its from a joke thread that someone posted a few months ago. nobody actually rides that bar.

Its a joke that Brookyln Machine Works did.

I think this thread is funny, and why I love BF.

I ride this way sometimes just to change up my hand position but and on my bike with drops my brake is up top. I think people who ride geared bikes a lot forget you can put your hands there cause its not near their shifters or brakes.

i seriously watched a guy ride away from a shop in Chicago with his bars looking like that... what a frickin goon...

Strange, I find myself putting my hands there instinctively when i'm riding a long straight stretch of road. Didn't think it look cool or anything, it just feels comfortable with my hands there when I don't need to be constantly turning or anything. I ride bullhorns (chop-flip) and use the horns when accelerating and ride the flats with my hands further apart if i'm turning alot.
I actually was interested in getting those add-on bars (please excuse my ignorance, i'm new) that allows you to rest on your forearms/elbows. Can anyone enlighten me on those?

I ride on the tops a lot when I'm on my road bike, so much that I bothered to install in-line cross levers on the bike, as I much preferred being up top/on the hoods in traffic so I wanted brakes to-hand.

This preference carried onto riding on my fixed gears - my winter bikes had both drops and bullhorn (flip/chops), my current bike has Nitto bullhorns and I love riding in the center as well as all around the bar. It's just another hand position for me.

Balance/control is obviously a bit easier the wider you hold the bars, but it's something you get used to really quickly (I remember being all over the place when I first got back on a road bike from riding an MTB for 10 years).

I find I use the bullhorns more when skip stopping, I find I can pull way more effectively, but this is a conscious choice - if I have to stop, I'll stop by whichever means. Plus, my brakelever is on the top-centre, too.

Triathlon bars/aero bars - used for getting out of the wind when road riding/racing - some are detachable, and you can get shifters for them and brakelevers too I believe. It's just another position for riding that allows for a decent aggression while still keeping out of the wind.

I don't see any good reason other than that is how some people want to ride. I saw some guy completely biff a corner because he had no leverage in the turn, and it looked like he tangled his feet up in the front wheel with a bit of toe overlap. Not saying this would not have happened if he had a bit more leverage on the bars, but still-- it is one inch away from riding no handed.

I ride in this position occasionally when I'm tired of the drops and don't feel like using the place where the hoods should be. It's not incredibly comfortable nor do I think it looks cool. My drops are fairly narrow, so I don't have a ton of options. YMMV.

...and I only ride there on straightaways. Not for stopping, starting, or turning. That wouldn't make much sense. ;)

It started because track drops start curving almost from the stem, so the only flat part to hold onto is right at the stem. A bunch of poseurs saw some messengers doing it and it caught on - even when the rider is using bars that don't require this.

Everyone here who does it on non-track drops for "aerodynamics" or "power transfer" is full of crap.*


* I'm just a codgy, cynical bike rider.

Its not, at least not in my case done "only for fashion". In fact such a thought had never even crossed my mind. Further more, I've never seen anyone else ride like this. I ride only with my hands next to the stem though, never on the stem, this I can't imagine would be very nice. However, I discovered that for me its quite comfortable when I'm casually maintaining speed. For speeding up fast or climbing I use the drops, and for other riding I use the downward curve of of my track bars, which seems like it should be uncomfortable but isn't.

It sounds like you have track drops. If you do, riding close to the stem is totally okay. When I had track drops on my bike I rode like that often, and it makes sense as that is the only flat part of the tops.

However if you have bullhorns, road drops, risers, flat bars, etc. etc. there is no good reason to ride like that.*


*again, I'm a codgy, cynical *******.

TRACK DROPS SUCK FOR RIDING IN THE STREETS (In my irrelevant opinion)!!! I did a 10 mile ride just to test them out (the last time I tried them I rode 5 blocks, turned around, and changed them immediately. I hate hate hate them for riding in the streets. I have hills to tinker with and climbing in the drops or on the sides is just pitful, nothing beats road bars or bullhorns when you have that. For sprinting and riding fast when you've got all green lights they are wonderful, BUT how many times do you really get to do that when you got red lights to mess with. I hate not have any top bar space, but I do think road bars with brake hoods are a much more sensible thing to mess with if you want the track-ish look.

One hand is the new no brakes. More aero barspinz with a flick of the wrist.

it's a nice upright position for cruising and keeps your head higher, so reading traffic is easier. if you have an OS drop bar the extra diameter makes a comfortable grip even if they're not taped.

I'll do it on drops in heavy traffic or sketch situations, but if you do it for too long and then go back to the drops/hoods it's like someone is opening up your lungs.

AWWW IT'S SO CUTEE!!!!!

most guys rarely if ever use the drops at all

its funny that people say wider bars open up your ribcage so you can breathe better when you're exerting yourself, and yet people ride with their hands purposely narrow like that.

me, my monster pecs feel uncomfortably flexed when i try riding with my hands narrow by the stem. so just use a normal width grip.

Wasn't there a big issue in road time trials where people would be in a certain aero position (forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was called the Preying Mantis?) which was really aero, but compressed your lungs (arms really close together), so every once and a while riders would bail hard due to blacking out from lack of oxygen? Someone told me this once (i think)... just remembered it... dunno.


but hands close together (not on aero bars) would equal a higher torso, meaning more wind resistance, where as on the drops your body out of the way creating less wind resistance?... That would be my guess considering road racers don't use 3" flat bars for racing (I guess they would if they were more aero :P )

I ride a narrow nitto track drop. I find that I hold the bar close to the stem some of the time when I am cruising. Also, I ride sometimes in this position with my palms up when i'm tired, in the the bend where the hoods would be when I'm bored, and in the drops when I climb. I find the close-to-the-stem position the most comfortable for street riding because it gives me the most leverage for braking/skidding.

Pretty skeptical about the aero positioning of this riding position, but I think most people end up riding what they are comfortable in. I don't know about holding the stem itself but I don't think most people can climb or mash well in that position.

I'm not racing, and you don't have my body on my bike..

Imaginative excuse.

This style of riding makes it easier for idiots to crash their expencive track frames when they hit potholes.

I wouldn't say it's a fad but I see it a lot (myself included)
I started young and even on a road bike I choked up on the handlebars. Move the bars a lot with your hands there, the bike isn't turning. = Good! I prefer manual-hard turning.

Like one-hand riding with your hand on the outside of the drops = death...too easy to make that bar turn 90 degrees.