After installing new a handlebar and stem that allows me to ride in an upright position, I feel less tire after my 5-mile commute. I was thoroughly surprised. I had expected a great struggle, but didn't even sweat a whole lot. Wow! I can only attribute to the fact that I no longer have to support my upperbody with my hands, arms and shoulder. All I need now is a Brooks saddle with springs. Wow again. Drop bar sux.

One of the interesting things about cycling is the wide variety of methodologies that work for various riders.
For instance while you find sitting upright to be less tiring I find it annoying and it generally causes my back to flip out. I just love drop bars.
Anyhow...good for you.
Flat bars sux.

And as usual generalizations are dangerous. Every bike style has it's place.

See me at the end of a 50 mile ride and we will see who is more comfortable.

-D

Yes, going slower is less tiring.

I've ridden my MTB fairly far with its riser bars and bar-ends, but never more than 40-50 miles in a day. Yeah, I'm in the drops camp on this one, too I've done both real and metric centuries on my roadie and I'm glad I have the drops.

Drop bars FTW!

I can't stand riding upright more than about a mile

upright riding kills my back after awhile too

And my *****

I prefer flat upright bars for most riding. That having been said, I have never had properly upright drop bars (all the shops cut the steerers low because recreational road cyclists always need to look like lance:/)

I ride just about anything without a problem...for some, it comes down to preferences and comfort...everybody is different. Most of the time I see, including myself, people riding on the hoods and not in the drops...even in the TdF they are mostly on the hoods. BUT for longer distances, drops are the way to go...the weight shift/body position significantly affects your ability to ride in comfort for a longer period of time. That being said, I enjoy riding my 3-speed and cruiser bikes just as much with their old school sprung seats and north road handlebars and when I'm at the farm...jumping on the mtn bikes with their flat bars and hitting the dirt roads along the creek...fun stuff.

I've ridden my 40lbs Columbia 3 speed with the foot long handle bar stem on 40 mile trips before. The biggest problem I had with upright bars is when a headwind comes up. On the flipside, I once had a storm blow up behind me on said bike, and was pedaling uphill in 3rd gear (90+ gear inches uphill), I'd have been laughing all the way too, if it hadn't started to hail.

Beautiful, sdime. Glad you found your groove. I commuted on upright three-speeds for many years and loved it. I liked floating to work and looking around at the world changing and staying the same every day. When I blended some road bike riding into it, I noticed how much the wind was slowing me down with the upright.

All things considered, I still think the upright gave me the most pleasurable ride - like taking the bus to work, you see the world through big windows and just slow enough to be able to read all the signs along the way.

However, the road bike got me to work faster and I found myself lolly-gagging around the house a few minutes too long and too often and relying on the road bike to make up for lost time. Of course, when trying to get to work fast, the whole idea of riding an upright and smelling the flowers along the way is lost.

Ride on, sdime. Enjoy your new found pleasure. Cool, indeed.

PS: YES! Do get the springer saddle. It will enhance your ride enjoyment 1,000%!

riding upright creates more drag; its like pulling a parachute around; that would make my back hurt too.

I dont agree. Equalize your weight between your handlebars and the saddle and it's just feels fine. For whatever reason, I feel more pain in my hands when riding upright compared to in the drops.

If you are tired from a 5 mile commute its probably not the bike's fault anyway.

edit: if the bike *was* killing you after 5 miles then I think there was something definitely wrong with the configuration for your body, and you might look at changing other dimensions besides the bars

To each their own...some people treat the commute as a race against the clock (whether driving or riding) Some of us take it easy and enjoy the trip. My preferred commuter is a bike with the upright position. For long haul touring I will take a bike with drop bars with the bars just above seat level. I tried commuting on drop bars and while it might have been a minute or two (if that) faster over 12 miles I was more comfortable on the upright 3 speed. Also depending on the type of commute. Mine was in city traffic were you lost most of your time at traffic lights and intersections.

Aaron

Uh, I have an upright position AND a drop bar. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

I'm not going to try to make 'X is better than Y' generalities, but I have to say, you weren't using the drop bars correctly - you shouldn't be using your arms and shoulders to support that much weight. If your arms are tired after 5 miles, that's a sure sign that your posture was completely wrong.

So it seems that the correct statement isn't 'Drop bar sux.' I think it would be 'Using drop bar incorrectly sux.'

If you don't like drop bars, that doesn't concern me a bit, but don't blame it on a piece of equipment you were using incorrectly. More than likely, your drop bar was not adjusted correctly for you when you bought the bike. Looks like your shop has a nice racket - sell bike that's completely misadjusted for the customer, then sell customer flat bar when they complain about the drop bar.

I think it has to do with fit. Maybe bad backs certainly would warrant upright positions. But as for myself, I need a fitting to make upright positions work for me. My hands for some reasons ache more when riding upright.

I go back and forth, preferentially and literally. My regular commuter has a flat bar that gives me a half-crouching position, which I think I prefer to either extreme. I've never been a fan of the full crouch. But I use an upright 3-speed for rainy or snowy winter days, because of the internal hub. (Certainly not because of the steel rims! ) It's also nice for leisurely rides around the neighborhood with the family, especially because my wife has a similar one (which she has had since she was 15!), so it puts us more on the same level. But on my 5-mile commute, I generally prefer to go a bit faster than rec riding, and I find the upright position to be not as comfortable for pushing, especially uphill. (That and the fewer gears. The ratio of just 3 gears are a little too far apart for me sometimes, but that's another topic.) So I'm vascillating between keeping the upright as my bad-weather bike and possibly putting more money into modifying it (it only cost me $33!), or just buying something else newer that is already configured more to my liking.

And still nobody mentions the often forgotten touring bars.



So many hand positions.....

I have a set, just finally got them dialed in and love 'em!

I'll see your 50 miles and raise you another 100.

On my recumbent.

When you move upright, you open up your hips and that increases blood flow to your leg muscles. I normally ride with my hands on the hoods. But on a long climb, I'll move to the bar tops because aerodynamics is much less of a factor.

Another example that illustrates this is time trial bikes. Generally, they have a very steep seat tube angle with the bottom bracket moved aft. This enables the rider to have his or her hips less bent than they would be normally on a road bike, making the "aero" position more comfortable.

If you are sitting really upright on your bike - i.e. straight up - then it's a good idea to get a sprung saddle or suspension seatpost. Otherwise any bumps you ride over will have the majority of their shock being absorbed by your spine. And that could lead to problems over the long term.

I recently installed a tall stem that puts the top of my drop bars at seat level. I'm enjoying the upright position for coasting and loafing along on flat ground. Less fatigue from holding my head up to watch the road. Out of saddle climbing suffers, however, compared to my previous lower and wider mustache bars. This is a single speed bike so I have to stand and mash on the hills.

I have a set of those...they are going on my "expedition" bike

Aaron