fiddling with drop handlebars

[Zippy]

I am mucking about with the incline of my drop handlebars to get that sweet spot where it doesn't matter where you place your hands the grip feels right - unsuccessful so far.

If I turn down the bars until the drop part of the bars feels right then when I am on the hoods my wrists are strained - too open on the thumb sides.

If I turn the bars back up until my hands feel right on the hoods then when I drop to the drop part of the drops (if you see what I mean) then my wrists are turned too far upward so I am not able to lean my weight into the drop bar - my wrists are bent upward.

My cheapo Puch Free Spirit 10 was never this touchy and that had drops - do I need different bars then?

This is on a Kona Honky Inc.

 

[festival]

I am mucking about with the incline of my drop handlebars to get that sweet spot where it doesn't matter where you place your hands the grip feels right - unsuccessful so far.

If I turn down the bars until the drop part of the bars feels right then when I am on the hoods my wrists are strained - too open on the thumb sides.

If I turn the bars back up until my hands feel right on the hoods then when I drop to the drop part of the drops (if you see what I mean) then my wrists are turned too far upward so I am not able to lean my weight into the drop bar - my wrists are bent upward.

My cheapo Puch Free Spirit 10 was never this touchy and that had drops - do I need different bars then?

This is on a Kona Honky Inc.

The is no guarantee the shape of the bars provided on any stock bike will suit you, but could be the brake levers need moving.
Dont assume the factory set them right.

 

[pshore]

I'm kind of finding the same. I have had a touring bike with drops for a year now and I have it setup so the ramps are flat, if not angled up slightly. Because of this, the drops however are at quite an angle and are not that comfy for long periods. It's really comfy riding on the ramps for long periods though.

Recently I got a road bike and when it arrived it was setup so the drops part was horizontal to the ground which is really comfy and you feel like your arms are supporting you properly. The problem is that the ramps are angled down and not that comfy, and the hoods/levers are quite far away for me.

This page is good. I didn't realise there were so many different bar designs:
road-drop-bar-geometry

 

[asterix]

Altho' I have quite wide shoulders I don't like the width of modern bars. My fave bars are 38 cm on a 62cm frame. The 44cm bars on another bike just feel wrong and no change of angle will fix that. I think wide bars are unnecessary, uncomfortable, create too much wind resistance and are a caused by the MTB fashion.

 

[MacB]

The height of the bars will also make a difference to the angle of your wrists in either position. Personally shallow drop works best for me, but that'll be, at least partly, an age and flexibility thing. Then I concentrate on getting the tops, corners and hoods to my liking and live with what that means drops wise. So far it's pretty ok but I did try several types of bars to improve it. The angle of the drop flat section matters as well, I like something that flares out slightly.

 

[Banjo]

The height of the bars will also make a difference to the angle of your wrists in either position. Personally shallow drop works best for me, but that'll be, at least partly, an age and flexibility thing. Then I concentrate on getting the tops, corners and hoods to my liking and live with what that means drops wise. So far it's pretty ok but I did try several types of bars to improve it. The angle of the drop flat section matters as well, I like something that flares out slightly.

+1 to that.

If you dont want the expense of new bars get them set up for comfort on the hoods as most riders spend the majority of the time on them.

I fannied around for weeks with my bars , pretty comfy on hoods and drops now.

 

[peelywally]

dont think there is a sweet spot with drop bars , its always going to be a comprimise between maximum comfort on the hoods or drops you cant have both , can you ?
aim for straight wrists on whatever position you use most would be my pennys worth ,
i opt for straight wrists on the hoods simply because if im on a long ride i will spend most time there and ache i can do without .

 

[Hydra]

I've only recently started riding with drops, and I'm still trying to find the optimal position. I'm not sure simply tilting the bars up/down will be effective though. Maybe you need to alter the position of the brake levers as festival said...

 

[Rouge Penguin]

+ One to comfy hoods. I spend 95% of my time on them, so make sure they suit. My hoods are pointing slightly upwards, meaning my drops are on a slight angle down.

 

[mickle]

If you can't reach comfortably to the drops for miles on end they are (by definition) too low. Either raise the stem or fit a shallower set. Simples.

Or they are too far away, so fit a shorter stem.

 

[tyred]

I spent ages trying to adjust the bars on my Peugeot so I could be comfortable on the drops and couldn't quite get there. Then I had a Eureka moment while riding and decided the saddle should be further back. It's been fine ever since.

 

[Zippy]

decided the saddle should be further back. It's been fine ever since.

There's interesting. I was cycling home tonight and found that as i get more used to the bike, my saddle feels too low. raising the seat by a touch may make a difference to the feel of the drops. Its not that they are too low or far away. It is the angle they are at (angling upwards too much) when the hoods feel right. When I am on the drops I like to feel like my wrists are not buckled upward; getting there.

 

[slowmotion]

I'm new to drop bars too. After some experimentation, I have a comfortable position on the hoods (no interest at all about riding in the drops for any length of time BTW), but the brake lever positions feel so un-natural for my hands and fingers. Any information about how to sort out forearm/wrist/finger angles would be really appreciated. The usual bike-fit websites seem to skate over hand positions.

Thanks.

 

[Norm]

... but could be the brake levers need moving.

Have any of those who have had problems tried this? If the levers are in the wrong place on the radius for you, then you'll never get it so both positions are comfortable.

 

[MacB]

Have any of those who have had problems tried this? If the levers are in the wrong place on the radius for you, then you'll never get it so both positions are comfortable.

This is worth noting, I guess that people are happy to swivel bars in the stem bar clamp, raise/lower stems via spacers and even swap stems altogether. But there'll be a reluctance to mess with the bar tape, if you really want to get it spot on then the tape has to come off. I'd tackle it by starting with saddle position then working forward to reach and bar height. Once you've got this pretty well then it's a case of understanding how lever positioning, and bar angle, affects your hand and wrist positions. Keeping in mind that tilting the barhoods up will bring the reach in and vice versa. Personally I'd get the bars into a reasonable postion without the levers first. So that tops, corners, imaginary hoods and drops all work, then put the levers on to match and see how braking is from the hoods and drops.

As far as I know the stock setup is normally bottom of lever level with bottom of drops, so if you put a straight edge underneath the drop part the bottom of the lever should be roughly touching this. I've rarely seen anyone who has moved the levers so that it's significantly below this point but I've seen quite a few where the levers are further up the bars than this.

Unfortunately it's one of those bits that is trial and error as any one change has a knock on effect. A reasonable proximity of ideal should be achievable in a few miles but it could easily take several hundred miles to get it all correct. Maybe worth setting up bars and using some foam padding, rather than bar tape, whilst tweaking.