I spend most of my time between the stem and the hoods, and I like that large flat area I create by lining up the hoods... but the drops are a bit too vertical to be comfortable for very long...

BTW, that old machine looks a lot of fun, with those choice upgrades... are they the silica Contis?

That front tire is a Conti Grand Prix 4000 S - with the so-called 'Black Chili' - which is actually carbon added to the blend. 700 X 23C. The frame is an unknown-by-name (probably a custom order the buyer never showed for) PUCH w/ Reynold's 531 DB through out frame/fork. I bought it direct from Austria in 1982 with the help of Sheldon Brown (good friend of a friend of mine) at Harris Cyclery. Didn't arrive until April of '83. Been building and customized since.

Scheherazade, I suspect that most racer types would suggest that you're bars are tilted too far up. From where you have the levers right now getting down into the drops and reaching for the tips of the brake levers likely results in you having to crouch a lot while reaching up to get at the levers. Alternately I'll bet that the setup feels really nice from up top on the hoods. From this I suspect that you're much like myself and a lot of other folks in that you don't often "race" your bike while in the drops a lot. Instead you probably happily ride around using the tops or on the hoods since your setup would be very comfy when ridden that way.

If that's the case then carry on. You're fine. But if I'm wrong and you are riding while in the drops a lot then the setup is quite wrong. The bars should be rotated forward and down until the last bit by the ends is horizontal or perhaps even a few degrees more. And from there your brake levers should be moved down a little on the upper curve until the levers fall directly in line with your fore and index fingers when you extend them but without the need to lower your forearms to assist with flexing your hands upwards so that you can get at the lever. If you look at pictures of racers in their "down to business" format you'll find that their hands are positioned up on the angled portion of the drops and their hands are in line with their forearms and that if they just point their fingers forward naturally that they fall naturally onto the brake lever.

If I'm right and you're more of a tops and hoods rider interested in comfort with their performance then I've got a suggestion if you don't mind spending a few bucks. Switch to bullhorns and TT levers. My last new bike came set up this way and I cannot believe how nicely the setup works. The setup works SOOOO nicely. My hands are on the level portions for much of my riding but when I'm fighting a headwind or come to a hill I just reach forward slightly and wrap my fingers around the rise at the end of the bullhorns. This automatically extends my upper body and lowers my forearms in a nice way rather than the uncomfortable, for me at least, reach to the drops. My chest is more open and free to breath more deeply and my head automatically rises thanks to the arching of my back. For me it's like having a passing gear that I never knew about. Here's a link to the newer version of my bike so you can see what the setup looks like. It would be a natural to go with your friction stem shifters. :D

http://www.redlinebicycles.com/bikes/commute/2010--925

Or if you just don't want to spend the money then what you have is a really nice setup for riding the tops and hoods. But riding in the drops will not feel great since the angles will be quite wrong. Just wrap it with cork and call it good.

I was able to achieve a similar fairly low but easy position by resting the heels of my hands in the lever hoods, cupping the points.
http://i50.tinypic.com/vh809f.jpg

Some of the newer bar shapes don't require quite so much of a compromise between comfort on the tops and accessability of the drops. FSA's "Wing Pro" and some Ritchey bars have a tighter curve and angled "ergo" flats that let you set the top of the reach horizontal and in line with the hoods while leaving the drops very close to horizontal also.

That's my new favourite hill climbing hold on the bullhorn setup. I've got the Cane Creek levers so the fingers roll around the front of the lever and the thumb just automatically slides into the little hollow the levers have. It feels so right for climbing or really pushing through a sprint as it extends and flattens my chest while almost automatically shifting my backside forward a bit for the climb.

The whole bullhorn experience for me was so positive that when I recently built up my Soma Double Cross retirement gift to myself I did my best to replicate the setup but with brifters. In a nod to "reality" I cut off the drops other than for just enough to mount the brifters and anchor the beginning of the bar tape. The brifters being set high on the bend so they replicate the bullhorn setup as well as possible. And with no sense of guilt over the angles of the missing lowers I was free to set the angle of the top to be nice and comfy like a nice set of bullhorns. The little stubs sticking down provide an extra in between finger hook for lighter climbs or just pulling away a little harder than normal while the fronts of the brifters are the spot to hold when going up a serious hill. So far it's been a great mod.

Of course all this is keeping in mind that I'm at the point where I can't bend "that way" comfortably anymore and expect to be able to breath well. Many, many other folks can do this just fine so it really is a case of YMMV. But for me it's like the bullhorn setup moves the clock back about 15 years.

Some of HillRider's suggestions may offer up a solution for some of the in between folks.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I always appreciate when mechanic threads spur debate, it offers plenty of views and options to try. I won't ride this bike much till the roads are free of snow/ice, but this will help me a lot.

To add to what Kimmo said:


Find a comfortable setting, go for a ride using hoods and drops, change gears, use brakes etc. Take an allen wrench with you for the stem bolts and/or lever bands. Once you have a lever/bar position you're happy with, snug everything up and apply bar tape.

Also, depending on how much the cables allow, you can tilt your bar slightly up or down by loosening the stem bolts. This saves having to remove bar tape and reposition the levers.

I just realized it's a Zombie thread. Deleted redundant posting

Ah, yes! :)

For future reference ... the brake hood, continuing the line of the ramp on the bar, looks right.
6th post from OP
effectively the hand can lay anywhere, along that surface.