of its nifty 25.4mm clamping size. Oh boy was I wrong. This thing has a deeper drop; and I didn't know there is such thing. So the drop part became totally useless; and eventually I cut it off because it gets in my way of my legs when I skid and stuff. (Which was a HUGE MISTAKE! Do not cut your drops like this!! Because you could just exchange a bullhorn.)
And so I am still riding with a drop with a no-drop ... story of my life.
T