Hi y'all,

I'm trying to set up a bike I have to be my ideal, part of involves setting up drops. I'm mostly into drops for the hand positions (vertical wrist is really comfortable to me, in the drops) but really am not into the super aggressive stance. I want to get a higher stem (threadless) and am looking into the VO Cigne Stem or the VO Happy stem, with the former being significantly higher (14cm!).

Does anyone have experience having drops raised so high? It seems like it would basically ride like a cruiser/city bike on the hoods and like a sporty city bike/old racer in the drops due to the position and stance despite the height.

You could try putting them on upside down. They they would not be drops so much as raises. I have considered trying that myself but never done it.

How do you get a vertical wrist with an upright position? You might want to look at moustache bars

I have raised the stem in my Canondale higher than the markings on the side say to go (older design with the expander bolt inside) and broke the fork tube right in half.
I'm lucky I wasn't hurt when it broke. Don't do that. Jack did, don't be like Jack.

I had a friend years ago that did flip the drop bars over upsidedown. He used it like that for years. I would try that.

The ridiculously high stem I'm looking at (VO Cigne), I still have enough steering tube clearance for how it is rated (its threadless) so that isn't a worry, although certainly something to be afraid of in general.

I'm talking about having the wrist vertical like it is in the drops as opposed to horizontal like it is on other bars (i.e. in a position where when you make a fist, your thumb points to the floor instead of sideways). I'd still be in this wrist position even if the drops were higher than normal drops are. I like this position, but not how low normal drops are; that's the idea!

The Scott "drop-in" bar would be perfect for that.

Generally I don't like my bars higher than the seat. However, some do. Set up your bike as you want it. If you have to have too tall of a stem, perhaps a larger frame would be better, or more of an "Endurance" geometry.

One other thing to keep in mind, the "Compact" bars can have somewhat less bar drop than other types of handlebars. Thus you might only need to raise them up half as much.=

Also look at other touring bar types. Butterfly, Moustache, Bullhorn, and those with the angled outward drops.

Thanks clifford, that looks like just what I've been wanting, without knowing it existed.

I was thing of trying them for a custom fork mounted bar.

You could probably find a piece of tubing to connect the two ends to give a continuous bar at the top.

Whatever you find that works for you, do it and enjoy it and ignore anyone who disparages how it looks or how unorthodox it is. The idea is to make your ride work for you, not for them. However, there will be bonus points if it works for you and looks cool.

I would be interested in what you end up with...please post a follow-up when all is said and done.

Will do! I am getting the bars in soon and will try them on my current stem before getting the Cigne...especially since its so pricy. To me the idea of high mounted drops sounds excellent and I'm not sure why nobody has tried it so far...we will see!

So.. one's knees don't hit the lower horizontal parts?

I think he is talking of wanting his wrist oriented so his thumb is up and his palm facing inboard. I can ride all day like that, If I am right, mustache bars are exactly what he doesn't want.

Ben

that makes more sense, I was thinking grabbing the bar ends which I would consider vertical wrists

I don't think so, but perhaps it depends on other dimensions of the bike.

It is rare that I'll bump bar end shifters. Standing Hills?

I'm not sure my knees would normally fit between the bars anyway, so it wouldn't be much different from standard drops.

I presume there would be a little more flex noted in the ends of the bars than one would get near a stem if mounted upside-down, but perhaps lessened if one could join the bar ends.

Bar tape inevitably doesn't fit the Scott bars well. Too bad it is hard to buy uncut or double-length rolls.

I used a Terry Stem, long quill short extension. Steel, on a bike build, got the bars up quite a ways..

How about trekking bars instead if drop bars?
then all bends are horizontal ..right to left and fore and back, on the sides..

Have a look at some of the Rivendell bikes with drop bars. You will see many who ride with the bars a lot higher than the seat. The only difference is that Rivendell uses extra long quill stems where as you are using threadless. The VO stem looks great and I bet will work well for what you want to do.

I was actually just looking at some Rivendell bikes for inspiration yesterday. I'm gonna make some preliminary measurements with my stem off so it can be a bit more accurate in the coming days before I make the purchase, but if the numbers work out I am going for it. Should have the tops about an inch above the seat.

My very first drop bar bike - an vintage Nishiki - had previously belonged to someone's grandmother, and had drop bars set very high using an adjustable stem. I rode it that way for a good year or so before deciding that a more aggressive position was for me, and had no issues.

I've thought about doing a similar build for a more comfort-oriented winter ride.