BoodBianchi

Hey all, how are you guys doing? As i've been starting to ride more, I have tried getting in the drop more frequently, however, I am not very comfortable in the drop because of their angle, I would say they are more of a 90 degree angle rather than a 45 which looks like it would be more effective. I have been professionally fit. Here is a pic, any recommendations on what kind of bars to pick up? Thanks...

Mine:




Compared to:

urbanknight

I'm not sure what you mean by 90 rather than 45, but chances are you just need to work on your back muscles and flexibility.

Cdy291

Those bars are really just made to fit that way. Most likely intended for someone with their bars level with the saddle insteadof have some drop.

BoodBianchi

UrbanKnight check my edit. Look at the angles.

Dheorl

Just how they're meant to be. Means if you want a good grip in the drops you need to get down lower.

kleinboogie

Might want to checkout the FSA Omega bars. They're about $40 and have a shallow drop and short reach. I like them because it makes reaching for the shifters easier. There's a video review of them on competitive cyclist. GL

Metzinger

Agreed.
I recently had bike magazines in two different languages on my coffee table, each with large compilation review articles for drop bars. There are a ridiculous number of different shapes out there, appealing to different hand/wrist/body geometries.
If I were you, I'd experiment by rotating the bars down slightly, and moving the brifters up an equal amount. This will necessitate unwrapping /rewrapping the bars. But you'll need to do that anyway if you buy new ones. Follow this by trying out friends' bikes, LBS bikes, until you find a shape that suits.

BoodBianchi

Thanks for the responses, my strength and flexibility is fine. When I go down lower on the drops I'm pretty far away from the levers and I don't like that, I have to move my hand position considerably to brake and shift also there is not much to grab because there is relatively little flat room on these bars. I guess I'm essentially asking for recommendations on which bars to try out? The verticle drops simply do not work for my wrists/arms. What us the difference between compact and non compact bars?

Metzinger

Compact bars usually have smaller forward sweep, and smaller drop, which means a less dramatic change when moving hand position from hoods to drops.

FreddyV

BoodBianchi, you're measuring two different angles. Top image you're measuring behind the hoods, bottom image you're measuring in front of the hoods. This gives you a completely different angle. Besides that different bars have different angles. I can ride with a Pro bar, though the angle will differ from your (let's say) Easton bar.

Dheorl

I meant get your body down lower so your wrists can be at the right angle, not holding on to the bottom bit of the drops.

AEO

are you comfortable in the hoods?

the angles look okay, so maybe the stem is too long?

gumbii

i think you just need to get used to it and learn to relax more in that position...

what hurts you or what makes you uncomfortable...?

rm -rf

Yeah, I really like them, too. The drop is 125mm compared with typical 130-135mm drops. I now often ride in the drops just for a change in hand position. With my old bars, I would only use the drops when it was necessary. The 80 mm reach is a bit short for Campagnolo shifters, which aren't as long as Shimano shifters. These Omega bars are cheap, but they are heavier than the other shallow drop FSA bars.

I put in a 10mm longer stem to go with these bars.

SkinnyLegs

Don't agree at all with what has been said. Your problem has nothing at all to do with your flexibility or fit as suggested. Those bars are simply not meant to be angled up as high as you have them. They are designed so that the bottoms will be about parallel with the ground when positioned as intended. But you have them angled up way high so the tops are a bit more comfortable when riding in the hoods. This obviously makes the position in the drops awkward as you've experienced.

You want bars that are designed to have a flat top and smooth transition to STI hoods. These generally have a very tight radius bend. This will leave the angle in the drops in a much more manageable position and also reduce the reach to the levers from the drops. Off the top of my head the FSA Omega Compact, FSA Wing Pro Compact, Deda Supernatural, 3T Ergosum, 3T Ergonova, and Easton EC90 SLX3 all have the shape you are looking for.

DXchulo

Isn't that more about the shape of the shifter and your hand size?

Are you looking for something more like this so you can have your hands on the angled part?

FreddyV

By the way, what I did to get more angle and a bit more flat at the bottom, is rotate the bar forward a bit more. After that I moved the brifters upwards a bit more and rewrap the bar tape. Worked perfectly.

ctcycler

I just recently put the 3T Ergosum on my ride and for the first time am comfortable in the drops. They fit me better than any other handlebar I have had.

AEO

PRO bars are designed by shimano for shimano levers.
Shimano owns PRO, so it's natural that they work better with shimano STI levers.

BoodBianchi

Yes, I am looking for something like this, thought I had made it clear, thank you for all the responses though guys...

JTGraphics

I felt like you in the drops at times I went to a EASTON EC90 SLX3 bars and they fill really good to me.

Yellowbeard

Take a look at the Ritchey bars.

The OEM bars on my bike were just like the first ones you pictured. I hate that shape, replaced them with some cheap Ritchey Comps. There's no good view on Ritchey's site, but Google gave me this view of the shape. The useful part of the drops is much longer, gives your hands much more space, the horizontal part is vestigial, and the angle is much shallower. I like them a lot.

CyciumX

Might be an unpopular choice, but you may be a candidate for raising the hoods and dropping the bar.

JacoKierkegaard

This. Bend your elbows more, and it'll put your hands in a better position relative to the shifters. If that doesn't work for you, then you should probably either get a higher stem (which I wouldn't do if you're happy with your position on the hoods) or different bars.

BoodBianchi

To be honest i'm pretty low already, the problem comes with my wrists. I need bars that are angled like the ones mentioned and am leaning towards the FSA Omega wing pro's however my stem has a 26 mm clamp. It looks like all the bars nowadays only come with 31.8 clamps is this the case or will I be able to find some of the suggested bars with 26 mm clamps?