Ph4r

I was riding a lot last year on a mountain bike, but doing mostly road bike style riding. I finally convinced my wife to let me buy a slightly better suited bike. So yesterday I brought home a 2016 Trek Crossrip LTD 58cm with some accessories.


What I am looking for is tips for Clydes as I am 300lbs+ at 6'0" on how best to use the various hand positions of a modern drop bar bike. I have had a 1970's Drop Bar bike, but there were no Hoods to ride on. What sounds good in my head is that I will ride for short protection or tiring sections (climbs, between sub divisions, getting back up to speed) on the hoods, coming to a stop or when passing a jogger on the tops, and if I can get up to speed for at least a half mile try riding in the drops (mobility inhibiting center section considered). I made sure that I have brake levers on the tops so I can be the most upright to be aware of my surroundings and quickly react. Thank you in advance for any feedback.

customsound79

I'm not trying to be completely useless in this response, but you will figure out what feels right pretty darn quickly. I find my self on the hoods a huge majority of the time, but if I'm climbing and not shifting I'll hold the tops of the bars. The only time I ever go into the drops is when going fast down a rough hill hand want the best grip possible. My extra mass and my knees collide while pedaling in drops. But like I said, that is a completely person choice.

nitroRoo

Here's essentially what works for me:

Tops of the bars: casual cruising, coasting (helps for catching your breath - more upright = more lung capacity), good for seated climbing
Hoods: The most versatile position. You can be on the hoods for pretty much anything - the best position for standing and hammering the pedals!
Drops: This position typically gives you the most control as you have maximum leverage on the bars. Great for descending or fast riding - but has the caveat of being an awkward position for many people (you do get used to it though!)

Good luck!

Jarrett2

Yep. Have fun with the new bike. Just move your hands around as needed and often. Unlike a MTB bike, you have different positions that you can move in and out of which keeps your hands much more fresh over the course of a ride.

Be prepared to have the fit adjusted at the store if something is not feeling right. Drop bar road bikes take more dialing in for fit than mountain bikes do. Some of it is just getting used to the new position though. Good cycling shorts do wonders.

If you ride smooth roads and get the itch to go faster/have less rolling resistance, you could put some 25 or 28mm road tires on there. The stock tires are on road/off road type tires. Perfect if you find yourself on some occasional dirt or gravel though.

Ph4r

Thanks for the feedback, I look forward to getting out there and trying it once it gets a little warmer!

cyclist2000

I shift my hands between the top center, corners (where they take the bend forward) and the hoods for most of my riding. I like my hands on the hoods for quick braking situations.
The drops are rarely used except to get into a tuck for long descents, riding into tough headwinds or hammering along when I have a good tailwind.

bransom

I'm on the hoods probably 95% of the time, 3% on the tops for a change in hand position, and 2% drops for better aerodynamics on fast downhills. But that's me. For you, it's whatever is comfortable. There is no "right" answer.

Ph4r

Great! This is exactly what I was looking for, I had not heard of riding on the corners, I look forward to trying that position also. Since I recently had an accident, I am Brake scared, so I made sure to get "cross levers" (Safety Brakes, Top Brakes, Interrupters, etc) so that I can grab brakes from any hand position I was aware of. I think they are long enough that I can reach from the corners too, but I look forward to trying!

bmthom.gis

You also get pretty quick at moving your hands to grab the brakes from where ever your hands are.

indiana_jane

How long does it take to get used to drop bars, anyway?

(I ask because I am going on a 4-day tour on a rented bike w/ drop bars which I have literally never tried before. The tour-operator thinks I'll be fine because the first day is easy/short-ish, but I'm still a little nervous. We have a local shop that rents out road bikes, thinking I might rent one out just to try, but it's a little pricey given that, you know, I have a perfectly good bike to ride)

cyclist2000

It took me about 50 years.

indiana_jane

Haha. Man, I'm screwed ;-)

Ph4r

I think the bars are not really the concern, but more getting used to the different shifters (I really can't wrap my mind around the SRAM Brifters with DoubleTap), and keeping a smooth cadence to maximize the bike efficiency. Just my 2 cents. I have ridden many older drop bar bikes with shifters on the down tube, then on the stem.

The other thing I would suggest is that you go to your LBS concerned that after your tour you will want to buy a road bike and you want to test ride one even just around the parking lot for a little while.

cyclist2000

That's what I thought when I first switched to brifters. Being a campy man. I decided that that would be the system that I used. I have 3 bikes that have campy brifters. When I got my touring bike, it had shimano 105 brifters on it. I thought that I would never get used to it. But after a few minutes on the bike I shift naturally, it doesn't take a concous thought about which lever to move. Don't worry about it, whichever system you are using, it will feel normal after a few shifts.

indiana_jane

This is good to hear. The route is quite hilly, so it was really the shifting that I was most nervous about. I figure I can be just as comfortable with hands on hoods/tops as I am with my flat bar.

I may go the test ride route. I'm terrible about lying, but I guess I *might* want a road bike once I come back...

Ph4r

I didn't mean to imply that you should lie. Unless they are total snobs, I expect that you should even be able to tell them that you booked the trip, and don't want to slow down the group or look too silly and if they could give you some pointers or let you try a quick ride near the store.

I've done test rides of at least 15 different bikes at multiple stores recently and nobody gave me any real concern. The closest thing that I had was that Performance Bike wouldn't let me ride in the parking lot unless they took a $50 credit card deposit and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting the charge reversed when I was done, and they have a large store and let me ride inside the store. At one store I even told them I want to try a bike I have NO Intention of buying at all, I just wanted to feel what the next step up components felt like (and it was really good).

I bought this bike because it has the Hy-Rd Brakes already equipped as well as 105 brifters and derailers and my cross-levers. I hated the feeling of BB7 and Spyre's, and I loved the feeling of Shimano's Hydraulic Disc's and felt this was a really good compromise between them.

CliffordK

Yep.

With the older brakes, I never used to brake from the hoods... With newer brakes, it is just natural. But, I am pretty quick at reaching for the brakes.

There are also "interrupter brakes" for braking from the tops. But, I'd suggest giving it a go without them first, then only resort to the interrupters if grabbing brake is just too difficult for some reason.



I have one bike that they came with, and I never use them because my brain isn't wired to reach for them.

Ph4r

I intentionally bought a bike that includes those as I am used to using them. On my old fashioned road bike it had suicide levers that allowed you to brake from the tops. I use to ride a lot on the tops of that bike and find myself using them mostly when getting on or off the bike or coming to a slow stop such as a trail intersection.

Wittyname

I loved the interrupter levers when I first got my Xrip, but a year and 4K miles later I find myself rarely using them, likely because I live in a flat area and spend 98% of my time on the hoods/in the drops, only really using the tops when I'm coasting to a stop at a light. They're really nice for making sure the bike doesn't roll around when I'm stopped, though

Great looking bike, love the red accents. May it give you as many trouble-free miles as mine

GravelMN

If your midsection is leaving you "mobility impaired" making it hard to ride in the drops, consider getting a stem with a moderate rise/drop. Installing it in the rise position (slanted upward) you will end up slightly more upright on the tops and hoods and will have less of a reach to get to the drops. As your flexibility and fitness improves, you can go back to the 0-rise that it looks like your bike came with from your photos, or even flip the angled stem to the drop position. Ignore anyone who tells you to "slam that stem" on a fitness, recreational bike. Go for comfort and you'll ride a lot more.

I'm a Clyde and ride a lot of group rides and recreational/charity centuries. I find myself on the hoods or just behind them 90% of the time. I'm rarely on the tops except when sitting upright to stretch or look around. The drops only get used when I'm sprinting for training or on a group ride. Even in a headwind, I prefer to stay on the hoods and bend my elbows more to get aero. Specialized did a wind tunnel test on this and found that riding in the drops did provide an aero advantage over bent elbows on the hoods, but only by a very slight margin, insignificant to all but competitive riders.

xraydog

Started riding about one year ago. Got a Specialized Diverge that has drop handle bars. Spend most of the time on the brifter hoods and the rest on the center section. The major difficulty I had with regards to getting used to the drops was the height of the bar (ie. how much weight you will have on your hands/wrists). I bought an adjustable neck which allowed me to raise the handle bars to the level of the seat. That did the trick initially. As you drop weight you can experiment with lower angles. Once you find the right fit for you you can swap the neck out or a fixed neck of the same angle. I also had the local bike shop add interrupter brakes. Once you figure out what handle bar height and seat are right for you, you'll really enjoy riding.

Darth Lefty 

On my cross commuter, I tried compact drops like the first post and I didn't like them. No good hand position in the drops for me. I switched to some anatomic bars.

I also liked the rando bars on the Super Sport I had, which were quite comfy in the drops.

My Paramount has classic Cinelli Giro d'Italia racing bars which have flat drops that make a good grip, but they are quite narrow and there's not really a "hoods" position either.

Ph4r

I'm not familiar with some of those, could you provide picture examples?

deapee

Go on youtube, and subscribe to Global Cycling Network -- pretty much any question you could think of, they will already have an very detailed explanation to.

Darth Lefty 

Anatomic or ergonomic bars have deep drops and a grip area in the drops that's supposed to fit your hand in a pistol grip sort of way. These seem to have gone out of style right now in favor of compacts
2010 FSA K-Wing


Randonneur bars are wide and have a long flat grip area in the drops. The tops flare up and the drops flare out. These are sort of like Birkenstocks, they're never in style but they're great so you can always find someone to sell you one
Brevet Randonneur Bar ? Round Bend | SOMA Fabrications


There's also a "classic" deep round bend like most inexpensive 70's 10-speeds, and "dirt drops" that are like the rando bars but shallower, more flared drops (several like this from Soma and Salsa) and some oddballs (Rivendell Nitto Noodle)