It's an opinion based on the characteristics of various bar positions, the uses of a brake, and the requirements of riding. If you feel like you didn't have enough power with a normal lever you need to get your brakes adjusted. And don't forget the whole point of cross levers is that they can be used inline therefore not requiring you to remove your other lever at all.

Bullhorns with cross levers are pretty ****ty too. Once again if you can reach the lever you have less control over the bike then you do with other hand positions.

cut off risers just give you ****ty leverage/control period.

I use a tektro aero lever with the lever still in as a dummy hood. Much better than a hood with the lever removed. The only thing I don't like about it is that the hoods don't give a super ergonomic position for my fingers---when really torquing up hills at ~40 rpm the best I can do is to have my pointers resting over the brake levers and the remaining three fingers jammed in between the lever and the bar. Still hoods are good and without them drop bars lose a lot of sparkle. If it werent for the hoods, I woundn't ride with drops at all.

Nitto's Noodle bar also has this shape. It's very comfortable.

That's what I'd been thinking alright. I have enjoyed learning to ride with drop bars though and I'm still willing to give them more of a chance yet.

I've been digging all of the input that you guys have dropped. Roxorz my soxorz and all that ;-)

I don't understand why everyone assumes drops must be super-low.

IMO, it's all about the hand position. I prefer the wrist position of drops over anything else. That decision made, I place them at a height and distance that's comfortable to me.

I don't understand people who say something like "the drops are too low"... all that means is THEIR drops are too low. This forum is particularly bad about this.

I alternate between a set of bullhorns and a set of drops (currently riding with a set of Cinelli road drops, bare of course :P ).

I find that, when riding the drop bars, I spend lots of my slower cruising time with my hands on the flats, right up close to the stem. I use the drops when I want to sprint or climb, when I want to hustle or take off quickly, when skidding/skipping, and when it's windy. I find that getting low helps me put a little more power into my stroke.

When riding with the bullhorns, I tend to ride with my hands on the horns more than the flats. This makes me think that it's more about hand/arm position than height; I seem to be more comfortable going balls-out when my hands are gripping something parallel to the bike frame, not perpendicular (as in risers, flat bars, etc.).

i switched from bullhorns to road bars with aero levers because of comfort. i'll either be on the top position or the lever hoods. just because you don't have a rear brake doesn't mean you can't use both levers. it's like a hundred grams, maybe more. just suck it up and use whatever setup is most comfortable.

I seem to say this in every bar thread, but it's true.

Go get yourself some Randoneur bars! The shallow drop and flare is so much more comfortable than regular road bars and you get the tops and hoods as well.

Also, yes, flip your stem up. It makes a huge difference, even if it does damage your street cred a bit among the lycra clad roadies.

sometimes they're on super sale though, i got a pair last year for only like 13 bucks or something. can't beat that. The model of them is pretty nice, but yeah one time when i was messing around with skids i had a really low-speed, minor tumble and the one side bent like a mofo

no kidding, fg kids have a real blind spot where some types of bull**** are concerned. stop making dutret right bfssfg.

Does EVERYONE say that? seems to me half the posts in this thread have suggested raising them up a bit. In other words among those of us who actually USE drops the consensus is that it does you no good to have them so low as to be uncomfortable.

All drop bars have the potential to be comfortable, it's just a matter of overall bike fit. With the seat and handlebars at the right hight and the stem at it's proper length, then getting down on the drops should not be putting the body into a position that is too unatural at all. I'm constantly going between my brake hoods and drops depending on the riding situation, but I usually hit the drops on long open flat sections where I can drop the hammer or for holding my line while diving into a sharp, high speed corner.

As for the bars themselves, I've come to love the 132mm drops on my Langster. The shallow and less-angled drop sections just below the brake levers put me in a comfortable and controlled position.

I never said that I thought the drops were too low. They just feel weird and uncomfortable to me, but I think that a huge part of that is just my lack of familiarity with them. I am looking forward to trying them with a slightly longer stem. edit: Sorry JeffS, you probably weren't talking about me in particular.

I just cut down some swept flat bars to 50cm and put them on this arvo. The bike instantly felt frikking awesome to me, as I knew it would since I've been riding a flat bar road bike in the city for quite some time before getting the fixie. Nimble, agro and ready for traffic. I'll be taking it out for a courier road test tomorrow, which should be fun.

Thanks for all of the helpful input on this topic.