Hoods or drops?
 

Curious to see what others are doing.
During a solo ride with normal conditions and terrain what percent of your ride is hoods/drops?

After working on core and flexibility all winter I have been riding about 85% in the drops this year. My rides are between 15 to 50 miles as I'm sure duration will also be a factor for position.

On Chicago's streets the hoods, on the road the drops.

How much of a saddle to bar drop do you have? That makes a huge difference in how comfortable the stops are versus hoods.

I use the hoods for most 'normal' riding, when I'm going fast or when I'm in close proximity to other riders - so virtually all the time in a race - I'm in the drops.

4" drop

Both. And sometimes tops.

Hoods and tops account for 80%, 40% each, the other 20% are headwinds, I mean drops. I recently built a bike with less bar drop, and find it so remarkably comfortable I haven't ridden anything else since. I'm using drops more regularly now. This new bike has about 4" drop, rather than 6".

4" inches is a good amount. I'm a little less than 5" which gives me a back pretty much flat and a good aero position in the drops. With that my normal is about 70% hoods/30% drops. With races (or when I still did races), I stayed mostly in drops except for climbing and in a pack

Descents - Drops
Climbing - varies
Flats - Drops or hoods, rarely tops

80/20 hoods/drops

About 90/10 hoods/drops ratio for me, with a smattering of tops when riding easy, eating, or going uphill sometimes.

On the hoods with arms bent 90 degrees, forearms parallel to the ground actually feels faster than in the hooks for me.

drops when descending and riding close to others for superior braking. riding solo then its hoods most of the time, bend forearm 90 degrees and rest on the hoods, its more aero than in the drops.

I rarely use the drops, maybe while descending or pantani-style climbing
I think there a was post in BF saying that if your back is flat enough then the hood position (on modern groupset) is more aero than the drops

But if your back is flat with your hands on the hoods then your bars are probably too low. The purpose of road bike drop bars are to have an aero position in the drops and be more upright on the tops. So you aren't hunched down in an aero position the whole time lol. What year your group was made is irrelevant.

60/30/10.

60 hoods just general riding. 30 drops for decending, headwinds, or shorter steeper climbs where I've started standing and mashing trying to build up my short term bursts, and 10 tops when I'm on long rides and just want to change hand position for a minute and shake things out.

1/2" spacer under my stem, 125mm drops.

Tops when spinning climbing, hoods when standing
Hoods both up right and aero, on the flats light climbing and descending
Drops and hoods for light group riding
Drops for fast group ride and fast descending
I have a 4.5 saddle drop

Since refining fit (and just getting more used to it over the past year or so), percentage of time in the drops has more than doubled, but still probably well under 25%. I make a point of going to them for 30+ mph descents, but also when I want to make good time on a climb. On flats, I'll go to them for random sprints, to chase someone down, or, often enough, when I just want to pick up the pace a little. I ride on the tops about as often as I ride hands-free: almost never.
On one bike, I've found it easier to ride in the drops since adjusting the seat up slightly and taking a spacer out - going from about 1 1/2" seat-bar drop to about 2. On the other bike, lengthening the stem 10mm worked wonders.

Bend 90 degrees in the drops and it's more aero yet.

Iono about you but if my forearms are parallel to the ground when in the drops, my back won't be flat.

Assuming you're including "tops" with "hoods", then that amounts to about 60 - 70 percent for me.

Lately the hoods, except when racing or riding in a bad headwind.

Mostly hoods. Only time on the drops is into a wind, or when I feel like collapsing.

This is what I do.

I use the tops when eating or drinking.

Yes, but the drops are the safest HB grip there is. Bad roads, iffy riders around you or you are tired and not paying attention, the drops are the place to be. Could well save you a crash. And if you race and therefore have to ride, crashes can hurt your speed far more than the aero benefit of the hoods vs the drops will help. (The bible as recited orally to new racers in the 1970s. I hear of and see enough crashes of riders on the hoods to impress me that things haven't changed and that bible still applies.)

Ben

Nope, I only have 10cm saddle-to-drop, I may not explained it well but it's exactly like the post above me
if I want to be more relaxed I just straighten the arm
what I meant by modern groupset, is all the groupsets that have brake & shifter levers on the same place (brifter) for more easy control for the fingers while your arms is bent 90 degrees (of course it's also doable for DT or barend shifter)
modern handlebars like compact style also let your arm to have more space to "rest" for this position
In my opinion the purpose of dropbar in the modern era is for more braking control while descending or rides/races with more maneuver like criterium
http://www.bicycling.com/sites/bicyc...o12-stage8.jpg