Does riding in the drops use more energy?
 

Is it more of a comfort issue with having to bend farther down? I would think that riding on the hoods would use more energy than the drops because of the aerodynamic disadvantage (With the exception of climbing hills). I am comfortable with staying in the drops for prolonged periods of time, so should I if want better endurance?

No riding the drops doesn't use more energy. It saves energy because of the aerodynamic advantage. If you can stay on the drops for an extended period, you are doing yourself a favour.

We can all do with better endurance and power output.

Some riders with limited flexibility can't put out as much power in the drops as they can in a more upright position. If you are comfortable there likely isn't much difference in the power you are putting out but you will go a little faster if you ride in the drops.

This is a slammed stem thread in disguise...

i used to only ride in the drops on my descents because of my horrible flexibility, but i am riding them more and more now and getting used to it.

i find i put out a quicker average speed when i spend more time in the drops. Last year was the first year where i'd spend at the very least half of my ride in drop position. This year i'm hoping to spend even more time as i continue to build my flex and strengthen my back.

Riding in drops hurts my nards. And before you all go speculating on my fit, its just how I am. Used to be I avoided the drops because I cared what people thought and didn't want to look like I was trying to be Dennis Christopher behind a truck.

Now, it's only for headwinds and steep, familiar descents.

hurts my GERD. I wonder if a smaller belly would help.

I feel more in control on the hoods (better for steering and access to the brakes, for me at least) so use them and bend my elbows on the faster downhills. I find the drops have greatest benefit against the wind.

OK already we get it....you have a huge package.

On with the thread....

Well sure, you're not going to get in the drops and ride slow are you? I don't know about you but I'd feel foolish - I go harder in the drops and grab the hoods when I'm slacking off. So the drops do use more energy.

Doesn't take long for the 41 to sink into the gutter. More about height/reach.

This might be what your looking for: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Bike-Positions



check out the racing section sometime soon.... a lot of stuff goin' on there.. :thumb:

Isn't it good to switch it up every once and a while though? I've heard that between the two positions, you use slightly different muscles, so if you switch it up a bit you can give them a little break. Now I know this might not matter at all on shorter rides, but for long endurance races like 100+ kms it would benifit at times no?

I use the drops no flats and steep descents. I do a lot of roads with a 15-25% slope....I can't generate enough stopping power on the hoods to keep this under control.

With a properly fitted bike and flexible rider, the drops are appreciably faster. If drops are less efficient, probably bad fit or lack of flexibility. But working on flexibility has proven to be a lot of fun for me!

It probably would but i'm trying to increase my flexibility.

I find it interesting that people use the drops so much on descents, when they really don't really need to be on the drops, yet are happy to expend more energy than is needed on flat roads by riding on the hoods.

And before you drop a bundle on me, I am as guilty as the rest of you. But I am trying to change that on my road bike (as opposed to touring bike).

If you started riding in the 70s, when bikes had those horrible non-ergonomic hoods, you got used to riding in the drops.

Even today, when I break out the winter bike, an 80s vintage Schwinn, I'm on the drops 90% of the time. I could get brakes with more comfortable hoods, but it's a back-up/winter bike. There's only so much I'm gonna spend on it. :lol:

Only time I do the drops in the descent is when it's so hairy that I really have to have full trigger action on the brakes - I have small hands and doing it from the drops gives slightly better leverage than from the hoods. Otherwise, I'm all about aero when hi yield, which means drops as often as possible on flats, and on fast straight descents.

Glad you pointed that out. Yesterday, I watched this video, and they say the drops lower your center of gravity which helps on cornering.

I try to be in the drops any time my airspeed is about 12 mph or higher and I'm not climbing.

Drops is actually more aero at higher speed. The downside is I find my hands get strained quickly if I don't pedal hard enough. So when I get into the drops, you see me spinning like an addict even though that was not intentional at all...

And it depends on how one rides in the drops. I see many riders using the drops with little or no elbow bend. They'd actually be faster on the hoods with their forearms horizontal. Cylinders have terrible wind resistance. If you're going to make the effort to ride in the drops, get deep into them and bend your elbows. I descend that way in the drops unless I'm trying to go slow.

I agree about the vintage thing. When I was a kid, I always rode in the drops. Now I'm more likely to do the level forearm thing on the hoods.

Clip-ons are the way to really get the energy down. I'm higher with clip-ons then in the drops with a full tuck, but I descend faster because of having hidden arms. It took me a long time to realize that, because it doesn't feel faster.

See the left photo in the hoods section, and how his wrist is resting on the top of the bar? I use bars with a bend and brifter placement that has my forearm almost horizontal when I'm doing that. So then look up at the left photo in the drops section. See how, if his bars were bent like I'm saying, he could move his hands to his hoods without changing his back angle, but thereby reducing the wind resistance of his forearm. Anybody else do that?

I often use that position for short flat or downhill segments on a longer climb where it is not a long enough time to really make the change in position to the drops worth while.

When descending something steep enough that I spin out my biggest gear (50x12) I will grab the bars in the drops at the section that is perpendicular to the road and get low enough that my forearms are parallel to the road. If I'm not cornering, I set the crank arms parallel to the road and very lightly squeeze the top tube with my knees. My chin is normally about 2 to 3" from my stem in this position. Haven't gotten up the cojones to try the pro, sit on the top tube, grab the tops, and bite the stem position yet, but the position that I first described was good for about 64 mph on the gnarliest descent in my area. In a regular drops position I only made it to 57 mph, and on the hoods it was barely 50 mph.

i think on a high speed descent, they NEED to be where they are most comfortable, have the most confidence...and for some (me) that's in the drop position. I would not be comfortable or confident in any way on a high speed descent with my hands on the hoods. my hands sit in the drop with my trigger fingers resting on the brakes incase i need to react to something.