comfort issues with drops and no brake levers
 

How do you guys ride around brakeless fixed gear bikes comfortably with drops?
I mean, on regular geared road bikes, the brake levers are generally the most comfortable position...thats where my hands tend to be on my geared road bike at least ~70% of the time. But without the levers, the best hand position is basically gone. I can see how track bars would be fine for short urban jaunts, but I'm more into extended rides. Currenly on my fixed gear conversion, I'm using chop and flips, and I run only a front brake with a cyclocross lever clamped up near the stem. That works fine with bullhorns, but I'm going to build up a new fixed gear bike (probably a Soma Rush) and I'm entertaining the idea of drops, because I like the idea of having a more aero position available to me...something bullhorns do not accomodate. I'm really trying to find a balance of functionality and personal taste and for aesthetic reasons, I really can't bear the thought of having one functional aero lever for the front brake, with an extra dummy brake lever on the right side. I dunno, does anyone out there find it comfortable to ride around for long distances on drops without aero levers?

(and yes, I know about moustaches...so don't bother with posts recomending those)

try mustaches...just kidding. kind of. try those, drops, flip and chops, track drops, bullhorns, risers....flip things and twist things till you find what's right for you.

stoker dummy hoods.

Get a longer stem. You'll find hands right by the stem to be comfortable for cruising, the shoulders for slightly more agressive riding. I only go into the drops when I really need to charge it and I have a clear passage because i don't feel comfortable skipping and skidding in the drops. As a city rider I need to do that a lot.

My favorite bar set up ever had champ grips up on the shoudlers, cloth on the drops, and naked bars by the stem. best of all worlds.

You can do the two levers into one cable trick as shown on the main site.

oh yeah, play with stems, too...it won't take long before you realize the position you want and can pick out parts in catalogs based on that.

It took a little getting used to but I dont really have any comfort issues with my track drops. I ride the bends and drops most of the time, and on the tops when Im taking it easy or to change positions for a bit to keep my hands from getting sore. I also have a longer stem on my fixed gear bike than my road bike, so that may be helping, Im not sure.

I recently did my first double metric century with track drops and had no comfort problems with the handlebars, just my ****ty saddle.

perhaps you might like bullhorns with drop, like the nitto 021 et al

^ just bought some 019's myself today

What you need to do is get some vintage steel Cinelli drops and cut the ends off and flip them upside down. It will be the smartest thing you have ever done. Also you should ride your saddle sloping at a 45 degree angle instead of level.

I've never seen anyone do this but It seems perfect if you don't want to use dummy hoods.
1 get some drops(ergos if you really care about comfort)
2. get a cyclocross lever
3. get some molded MTB bar ends.
4. position the bar ends near the beginning of the drop to mimic hoods.
5. tape up everything

Also it will probably be more comfortable then most hoods anyway(brifters and possibly old modolos being the exceptions.)

holy crap that's a really freaking good idea.

+a lot

where are "the bends", where the straight portion of the tops transition forward or where brake hoods would be or the farthest reach drop portion?

I think I have the same problems as the OP and moving hoodless drops around doesn't seem like a solution. On my roadie the hoods are perfect for extended riding and climbing but not very aero. The drops however are uncomfortable for spending any amount of time in but are great for headwinds and sprinting. The tops are great for between interval breath catching but to upright for most other riding.

On my commuter conversion I didn't want to splurge for really nice nos non-aero hoods or brifters so I flipped and chopped the bars to simulate the hood position on a road bike. Its great most of the time but headwinds suck. I normally have to ride my invisible aero bars which sucks on bumpy roads or put my hands by the step with my elbows tucked down which contricts my breating.

I know from experience on my track bike that I can't ride comfortable where the hoods would be without hoods its just too hard on wrists and nerves. So without hoods I have two possible positions on drops.
The tops and the drops

If I was to put drops on my commuter it wouldn't be possible to adjust them to the right positions.
-if i moved them far enough forward to make the tops similiar to the hoods on my roadie the drops would be too far forward. plus my chest would be alot more constricted
-If I raised them up to the point where I could ride comfortably in the drops the drops would be pointlessly high.

It would therefore only be feasible to do so with nice brake hoods or the method I described above. I'd probably go with the hoods.

anyway I've spent alot of time thinking about this and I'm pretty sure moving the drops around is not the solution.

By bends I meant where the bars have curved away and down somewhat from the stem but not quite as far as where the hoods would be. I find it to be a fairly comfortable position, but I always wear gloves and my bars are fully wrapped, so that probably makes a difference.

even with brand new gel gloves and wrapped bars my hands are numb 3-4 miles into my warmup riding there.

I have problems getting comfy, and just today went back to my Profile Design Air Wing TT, and remember how nice it is to have super comfy hard positions as well as some torque for being out of the saddle and cranking. I'm going to keep my drops for certain ocasions, but I love the TT bars.

I don't see what's so funny about moustache bars. I ****ing love mine.

if you like your moustache bars you should try my new fumanchu bars. they are pretty wicked wicked.

you know what's funny is that i googled fu manchu handlebars to see if you were joking or not, and then got sucked into 15 minutes of looking at beard and mustache styles.

pretty brilliant facial hair stylings ehh? i'm glad someone took the bait.