Riding in the Drops
 

I come from an MTB background and my fixxie is the first bike that I've owned which has drop bars. I've been riding it for a month or two now and have never been comfortable riding 'down in the drops' so far.

I have a cross lever on the top for the front brake and spend the majority of my time with my hands on the top of the bars, but I'll grab the edge of the top of the bars (the top of the drops where it starts to curve down, I hope that makes sense) to sprint or climb. I've tried riding in the drops a couple of times in a headwind and it makes sense to be lower and more aerodynamic in that situation, but it just feel totally f*cked up to me when I'm riding in that position.

The majority of my riding is done in city traffic and I'm thinking that drop bars really might not be for me. I will be trying out some bullhorns and some risers very soon but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

When should you be riding in the drops and what are the major benefits of doing it? Is there some sort of technique involved that won't make me feel so ******** when I'm down there, or is a lot of it just familiarity with the position?

head winds, sprints, and fast descents are really the only time I use my drops when riding alone.

Since you don't have brake hoods any time you need la firm grip and leverage on the bars the drops are really your only option.

ride in them more.
Get brake hoods.
Raise them.

I've talked to a few people who are uncomfortable riding in the drops. One of them says she feels like she's going to scrape her face on the ground because it's so low.

The position certainly isn't comfortable, but it gets better. As dutret said, there's really only a few times you'd want to ride in the drops, and those are usually for speed or to get out of the wind.

Bullhorns allow you to get a little further out, helping get more aerodynamic, and also give you something nice to grab onto for climbs.

Being 'aero' on steep descents doesn't really seem like an issue since I'll be more worried about keeping my spin in check than gunning it down as fast as I can.

As for raising the bars and/or using brake hoods, why not just use bullhorns instead if I'm not worried about being aero. I did have aero levers on the bike when it was stock but I don't really like the idea of dummy hoods and I really don't like the idea of having to use a rear brake with a fixed gear either. I am looking forward to trying out bullhorns. I have a feeling that I'm really gonna luv 'em.

Bullhorns for the street.

That said, if you are riding in parks and stuff, or at the track, the drops are how to go. Maybe get some bars with a shallower drop, or just flip/raise the stem.

track drops or road drops?

Road drops. And yeah, I've flipped the stem. I might have to give it another go with the stem flipped upwards. My stem is 100mm and I'm curious to try a 110 or 120 aswell. I will try a 110 stem soon with risers, but that's a different kettle of fish, obviously. (My drops are oversized and I haven't found a longer stem for that to beg, borrow or steal.)

Because someday you are going to turn into a gusty 20mph wind and really really care about being aero.

Bullhorns are fine though. You'll probably need a shorter stem too unless you are going with flop and chops.

how tall are you, and what size frame do you ride? how long are your cranks?

i felt way uncomfortable with track drops on my 50cm frame, with 170 cranks. i felt i was going to knee myself in the throat, and that i was too curled up for my legs to spin properly. so i gave up on drops, until my pretty pogliaghi came along and i got 165mm cranks, and cinelli criterium drops - shaped like track drops, but shallower. now, the drops are the place to be - in the drops, my bike fits me.

I like bullhorns, myself. See if you can track down some cheap bullhorns and try them out.

(I found mine for about $15 on ebay)

some people just don't like drops. try some risers or maybe some bullhorns if you don't like riding in the drops. you might as well get some handlebars that you're comfortable in all positions on.

i personally love getting low in the drops and mashing. when i'm riding long distances i spend most of my time in the drops cause i can relax more and concentrate on my spin rather than my posture.

I don't know if was just how he had them set up, but my friend has a set of Specialized drops which seem to angle upward on the tops instead of angling down. Could have been just a weird angle the bars were rotated in but they were really comfortable, as if there were brake hoods. You'd probably love them if you're thinking about bullhorns.

I can't ride in the drops for too long before my back stars to hurt on one of my bikes because my stem has too low of a drop (gotta get a new stem : /). So I put riders on this bike for the time being. I can't use the risers for training rides/long rides because of the limited hand positions on the risers.

However on my other bike, the stem is level and fits me a lot better. When riding 30-40+ miles at a time, I like to stay in the drops most of the time on this bike because it feels better, and gives me and easier time through wind and such. I also feel like I push myself harder when in the drops, so I like to stay in them to get a better ride in.

Drops are so ftw.

you know last summer I was riding the drops a lot more, over the winter I've been riding a MTB with flat bars, and getting back on the fixie with track drops I'm finding it a little bit difficult to get used to. I think it's partly about flexibility. After a winter of short rides in an upright position, I'm just not as limber as I was.

Raise the bars a little bit, and give it a little time. When I first started riding road bikes again after years on the flat bar I was surprised how often I found myself dropping into the drops. I especially like them for climbing, and for descents although I haven't tried bullhorns which are supposed to be great for climbing. ANother reason I haven't been using the drops as much yet this spring is I'm a bit out fo shape. When I'm feeling good I like to grab a fistfull of drop and sprint around, but right now I'm happy to just spin it out.

The Nashbar "Time Trial" bars are $20 again right now.

Those bars flex like a jammie that has had enough of something ugly.

I ride in the drops everywhere except hills and through town. If you have it at the right height, it can be very comfortable, just be sure not to tighten up your upper back too much and dont hold it with a deathgrip. Its actually safer just to hold the bars lightly and let your legs take all the weight.

Some people prefer to climb hills in the drops - look at old vids of Pantani, RIP (good example at about 3mins 30seconds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVmsYp6MkCE ) and Ullrich.

I got to ride Pantani's bike once, and I found he had his bars surprisingly high, so his drops were nearly as high as my lever hoods. A good height for climbing.

The other time it's necessary to use the drops is really bumpy descents. Cobbled descents especially can make your hands drop off the hoods, tops of bars. When you're down in the drops your hands can slip off.

Edit: but I guess you can't reach your brake lever when you're in the drops - bad for descents

wait, you cant reach your brakes in the drops? weird...i have no problem hitting them, with at least 2 fingers.

the op is using a cross lever alone.

Which incidentally is a really bad idea.
It makes the positions from which you can brake and the positions from which you have best control over the bike mutually exclusive. not to mention depriving you of brake hoods.

I'm just on 6' tall and I'm riding a 56cm Kona Paddy Wagon. I have come to love this bike more than any man should love an inanimate object. I think that it'll always have a soft spot in my heart for being the beast that popped my fixed gear cherry.

The cranks are 175, so yeah, I'm really keen to try some shorter cranks too. I've borrowed some old 170 Dura Ace cranks which I'm planning to put on for a try this weekend. What you're saying there really seems to make sense, queerpunk. I've been as curious as hell to see if shorter cranks will help me spin faster, but I didn't even think that they might make me more comfortable in the drops.

I have bullhorns on my fixie, I ride in Manhattan...so they see both street riding and fast laps in central park. I can get nice and low and "aero" with them and have not had any issue with "aero". I have some nitto track drops too that I put on once in a while for shorter/harder riders but I far prefer the bullhorns for urban riding.

Take note though, with the bullhorns you want to have your stem (at least) 10mm shorter than with drops....

Use a cross lever for the front brake right next to the stem on the left.

I went directly from racing XC mountain bikes to the fixies (then a road bike)....it is difficult to get used to the forward reach road bars (of any kind) give you compared to a MTB, even MTB bars with bar-ends. BUt a few years later whenever I get back on my XC bike the position feels so odd....it's just getting used to things.

Well, that's an opinion. That's also why I think that I'll probably end up riding the bike with either flats, risers or bullhorns. City riding. The jury is still out though, of course. And I also feel like I have much stronger front brake power with the cross lever than I did with an aero lever and my hand on the hood.

The problem is you are comparing bullhorns to track drops(probably the worst bar choice for anything besides riding on a track).

Road drops and hoods gives you all the advantages of bullhorns with a better aero position.

If you are comfortable with flats you can att in some bar-ends to get better out of the saddle/sprinting positions which will give you something kind of like bullhorns. Ritchey's ergo bar-ends are especially nice with some flats and a long stem.....