My problems are alleviated by switching hand positions fairly regularly, regardless of fit or handlebar style. Drop bars simply offer the most hand positions of any bar. I am perfectly comfortable on bullhorn and trekking style bars as well. I do not experience any bike fit issues.

Edit: I should also add that on any bike with any style of bars, if I restrain myself to any one hand position for an extended period, these problems arise again. It's a pretty clear cause-and-effect relationship.

And they offer the best leverage for hills (as well as the best position for going down them).

To me drop bars are designed first to provide multi hand positions and positions that place the wrist midway in its ability to rotate. And contact points in the meaty part of the palm and away from sensitive nerves. The combination of all these things and being a wrapped griping surface that will allow padding to be placed under the wrap gives the most options for changing overall body posture during a ride and also the lesser strain on hands wrists and arms.

The ability to be aero is a secondary function of the bars. They may have been designed to race but so was derailleur gearing, thin high pressure tires and overall lightness of every component on the modern bike. We are bombarded with images and marketing that make us see things like drop bars as a racer only option. But there is nothing wrong with a French fit frame and or a shorter and steeper stem and bringing the bars into the location needed by most normal casual riders. I have mine at a height that suits my needs and the hoods are above the saddle height and the drops are below. With the higher drops that is my position of greatest control and my riding is split about 50/50 I can’t come close to flat back position but can get aero enough when heading into a wind to make a difference. Shifting back a little in the saddle allows for a little elbow bend that will get me flat for a fast downhill if I want that.

I have what most would call an upright saddle and it works fine with drop bars set to be comfortable. The problem is most shop fittings are done by people used to thinking about drop bars in the racing model. So you may have to learn about your own best fit if this is how you want to ride.

I take it that the comfort factor for a relatively short commute that you brought up as an issue in your first post is also besides the point. :rolleyes:

This comment would be appropriate, if drops could not be comfortable. Did you have a bad experience with them once? :rolleyes:

Sure drop bars "could" be comfortable, as could an ass-hatchet saddle. Some cyclists swear they like 'em, though I doubt it is because of the comfort factor, but rather in spite of the lack of same. After all, ain't that what the The Real Serious Cyclists™ (and those who wish to emulate them) like?

Or, maybe you can't judge what is comfortable for others, your choices don't work for the majority of people and other people know more about what works for them than you do. But by all means - continue lecturing about how bars that have fewer positions and don't work on anything but flat surfaces make sense :rolleyes:

As a point of fact, I was riding an upright bike as my primary commuter for about 2 years and was surprised that my back pain was worse. I switched to drops and it cleared up - stretching out is more comfortable for me and is better for my back. Additionally, a more upright position puts more pressure on your derriere...stretching out can relieve that and spread the weight out.

You are the worst kind of elitist - the anti-elitist more full of his own dogma than any racer.

PS - most roadies I know have multiple bikes, depending on their needs. It isn't us/them unless you want it to be. It's possible to enjoy road bikes, touring bikes, mountain bikes and even cruisers. It's even possible that weekend warriors are riding bikes that make sense for them; they don;t want to commute (and commuting for many of them wouldn't make sense). They want to ride fast with friends and buy bikes that let them do it. The nerve.

The great thing about sweeping generalizations is how easy they are to deflate.

Drop bars and leather saddles are the most comfortable options I've tried, so you can take your aspersions and shove 'em.

As if "roadies" are anything but a relatively small slice of the bicycle riding public, even in the U.S and especially those who ride to work. Including those unworthy types who ride on department store bikes without an LBS provenance. Perhaps you should venture away from the BF enthusiast clique and your bicycling club comrades to note who rides what and for what reason.

For me, the real test of comfort is what works on a 100+mi ride. If I'm riding 8 or 12 hrs in a day, its going to be on drop bars. It has nothing to do with wanting to be like a racer or any of that. There's no room for nonsense like that on a long day on the road. For short rides, where comfort doesn't really matter much, you can use whatever bars you want.

As for the Brooks, I think it will depend on your saddle to bar drop. If they are at fairly equal heights, it might work. If you like your bars lower, I expect it will be a problem. I have a swift on one of my bikes and I'm glad its the one with the bars at the higher position. If I stay in the drops for a while, I can feel it.

Saddles are always a personal thing based on individual physiology and bike setup. I have drop bars on a commuter, with about a 1" drop. The VO Model 6 saddle ended up being too narrow at 150mm; a Brooks B17 was too wide at 175mm, but the Brooks Professional (alpe d'Huez edition!) is just right at 160mm. There's no way I'd run a B67 on anything where I wasn't pretty much bolt upright with rise from the saddle to the bars and swept back bars... which is exactly none of my bikes right now.

YMMV, but the B67 at 205mm just seems too wide for the application you're describing. I'd go for the standard B17 or the Flyer.

Maybe even a B-17 narrow and an imperial cut would be appropriate.

B17N is at 151mm width -- wouldn't work for me, and since OP is looking for a wider saddle to go with some drop bars, I recommended the B17 at 175mm. But certainly an Imperial cut with either the B17 or Flyer would work. I like the Team Pro because it is basically right in between Brooks's B17 (too wide) and their narrower (too narrow) saddles, all around 150mm. Love to get a Colt, but don't want to take the chance ($$$) with the width. Never going to be setting up a bike with drop enough to go narrower...

Good test for anyone with a 100+mi commute.

I don't understand the argument against drop bars. To me it's a simple matter of anatomy.

Let your arms drop to your sides and hang loose. How are your hands oriented?

If I grab something roughly the size of a handlebar and hold it in a vertical orientation, it feels natural through a wide range of arm positions. A 5-10 degree rotation is even better, maybe as far as 30 degree would work. However, if I turn it horizontal, I can feel tension somewhere in my arm until it's within about a foot of my chest.

For me, it's absolutely a comfort issue. Flat bars hurt my wrists. I can fix the problem with bar ends, and I imagine trekking bars would work too, but neither of those configurations puts the controls where I'd want them when my wrists are comfortable.

She also said she had narrow hips...the narrow might work for her. You know how it is, everyone's rear is different.

Oops, missed that part. OK, so OP -- hip width doesn't matter except maybe incidentally if it correlates with your sitz bones. There's ways you can measure this -- I work in a Trek shop and we have the Bontrager ass-meter, which seems to do OK.

Wallbike has some kind of Brooks return/refund policy you might want to check out...

There's a guy offering some brooks saddles he has. He said 50 for a b17. It sounds like he has quite a number of other ones that I could probably check out as well. Should I bring my bike to try them or would it be just as good to try them on the bike he probably has?

I'd say bring your bike! Measure the distance between one of your pedals at the lowest point and the spot where you sit on the saddle and use that as a starting point for the B17. The saddle will probably need a tiny bit of nose-up tilt.