I love my drops - the tops are level with my saddle and I don't feel stretched at all. Very handy in a headwind also find the position on the hoods much more natural for my wrists - my arms and wrists always hurt with flat bars.

Flat bars twist the arms 90 deg out of natural position so you're gonna hurt.

I'll second the Nitto Randonneurs. I also find that the flare of the bars makes riding on the hoods more comfortable, too, and it's easier to brake from the hoods with the brake levers angled out slightly.

Another flared bar that is even shallower and wider is the Salsa Woodchipper, a drop bar designed for off-road riding.

Interesting, I have the nitto randonneurs on one bike and I find that the flare makes riding on the hoods slightly less comfortable! Nice bars though

Yup. I switched my commuter bike to drop bars specifically for ergonomics. I was getting tired of always reaching for the race-like, rackless n' fenderless road bike for long rides and being forced to carry stuff on my back. Seems silly now, wanting to use the less-practical bike for greater distances.

I like riding on the hoods but find the drop part unusable. Its very uncomfortable on my neck and I can't reach the brake levers at all. I think part of the problem is actually my neck. Generally when sitting in a chair or driving my car, I have my seat tilted back to comfortably look forward. Too many years of slouching I guess. Also my hands are somewhat small which affect reach.

I'm going to have a fit done and see if switching to compact drops might help.

I'll agree that flat bars put the riders wrist and arms at a non-neutral angle instead of a "natural position", but I think 90 degrees is an exaggeration. My hands don't naturally hang flat at my sides, and they're certainly not perfectly vertical when I raise my arms in front of me.

Mary bars/3 speed bars have a significant angle that many people (including myself) find very comfortable. Different Northroad bars have different degrees of flare. Randonneur bars, Salsa Woodchipper bars, WTB Dirtdrops, On One Midge, and others offer different angles. Probably the most comfortable angle will vary person to person and be different at different shoulder angles.

Drop bars get a bad rap because they are mounted to low for lots of folk. They use the flats or hoods because the drops are to far down [understandable].

Drop bars do not need to make you bend in half

If a commuter were to mount some drop bars up they would/should use some shallow drop bars and mount them in a way where bring in the drops is about as comfortable as holding the hoods. If that commuter hit a head wind for most of their ride they would still want to be comfortable in the drops at the expense of not being as aero dynamic as a racer.

Unfortunately a lot of people that try out drop bars on a bike that is setup more towards a race bike then a practical bike. They hate the riding position, blame the bars and mount something more upright which may work for them. That's fine, but it does not mean that drop bars are categorically uncomfortable.


*I'm a staunch supporter of other bars, my main commuter for example uses mustache bars. I do believe though that drop bars can be completely comfortable and practical for all sorts of people*

This question is posted in the General Cycling Discussion section so the answers vary depending on the type of bike people have and thetype of riding they do. All the reasons have already been covered with the exception of a strictly road bike. Being in the drops is the best thing one can do to improve efficiency and speed short of adding aero bars. The benefits are even greater if you drop the bars to the point your back is in an aero position.

A few ideas --

Well, really, racers with drops and a deep saddle-to-bar distance wouldn't be using it if it weren't comfortable enough for six hours of training a day.

It's also nigh-impossible to put drops on something like a Townie and expect them to be useful. A big part of fitting them is getting a seat tube angle that's steep enough so that the angle between the legs & torso doesn't get too tight. If a particular frame has a more slack seat tube, getting a deep saddle-to-bar drop that's comfortable will simply be more difficult.

I'm honestly not too enamored with shallow drops, either. I think they're just compensating for a saddle-to-bar drop that's already really deep, usually deeper than what was on bikes in the past. I don't expect that the bottom of the "hooks" is really any deeper than the same position in traditional drops on an older frame.

There's also the rider's posture to consider (I don't mean position, I mean their posture in a given position). There's a reason why good fitters will say to relax the arms and put a slight bend in the elbows -- not only does it give some suspension to the front end, but it also reduces the rider's tendency to droop their upper spine below their shoulders. gecho, I'd guess that that's really what you're doing to make your neck hurt. If you take the load off your shoulders (rigid arms only end up transmitting loads to the shoulder joints), you should be able to get a more natural alignment in your upper body and get that crick out of your neck.

Well, I'm not sure I would describe myself as "passionate" about it, but I tend to ride in the drops a lot...easily 50% of the time on my modern STI-equipped bikes, and probably 75% of the time on my old (1985) Diacomp-equipped bike.

Not only are my hands more comfortable in the drops, but my whole body is more comfortable, and I feel more in control of the bike when there.

Probably worth noting that there's more than one "in the drops" position on a drop bar. I can think of nine different positions that I make regular use out of, four of which are "in the drops".

If you do a lot of climbing, then the drop bars are the only way to go on descents, those long and fast descents.

To be honest you can do a descend on a flat bar. You can't get as low as with drop bars but you can bend your elbows enough to matter. If there are switchbacks or any condition where full speed ahead is not feasible, an upright position actually helps to control your speed without burning your brakes.

Descending in the drops is also about being able to put more weight in the front wheel, to get more control of the bike, besides aerodynamics.