How long will it take to get used to drop bars?

[screenman]

Trikes, more of a fight than a ride, great fun though. Must admit it is a long time since I rode one, but do remember not getting around the first corner I come to.

 

[raleighnut]

Trikes, more of a fight than a ride, great fun though. Must admit it is a long time since I rode one, but do remember not getting around the first corner I come to.

One of the 'secrets' is to get weight onto the inside pedal with it at the bottom of the stroke, completely opposite to what years of cycling makes you do naturally and for gods sake don't try to brake in a corner if you're going a bit too quick.

 

[slowmotion]

My sister had a trike when we were very young, maybe about five. She decided to take our pet mouse for a ride with it in the pocket of her dress. I hung onto the back of the trike. The mouse hopped out and I went to catch it on the pavement but, being clumsy, I trod on it with my foot. The sight of red blood coming out of its tiny ear and staining its white fur is still a vivid memory. I never liked trikes after that.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I don't think I turn the handlebars themselves much at all.

You can turn by leaning.

[Pedant alert/]
No, you can't turn just by leaning, if you kept the bars dead straight and simply leaned over you'd fall off.
It comes as a bit of a shock to learn that to get the bike to lean into a corner you first have to turn the bike ever so slightly in the opposite direction to the turn to start the bike leaning and then you make a minor correction in the direction of the turn to maintain stability once you're leaning into the corner. It's very subtle and you do it subconsciously.

Somebody will be along to talk about motorcycles in a minute where initiating turning is much the same, however there are some differences on a motorcycles at higher elbow scraping speeds because they have powered rear wheels in turns ....

 

[raleighnut]

[Pedant alert/]
No, you can't turn just by leaning, if you kept the bars dead straight and simply leaned over you'd fall off.
It comes as a bit of a shock to learn that to get the bike to lean into a corner you first have to turn the bike ever so slightly in the opposite direction to the turn to start the bike leaning and then you make a minor correction in the direction of the turn to maintain stability once you're leaning into the corner. It's very subtle and you do it subconsciously.

Somebody will be along to talk about motorcycles in a minute where initiating turning is much the same, however there are some differences on a motorcycles at higher elbow scraping speeds because they have powered rear wheels in turns ....

Countersteering.

 

[Renmurew]

I've only had my road bike for a couple of months. I trialed a road bike to see how drop bars felt and shocked myself by finding them really intuitive and comfortable. I found a nice long straight quiet stretch of road and practiced reaching for my water bottle, indicating, and most important of all, reaching for my jelly babies from a rear pocket. . I quickly realised which hand to get my water bottle with to feel more stable and which pocket to store my jelly babies in. All these things make riding more comfortable so you spend less time thinking about them and enjoying the ride. Oh and I love the racy feeling of riding in the drops much to my surprise. Wendy

 

[Tin Pot]

[Pedant alert/]
No, you can't turn just by leaning, if you kept the bars dead straight and simply leaned over you'd fall off.
It comes as a bit of a shock to learn that to get the bike to lean into a corner you first have to turn the bike ever so slightly in the opposite direction to the turn to start the bike leaning and then you make a minor correction in the direction of the turn to maintain stability once you're leaning into the corner. It's very subtle and you do it subconsciously.

Somebody will be along to talk about motorcycles in a minute where initiating turning is much the same, however there are some differences on a motorcycles at higher elbow scraping speeds because they have powered rear wheels in turns ....

Nah.

It works like a rocker ski, you can steer without moving the handlebars whatsoever.

Although some adjustment if often necessary.

 

[Tin Pot]

[Pedant alert/]
No, you can't turn just by leaning, if you kept the bars dead straight and simply leaned over you'd fall off.
It comes as a bit of a shock to learn that to get the bike to lean into a corner you first have to turn the bike ever so slightly in the opposite direction to the turn to start the bike leaning and then you make a minor correction in the direction of the turn to maintain stability once you're leaning into the corner. It's very subtle and you do it subconsciously.

Somebody will be along to talk about motorcycles in a minute where initiating turning is much the same, however there are some differences on a motorcycles at higher elbow scraping speeds because they have powered rear wheels in turns ....

Nah.

It works like a rocker ski, you can steer without moving the handlebars whatsoever.

Although some adjustment if often necessary.

 

[ColinJ]

It is 48 years since I made the switch to dropped bars but as far as I can remember, I got used to the new bike in less than an hour, and have had the same experience with every new bike since. Each feels slightly different, but I soon adapt. After 20 years of not cycling, I got used to my new bike after riding it 1 km back from the station!

I was think about the 'twitchy steering' question recently when I flicked my Cannondale round a rut in the road on a fast descent. I prefer to think of performance bikes being 'responsive' and the problem being that some people are used to bikes with slow, sluggish handling so they have developed techniques to work with them.

Give me 'twitchy' any day!

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Flat bars feel like holding a ladder to me now. Nice and light on the controls and the bike will go where you look so be careful where your eyes go

Oh and we will no doubt cross paths on the weekly Sunday exodus to North Wales

 

[youngoldbloke]

I've 4 road bikes and if I have been riding one much more than the others it always takes a mile or two to get used to the new one when I change bikes. They are all different. However it takes longer to get used to the change from Shimano to Campag to non indexed down-tube shifting !

 

[Fab Foodie]

Nah.

It works like a rocker ski, you can steer without moving the handlebars whatsoever.

Although some adjustment if often necessary.

Nah.
Bolt your bars straight then come back and show us the gravel rash ...

 

[Fab Foodie]

Nah.

It works like a rocker ski, you can steer without moving the handlebars whatsoever.

Although some adjustment if often necessary.

Nah.
Bolt your bars straight then come back and show us the gravel rash ...

 

[Stephen_24796]

Flat bars feel like holding a ladder to me now. Nice and light on the controls and the bike will go where you look so be careful where your eyes go

Oh and we will no doubt cross paths on the weekly Sunday exodus to North Wales

i am most likely to cycle to north wales on my days off work so you never know

 

[Stephen_24796]

Flat bars feel like holding a ladder to me now. Nice and light on the controls and the bike will go where you look so be careful where your eyes go

Oh and we will no doubt cross paths on the weekly Sunday exodus to North Wales

i am most likely to cycle to north wales on my days off work so you never know