Front Suspension mtb with Drops

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Monty Dog

New Member
Location
Fleet
His name wasn't Bob was it? - because that's how it would ride
 

Abitrary

New Member
I've never understood the dropped part of drops unless you are a racer, and have always assumed that they just stop the brakes sliding off...
 

bonj2

Guest
No, no, no, no, NO! That's just...wrong. What an absolute abomination.
It doesn't show ingenuity at all. It shows downright stupidity, bloody mindedness and travesty. Hopefully the idiot will one day realise his bike is good for neither one thing nor another.
That's almost up there with the bloke who put vegetable oil in his brake fluid reservoir and a rolled up carpet for a bumper, and genuinely thought it was ok. And that's what really annoys me about pillocks that do things like this. The fact that they think it's 'ok'.


Abitrary said:
I've never understood the dropped part of drops unless you are a racer, and have always assumed that they just stop the brakes sliding off...

i used to feel the same, but now I've got them i do quite like them for going down hill.
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
There was a lot of talk about "dirt drops" (drop bars designed specifically for off road bikes) a little while ago.

This article (a review of the "On One" flared Midge bars) explains the thinking behind it.
 

Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
Some people make up these for tackling the 'spring classic' randonees in France and Belgium. They like the idea of both drops and suspension for tackling the combination of cobbled pavé and wicked headwinds you often get at that time of year.
 

NickM

Veteran
bonj said:
...now I've got them i do quite like them for going down hill.
I seem to remember that there are hills offroad, too. And that there is nothing I can ride with straight bars that I can't ride with drops. Anyway, people can do to their bikes whatever they like - some people like fixed gears! The main thing to remember if you want to put drops on a mountain bike is to go down a frame size so that the top tube is not too long, forcing you to use a very short stem - which does look odd.

And if it looks so wrong how come an 8-year-old American in a small town in Idaho said "Cool bike, dude!" to me in 1994? ;)
 
U

User482

Guest
bonj said:
No, no, no, no, NO! That's just...wrong. What an absolute abomination.
It doesn't show ingenuity at all. It shows downright stupidity, bloody mindedness and travesty. Hopefully the idiot will one day realise his bike is good for neither one thing nor another.

Perhaps he's paying homage to his hero:
imgres
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
I see a guy every morning going the opposite way to me riding one of those old happy shopper type bikes fitted with drops. lmho
 

bonj2

Guest
NickM said:
I seem to remember that there are hills offroad, too. And that there is nothing I can ride with straight bars that I can't ride with drops. Anyway, people can do to their bikes whatever they like - some people like fixed gears! The main thing to remember if you want to put drops on a mountain bike is to go down a frame size so that the top tube is not too long, forcing you to use a very short stem - which does look odd.

And if it looks so wrong how come an 8-year-old American in a small town in Idaho said "Cool bike, dude!" to me in 1994? ;)

Because was an 8 year old american in a small town in idaho? :smile:
 

bonj2

Guest
NickM said:
I seem to remember that there are hills offroad, too. And that there is nothing I can ride with straight bars that I can't ride with drops.
You're either joking, or are a weirdo cyclocross type. ;)
It's a bit of a generalisation, but in proper MTBing if you can ride down a hill at full speed with drop handlebars or as fast as you could with proper riser ars then it's only really a 'connector' route, rather than a part of the ride in earnest, and thus you probably need to be re-jigging your route to ride UP that one and down something more technical/steeper/both in order to get the most out of that part of the countryside.
the whole idea of mtbing is that you can get your weight back and thus tackle sections that are tricky due to obstacles at speed, putting drop bars on it defeats the point entirely as it just throws your weight forward and saps all confidence or just sends you flying over the handlebars.

If you want to use drop bars off road, then that's basically cyclocross. and while the actual speeds involved are probably faster, it's not done on the same terrain as MTBing is, it's done on trekking trails, disused railways and mild paths etc., so it isn't the same thing.
Cyclocross is a known discipline. Whilst I don't see much in it myself, I can understand what people do see in it. But having drop bars on a full-on front-suspension MTB isn't a valid discipline. It more fits into the category of "perversion for weird bikes" than anything else. Why do people have to do such crass things just for the sake of 'looking wacky'. It really gets up my nose. No-one who's serious about MTBing (or MTBing and road-riding aswell, come to that) thinks drop bars on a front-sus MTB is clever, or funny, or ingenious. They will just think it's moronic.

NickM said:
Anyway, people can do to their bikes whatever they like
Yes, they can. It doesn't mean other people have to like it or agree with it.
 
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