hi there, just wondering, which is best drop bar or a flat bar, i have a flatbar , its more like a bullhorn, i have a drop bar on my road bike but i hardly use the lower part of them. so i think its more of a personal choice, but i see all these photos of loaded bikes and the majority of them all have drop bars. am i missing somthing?

Not necessarily, though if you are rarely in the drops on your road bike you are not getting the aerodynamic advantages they provide, and that can be very significant if you want to go faster or to maintain your speed into a headwind. Bear in mind that the resistance of the air is the main constraint on your speed.

The same applies on a tourer. Obviously speed is less of an issue on a tour, and a loaded bike is going to be less aero anyway, but judicious use of the drops can save you some energy especially in windy conditions.

Having said that, touring bikes with drop bars are very much a British and American fashion. Most of the touring bikes designed in mainland Europe, for example, have flat bars. I've done both. At present I have a heavy-duty expedition tourer with flat bars. I sometimes ride over pretty rough terrain and when heavily loaded, wide flat bars help a little with stability under those conditions. On the other hand, for light touring on paved roads I tend to put a saddlebag on a road bike with drop bars. So it is very much influenced by your personal preference and the sort of touring and terrain you will encounter.

Probably the same reason there are treads on most road tires - its what consumers are used to seeing. TT bars are proof positive that you don't need drop bars to go aero. It realy depends how you set up the stack height, stem, and the kind of flat bars you're running. I have horizontally oriented Ergon GC3's on a hybrid tourer and the bar setup is slightly lower than the tops of the drop bars on the Specialized Roubaix and gives about the same riding positions as the hoods and top bar on that bike.

Both kinds of handlebars have advantages and disadvantages. I can tour comfortably with both including off road with a drop bar and long road tours with a flat bar (and bar ends). I have 2 touring bikes - each with the different bars. I switch bikes every few years when I visit my family in the USA where my bikes are stored. My thinking is that switching bike geometry and bar types gives my body a change that prevents overuse injuries. So the answer to what type of handlebar is better for touring may be to think of one have you been using the most and pick the other - or just pick the one you prefer - both do the job.

It is important that you have the right size bar. Drop bars come in different widths so the broader your shoulders the wider the bar. I am a big guy so I like a 44cm drop bar and my hands 44cm apart on a flat bar. Flat bars can be cut to the correct width. Whenever I build up a bike for a woman I usually cut the bars down some because their shoulders are not as wide.

Good travels to you!

Pantani used to climb using the drops, even while standing. His bikes were custom built to keep the drops closer to the saddle height though.

For me its drop bars over straight and I have both for different uses on different kinds of bikes. Drops to me are more about hand positions and comfort on the bike. Aerodynamics is always a factor but on a tour bike with the speed, weight and attachments you are never going to be all that aero. Like jolly_ross mentioned I like my touring bike set up with more of French fit (larger frame) a shorter stem with some rise. Just the opposite of what one may want on an aero setup road bike with drops. My drops are not saddle height but more like the saddle height splits the hoods and the drops, give or take an inch depending on how I’m feeling. On my touring bike I have an adjustable angle quill type threaded stem. It is nice to be able to alter both angle and height on the road (mostly height). If I need a more aero position for a downhill it’s natural to slide back in the saddle anyway putting more weight on the back tire and then bending arms extending the hands up into the hooks more and you can get pretty aero with the bars higher. I ride similar into the wind but not as far back on the saddle. If your balance is good fore and aft on the bike there is no reason to straight arm the bars. This lower position on the drops is where I feel most in control of the bike and where I’m best braced for hard stopping. I try and stay in the drops about half the time I would say, but most of the time touring doesn’t require that need for total control I’m just pushing along at a slow pace taking in the views and the hoods are the place to do that.

If I had one concern about drop bars and STI shifting and braking it is my hands are not huge and they are designed to be operated from both positions and I could never get comfortable when the STI’s were placed at the classic location feeling comfortable working them from ether hand position. There are other drop bars that address this and I played around a lot moving them up and down figuring out what compromise worked best for me.

Another difference for me between using drops on a tour bike and a road bike for me is how I would wrap them. On my tour bike I spent a lot of time positioning padding points under the finish tape. Also working around all the gadgets you may likely be attaching to the bars you wouldn’t Fred up your road bike with. I used old bar tape for most of a summer wrapping and unwrapping as I changed things until I got it right. Even with smaller hands I found on my tour bike I liked a fatter grip than I would get with just tape over the bar. It’s all about comfort IMHO.

PS; Just as a side note I’m an older rider that grew up as a kid riding single speed Schwinn bikes in the 60’s and when the 10 speed invasion came along in the late 60’s early 70’s I loved the idea of the gearing and hated everything else about those bikes but mostly the drop bars. It wasn’t until many years later I figured out drop bars don’t have to be a torture device. Those old saddles were bad too.

This.

Brad

Just one note. Observe other riders on roads or MUPs where you are likely to see large numbers of both. In particular observe how they hold their arms while trying to go fast or into a strong wind. Drop bar riders who are hunched down usually pull their elbows in such that the shoulder, arm, elbow, and hand are all in a line tucked close to the body. Flat bar riders who are hunched down often have their elbows stuck out in the wind, arm segments positioned more laterally than longitudinally.

This would appear to be due to hand position. The elbow can be pulled in when the surface of the palm is vertical, facing inward, typical when gripping either the hood or the forward throw of the bar. When the palm is facing downward on the flat portion of the bar the wrist doesn't bend that way comfortably. (Try it.) A drop bar offers both positions. A flat bar does not unless it has forward extensions, but if the brake levers are mounted on the flats the rider can't keep his hands on them. Flat bars, at least those meant for mtbs, are also much wider, which makes pulling the elbows in more difficult.

The sections of drop bars not really necessary are the drops themselves! One can extend the hands to the hoods with elbows bent, a position perhaps even more aerodynamic than the drops. However cutting off the drops would save just 12 to 14" of aluminum bar, and sometimes the drop position is nice for other reasons than aerodynamics.

It boils down to what you are comfortable with.

straight/flat bars are good for descending on steep dirt where you can slide your weight back and have control of the brake levers. Beyond that, IMHO they are abominable WITHOUT bar ends or bar extensions.

A simple thought experiment, you're sitting on your bike and you put your hands on straight/flat bars where your hands are ROTATED thumb inwards. Try rotating them further, can't do it, your forearm is at it's max rotation. Ok, rotate your hands so rotated all the way out with palms up and thumb outwards. Makes no sense does it? Can't grip the bars from underneath. Ok, now rotate your hands to neutral with thumb pointing forward or slightly inward as though you were about to shake someones hand. Now look back to simple one speed bicycles from 50yrs ago, the bars sweep back so your grip is neutral. You can get that grip on the tops of drop bars at the bend and on the hoods. You can get that grip on extensions added to straight bars. You can get that grip on traditional swept back 3spd bars. You can get that grip on the extensions of flat bars but you cannot get it stuck on the grips of straight/flat bars.

Who in the world would do such a crazy thing.

I chopped the drops off this old set of bars. Most people when making bull horns also flop the bars and use a different type lever. With these Sora shifters with the thumb button you can’t shift them from the drops anyway to get the feel I wanted on the hoods I had the bars tipped up to much so I chopped an old set of junk bars. I like how it works on this bike but wouldn’t want the same set up on a tour bike.

Great points on the elbow bend also. With the bars tipped up a little its pretty easy to get aero with the elbow bend.

The beauty of the hoods and hand rotation. Compare rider A to rider B and weight positioned on the bike and elbow flex. I like this photo a lot when comparing lots of things. It came from a shoe ad.



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I am in the personal choice crowd as well. I like flat bars but I am a mountain biker more than anything so I try to seek out as much dirt as possible and I just have better control with flat bars.

Drop bars can be great, as can butterfly bars, bull horns, etc. It all comes down to riding style and preference. All styles have been used with success on all styles of tours.

I, too, hardly ever use the lower part of my drops. But the uppers offer far more hand positions than flat bars...even with bar ends...do.

dabrucru,
As with most issues here bar choice is simply a personal choice. I have drop bars on 3 of 4 bikes. My touring bike has drop bars and aerobars as do both road bikes. I just like the feel, and most importantly, when the wind is blowing 30 mph all day from ahead, I ride all day down in the aerobars. Maybe if I mostly rode dirt bikes I would be more inclined to use flat bars.

I hardly ever use the drops, but prefer drops to flat bars. If you are interested in compromise, there are of course the butterfly bars that seem quite popular in Europe. My wife prefers them as well.