View Poll Results: What percentage of your ride time will you spend using the lower "drops" section of y
Zero
14
10.53%
Less than 25%
74
55.64%
More than 26 but less than 50%
28
21.05%
More than 51 but less than 75%
14
10.53%
75% or more
3
2.26%
Voters: 133. You may not vote on this poll
Poll: Hand position, Bar drop or bar tops?
10-20-08 | 09:33 AM
#26
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
Likes: 543
From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
When I was riding a road bike to work, I used the lower position when I could, but when I was out in traffic I felt better able to keep track of things and was more maneuverable when I as up.
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I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi 
"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
10-20-08 | 10:14 AM
#27
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 8,101
Likes: 17
From: Minneapolis
Had a somewhat difficult time answering this without skewing the results. I have aero bars on my bike which I use for the 1/4 to 1/3 of my commute that's on a bikeway. Any time I spend on the aero bars is time I'd likely be in the drops if they weren't there.
I spend a lot of time in the drops and adjust my bars so that I'm comfortable in that position. To me that is where the braking is optimal but I suppose that depends on your hands and where you've got the levers positioned.
IMHO if you're riding on the tops most of the time you've got the wrong bars or they are adjusted wrong. You can't shift from there and on most bikes you can't brake. I wouldn't say the same in regards to hoods.
I spend a lot of time in the drops and adjust my bars so that I'm comfortable in that position. To me that is where the braking is optimal but I suppose that depends on your hands and where you've got the levers positioned.
IMHO if you're riding on the tops most of the time you've got the wrong bars or they are adjusted wrong. You can't shift from there and on most bikes you can't brake. I wouldn't say the same in regards to hoods.
10-21-08 | 04:55 AM
#29
free mallocs
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 520
Likes: 0
From: melbourne, australia
Pretty much only when there's a serious headwind and I don't need to see that far ahead of me anyway. I could always raise the stem a bit to make the drops more comfortable, but then the hoods and tops would be too high. *shrug*
Yeah can't argue with that. That's exactly why I don't bother messing it all to get more use out of the drops; I'm already happy with where the hoods are, and the tops are close enough for jazz. Two outta three ain't bad.
The multiple hand position argument is entirely lost on me, as I'd rather have one good position than three marginal ones.
