Flat Bar vs. Drop Bar (Cyclocross?) - Which One To Buy?
 

I'm a hybrid/commuter-bike noobie, in the market for an $800 bike, mostly for fitness, but on occasion I'd also like to do some recreational riding on fire trails with the family.

I've had a number of mountain bikes, and don't find them particularly comfortable for longer-distance riding, mostly due to the more upright riding position, so am considering a drop-bar bike, which I have very little experience with (do they handle well on dirt trails?).

I've test-ridden the flat-bar Trek FX 7.4 at the local bike shop, and liked it well enough during the parking lot ride, but it being a flat-bar, I'm not sure for how many miles I'd be comfortable on it. I haven't tried Trek's CrossRip, but it's $200 more than the FX 7.4. From Trek's website I can see that it'll handle fire trails well enough, but I'm not sure about the high cost.

With the above being my constraints/experiences, what bike(s) would folks recommend? Thanks in advance.

I wouldnt run drops off the pavement. I prefer flat riser on everything, or bull bars. I hate drops though so i am bias.

You could look at Jones H bars too or bull bars.

Just make sure you get the correct width, something easy to do with flat bars.

IMHO- either bike is fine; good fit is a bigger factor.
The flat bar bike has four sizes, cx bike half a dozen - get the bike with better fit.

The whole purpose of drop handlebars is to give you more optional hand positions during longer rides and being more aerodynamic. Therefore, you have to consider the type of cycling you'll mostly be doing and on what type of terrain you'll be doing it upon. CX bikes can mostly do it all, except for bombing down steep mountain hillsides, jumping off cliffs, and over gorges.

We leave that up to the FS mtbikes! :D

Therefore, I say, if you're mostly on paved roads commuting, with an occasional venture off road, then get the flat bars. OTOH, if you're gonna be cycling long country trails, plus doing much off road stuff, like single tracking for extended periods of time, and doing much maneuvering, then get the drop bars.

It's up to you. Here's my $0.02. i.e., what works for me. I ride a drop bar bike, and actually spend considerable time in the drops, especially when hitting a headwind. I am comfortable in the drops, and sometimes get down there for a hand position change.

Test ride them and see if you are comfortable with them. Also test flat bars and some different levels of risers to see what you prefer. Your top speed will be a little higher in the drops due to better aerodynamics, if that is important to you.

You meant "drop bars" here, I'm guessing?

Thanks for your (and the other three) replies. Now I really don't know which one to pick, but a guess would be to go test-ride a cyclocross to see how I like being "down there". My riding will be at least 75% pavement (but speed isn't important), so there's merit to giving drop bars a good look.

Any suggestions on drop-bar commuters in the $800 range? Thanks.

For commuting, bar style is largely a matter of personal preferance. One isn't demonstrably "better" or "worse" than the other. They're just different. Not unlike the choice between chocolate and vanilla. There are fans of each style.

My first bike was a hybrid. Chicago may have the reputation, but every coastal Great Lakes city is windy. Sitting upright with my chest, shoulders, and arms open like a sail and trying to pedal into the headwinds made me long for drop bars. Every bike I've owned since that first one has had drop bars.

I live in the city, work in the city, even work for the city. Measured by saddle time, number of rides, or miles, between 70% and 75% of my annual time/rides/miles are commuting and errands. (I've been car-free since April 1999.) IME, there's nothing about drop bars, even with the race-worthy 6-7 cm saddle-to-bar drop that I run, that makes them unsuitable for city cycling.

I'm pushing 60, so I can also say that age by itself doesn't rule them out either. (Nor does a bit of arthritis in the spine. Just takes me a few seconds longer than younger guys to straighten up again when I park the bike.)

Others like to sit upright and use flat bars or even riser bars. They have their reasons for their preferance. That doesn't make me wrong, just as my choice for drop bars doesn't make other people wrong either. It's good that there are choices for everyone.

As for choosing between an FX and a Crossrip, it comes down to the bars. Both are popular with commuters, both will work just fine. Whichever one you pick, you won't go wrong.

My Trek Portland is the predecessor to the Crossrip. I've put 15,000 miles on it so far and, except for the crappy decorator wheels that came on it, I've had to replace only the usual wear parts.

Although it's been eclipsed in the favorite ride department by my Litespeed, (and not by much either) it remains the one bike I'd keep if I could own only one. It's my first choice in foul weather, and it's my only choice in winter since it's my only bike that fits studded snow tires. I also take it on vacation to the family cabin in the back woods of Ontario Canada. It's a nice companion for 100km rides on fire roads. I just switch from road tires to cross tires.

Of my 6 bikes, 3 have drop bars and 3 have flat bars. I like both setups. Flat bars can be very comfortable with the right grips and/or bar ends. I ride centuries on my Trek 7.7FX with Ergon-like grips and do not have any hand pain or numbness at all. It's actually my most comfortable bike. On one of my drop bar bikes, I get wrist pain after about 60 miles. I'm thinking of changing the bars to something slightly wider with less drop. My other 2 drop bar bikes have "compact" bars (less vertical drop) and I find myself riding in the drops comfortably for miles.

I don't always ride off pavement, but when I do, I prefer drop bars.

http://37.media.tumblr.com/d92ce9afa...158mo1_500.jpg

Put on some slick tires, fenders, lights, and frame pump, and you are ready for the commute.

http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc...158mo1_500.jpg

Reading your newer posts and having read some more about cyclocross, it seems that drop bars offer an added benefit of choice of multiple hand positions, which is nice. I can very well imagine myself hunkering down low for a quick sprint, and backing off with hands on top of the bar to catch my breath. I found the CrossRip Comp and have been salivating over it for the past 15 minutes - carbon forks for shock resistance and disk brakes for wet days... for $300 more.

CrossRip Comp

I use the drops a lot just to get a change in hand position (though I spend most of my time on the hoods or the flats) and for sprinting too, but the days I'm really glad my bike has drop bars are the ones where I find myself riding into a big headwind that is just wrecking my speed with a more upright position. I don't normally love riding in the drops but on those days they're worth their weight in gold. Especially when I'm already running late to work.

I've looked into both the Trek CrossRip and the Kona Jake... any other cyclocross bikes that folks would recommend, that I should test-ride? My budget for this bike keeps stretching (the wrong way)!

Drops, for everything except serious mountain biking, or slow and/or short rides.

Although flat bars, low enough and with bar-ends, aren't too bad - but they still don't offer the variety of hand positions and range of torso positions, of drop bars.

Usually, whenever I think of exclusive commute cycling, I think of hybrids, where the cyclist is sitting in a more upright position in order to better view traffic. However, drop bars can work just as easily when they're equipped with interrupter brakes....(GOOGLE images of interrupter brakes)

So therefore, you need not pursue this matter any further. If you're leaning towards drops anyway, it's really a moot point from my perspective. Just install interrupter brakes and ride the hoods more in the city, and dig into the drops whenever speeding down country lanes facing a headwind.

IMO, since you have more available hand positions given from drop handlebars, you would also quite naturally have greater maneuverability, due to a wider range of angles available whenever lifting and pulling from those more varied hand positions. That's a benefit that most certainly can be appreciated whenever cycling. That's especially so, when single tracking! :D

Bottomline: Ride the drop handlebars more like flat handlebars, until you're ready for the drops. Riding the hoods is more like riding a hybrid with flat bars...

Lovin' my Crossrip LTD. The hoods are where I spend most of my time. The drops are great for riding in a headwind. The flats are where I am when toodling along with the wife on her cruiser. The interrupter brakes are really handy then. Rode about 2.5 miles yesterday on hardpack (some of it was not so hard) and grass sgl track. The drop bars worked fine. The multiple hand positions and better aero for a headwind is what got me interested in drops in the first place. I have not been disappointed.

Jacquie Phelan ("Alice B. Toeclips") dominated women's mountain bike racing using drops - -

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XisARxh4P3...1W-300x371.jpg

OP: This is your personal choice, probably best made using experience over a period of time. :)

It's all about personal preference.
I consider flat bars just a pipe for hanging stuff on 'til you get you real bars, though :lol:
Fit is very important, and I feel drops offer more useful hand/wrist positions for comfort on long rides.

I have a friend that went from a Trek fx series to a cross rip and he now never rides the fx. Ir you like flat bars just ride on the flats of the drop bars and you have them, the cross rip comes with interrupter levers so you can brake from this position. I have 5 bikes for different purposes but if I could only have one something like the cross rip would be my choice.
others will feel differently that's why they make so many styles of bikes. Don't let the initial cost get in the way if you really like one over the other, bikes last a long time the pain of the money goes away after a short while, unless of course your wife is opposed then the pain can last longer.

Personal preferences are developed over time so what's right for one person is right for one person and that can change as the years go by. With that said, I do a lot of different types of riding, year round commute, mountain biking, road, fat, snow and every thing in between. Over the years I have spoiled myself by owning a bike for every purpose. 3 have drops, 3 have flats/risers.

If I could give you one of my bikes to cover your needs it'd be a one of the CX bikes with drops. That is my choice for the most riding situations and get by far the most miles of the bikes in my herd. My mountain bikes are for serious off road and snow, road bike is road only, the CX bikes can handle everything else. As others have said drops come in handy for the aero advantage and the multiple hand positions, and I find those to be considerable advantages.

All my bikes with drops have FSA wing pro compact shallow drop bars. They are to me by far the most comfortable bars I've ever tried, so easy to get around on, can stay in the drops forever if I want. Others have suggested adding interrupter brake levers on the tops, but I just can't understand why you'd need the extra parts and fuss. I almost never ride on the tops anyway.

Good luck on your decision.

Im OK with Figure 8 bend Trekking Bars in place of straight bars (easy Swap).. It really is Personal Preference ..

I can Bend over into an Aero tuck (primarily, Into Headwinds) with those Too

I have drop bars on some , too , so choices can change over time in the rider's life, too.

Great feedback, and thank you all, forum members! This discussion has been wonderful, and probably prevented me from purchasing the wrong bike (for me). I'm pretty sure that I'll choose a drop bar bike for its versatility, but will definitely test ride a couple first. Now to visit all the bike shops in the area to see what they have on offer...

you'll never know what you'll like best until you ride a lot on both.

If you're 6 feet or taller, checkout Diamondback's Steilacoom RCX Bike at REI-OUTLET @ $1160

Diamondback Steilacoom RCX Bike - 2013 Overstock at REI-OUTLET.com

* 105 Gruppo

I'm 5'7".

+1. All of our personal preferences won't mean anything if you (the OP) end up unhappy with your choice. Try out a bunch of bikes, and let us know what you get. :thumb: