Originally Posted by
osaka_chari
I've thought about it, but all the models that have both eyelets for fenders and drop bars are a little outside my price range right now (and I've never used them before, so I'm a little nervous about that prospect). I thought I'd at least start out with straight bars, and if I feel up to it, switch over to drops once I have the funds to do so.
Straight bars are one diameter. Drop bars are a different, larger diameter. So parts that slide onto a straight bar won't even *fit* on a drop bar. It's a huge pain, and very stupid.
The reason to go with drops is comfort. If you're like me and my finicky wrists, drop bars give you 2-3 positions where your wrist is lined up in a neutral position. That prevents hand numbness, and since you've got several slightly different positions, you can move around and give yourself some breaks on the bikes. It's meant to prevent RSI. (there are some further advantages for racing, but most of us aren't racing)
If you want to get similar advantages on a bike meant for straight bars, you'll have a lot fewer choices. Nitto's North Road bar (and a host of similar ones from other makers) is one way. A trekking bar is another. You can add bar ends to a straight bar, and for some folks that works very well.
It really depends on you and *your* body tho.
It's not so much what hurts (my butt), but that it's incredibly exhausting to lug a 40-odd-pound single-speed eight-and-a-half miles over somewhat hilly terrain in each direction. (Osaka Prefecture is mostly flat in the middle, but it's still got some decent-sized slopes, regardless.) I don't know... maybe I'm just not in as good shape / as crazy as some of you guys are.
I'd like to have something I can get up to a more consistently fast pace on, without wearing myself out for the rest of the ride after 5–10 minutes. As long as I'm doing that, I figured I might as well spring for a bike that'd be fun just to take for a spin on weekends and such. Hence where I am now: looking at a set of similar-yet-vaguely-different hybrid bikes, trying to determine both which is the best value and which is best for my needs.
Eh, I'm not in all that great shape at the moment. I was down for all of November and December with a knee injury. I won't be back up to doing 17 miles for a bit yet
. My main advantage is *my* granny bike has 7 speeds, and they're very well suited to how I ride. Even tho I'm weak as a kitten, I can still ride in a lower gear than normal and spin.
As far as your butt hurting, it shouldn't if you're used to a given distance. After being cooped up for so long, I did have some pain because my body was going "wait, you want to do WHAT???" But it was the normal and familiar pain of my body trying to remember just how my pelvis goes on the saddle. Next ride, I went a good 3 miles further, and had no pain. It might gripe again when I hit 20 miles at a go.
So while you're test riding, you want to try as much different stuff as possible. When I was shopping, I ended up going "I want the saddle from that one, and the bars from that one, and the fit of this other one..." So I bought the one with the frame that fit, and stuck on the saddle that fit. The nice bars are a compatible diameter, so I can swap them in when I want to really push distance. The stock ones let me go at least 25 miles, so it's not real urgent.