Need some drops to go faster
 

I have riser bars now. Earlier today I moved my spacers to see how lowering the bars feels. I was able to put a lot more power to the pedals this way and was loving it... until I got into lower speed stuff or just wanted to cruise and relax, then it wasn't so great.

So what I'm thinking is, get some wide road drops and interrupter style brake levers. That would let me stay on the tops of the bars for the low speed/relaxed stuff and then have the drops there when I want to get more speed on some open road. I'm not seeing the point of hoods. Tried them once on a friends touring bike and felt too stretched out on them and felt like my pull on the brakes wasn't as strong as I'm used to on flat bars. Would like to be able to use the interrupters as primary front and rear brake if possible. All this is just an idea as I've only tried drops the one time on my friends bike. Any feedback on this idea would be much appreciated and any suggestions as far as specific parts would also be appreciated!

Seems like you're missing the point.

I would always choose hoods over anything else, but sure, go for it.

One of the main benefits of hoods being that you can reach them from the drops, which you use when you're going fast, which is when you need your brakes the most.

:lol:

Hoods = 1 additional hand position, similar to that of pursuit bars/ bull horns. Nice to have even if you're brakeless.

Shallow drops + hoods = winning combo.

Yeah that additional hand position just didn't feel good the time I tried it. It could have been the stem was too long though. Maybe I should give them another shot. Any suggestions on what to go with?

Seems like you hate hoods position for some reason whatever. Sounds like track drops bar or bullhorn is a way to go for you.

And what is your bike? stem clamp size? 31.8 or 25.4 or 26 (25.4 - 26 is interchangeable) or what? you don't mention it so I guess no one can recommends you.

My fixed bike came with clamp size 25.4 so I go with track drops Nitto B125, this drops was very comforts drops for me. I can tuck all days long without fatigues. However, this drops is pretty deep, around 150+mm so mind your own flexibility if you can't tuck that much, you may go see something more compact drops bar for more comforts.

You can try Bullhorn bar but I never try that, no comments. Bullhorn is similar to drops but its have extra position that you can changes to.

Last, its really personally preference, everyone is different, you could get hundreds answer.

Check out 3T and FSA, they have a bunch of offerings for shallow drops

[See Below.]

The only thing that's going to make your bike faster is if you paint it red.

The older cycling manuals used to recommend dropped bars be set with the tops level or within 1 inch of the saddle height, permitting use of the flat tops, the forward top "ramps," the hoods, the hooks, the drops, and even the very ends of the drops. Modern hooded aero levers are really comfortable when they're set up right, and they work really well.

These are 42cm Nitto 185s with old Dia-Compe aero levers mounted with a Nitto Technomic Deluxe stem.

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4217/...52298be1_b.jpgGitane handlebars by Russ Fitzgerald, on Flickr[/IMG]

I use all of the positions the bars give me, but I find myself on the hoods about half the time or more. The drops are great when riding into the wind, and the hooks are where my hands wind up when I am spinning down a hill. The 185s are a relatively shallow drop bar, but the full side pic shows the range of movement forward and down that they offer. I also like the more parallel Nitto 176 bars.

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4015/...4b5ee0ee_b.jpgAugust 2016 by Russ Fitzgerald, on Flickr[/IMG]

Finally, even though it is surely a fashion faux-pas that will set off the fixie fashionistas, the old French randonneur bend might suit you well, too - the upward sweep would approximate some of the upthrust you like from the risers while still yielding useful hooks and drops.

My winter bike Last year had drops with cross levers as the only brakes, wrapped in an old tube.
Worked.