LeCollectif and oneangrytoast, it sounds to me like both of you have your bars too low to ride comfy in the drops. If your knees are hitting your gut, that's a sure sign that your bars are too low, whether or not you have a spare tire down there.Riding in the drops can be comfy as hell if you have your bike properly fitted. But riding the tops 95% of the time completely destroys the point of the bars.