Originally Posted by
meanwhile
And the line between a hard tail MTB and "hybrid" can be non-existent. I know a guy who built up one of the old hard tail Kona Hei Hei's as a 17lb singlespeed
I don't doubt that. It is somewhat confusing to talk about old bicycles.
Originally Posted by
meanwhile
Indeed. Possibly because today's race bikes are over-demanding on average body types, making the drops much less usable.
As far as I can tell from people I ride with, most good/fast riders spend most of the time on the hoods. (That doesn't mean the drops aren't useful.)
Originally Posted by
meanwhile
The drop handle bike that you think of as a tourer is a nostalgia piece produced in tiny numbers.
In the US, a touring bike (like the Trek 520) is not usually equipped with trekking bars (trekking bars are quite rare in the US).