Migration from drop to flat bars - worth it?

rjcastillo

Since some scumbag has nicked by lovely Bianchi I'm shopping for its replacement. I'm now debating whether or not to move to a high-performance hybrid.

I used to spent 80% of my time on the hoods, 19% on the flats and 1% on the drops. I want the bike to remain suitable for the ocassional long trip. My commute is 11 miles each way. The reason I'd move off the hoods was for comfort, they always provided a compromised position; I don't know if that was an adjustment issue or not

So what's the opinion?

cougie

Stay with drops.

cougie

Stay with drops. Why take off 20% of the positions you use for no benefit ?

And as you say - you want to do longer rides on it too.

gbsahne001

You can always fit bar ends to the flat bar. I use Ergon grips and the positions available with them are very similar to being on the hoods.

mateotu

99% time on the hoods and tops? Sounds like the bars on the Bianchi were too low or too far forward, given your level of core strength and flexibility. Try an entry-level cyclocross frame, these often have more commuter-friendly geometry.

rolf_f

What with weather and all that, I've been on my MTB for the commute. The handlebars drive me spare - so much reduced clearance when in traffic. The tourer with its drop bars seems far more suited to commuting to me.

If only you could have a quick release flat to drops set up. I'd put drops on the MTB for commuting and take them off for MTBing which is where the extra width of the MTB bars comes in to its own.

Berk Bonebonce

'High performance hybrids', as you call them, are very nickable. I can't help think that people these days over-spend in respect of commuter/utility bikes.

I like flat bars, but not 'flat' flat bars. I also dislike straight, flat bars. Riser bars with a decent backsweep to them are like hen's teeth in the UK.

But a commute of 11 miles ... I would probably use drops.

Blue Meanie

'High performance hybrids', as you call them, are very nickable. I can't help think that people these days over-spend in respect of commuter/utility bikes.

+1 Berk Bonebonce

Many a lycra clad, carbon equipped scalp hangs on my wall.

Babber Goo

my Giant Rapid 2 flat bar road bike does me fine

can't understand why anyone would want drop bars, really

jonny_trousers

Babber Goo wrote:

can't understand why anyone would want drop bars, really

For me it comes down to comfort primarily. On flats I used to get terrible shoulder/neck tension (looking back I suspect my hybrid may have been too big for me) and numb hands.

I guess we all have to choose whatever works for us. There's always the courier bar option too.

I do agree with the points above about overspending on commuters. I'm forever having to calm myself when planning my next commuter. All I really need is smooth, comfortable and safe and that's available for way less than a grand.

Hoopdriver

Stay with drops.

Drops are far more comfortable and offer far more hand positions than flat bars, or riser bars or whatever you want to call them, even with bar ends. I dabbled with flats for a year after back surgery, in the belief that the more upright position might be better - although actually the drops turned out to be easier on my back and with the reduced number of hand positions, i found myself getting shoulder aches.

The point has also been made that narrower drops are easier to steer through tight traffic situations.

My vote wold be drops every time.

Pessable

I commute 15 miles each way twice a week and wouldn't switch from flat bars. That said, my commute is rural/main road rather than urban traffic so the width is less of an issue. But it's precisely the width of the bars that seems to give me the extra comfort compared with my weekend road/drops bike. The other thing is that hybrid geometry means a more upright position with greater visibility, which I much prefer for commuting.

I've wondered about the Dutch-style butterfly bars, which seem to offer lots of positions (and change seems to be as good as a rest when it comes to hand positions which is why I have bar ends on my hybrid).

desweller

Pessable wrote:

I commute 15 miles each way twice a week and wouldn't switch from flat bars. That said, my commute is rural/main road rather than urban traffic so the width is less of an issue. But it's precisely the width of the bars that seems to give me the extra comfort compared with my weekend road/drops bike. The other thing is that hybrid geometry means a more upright position with greater visibility, which I much prefer for commuting.

I've wondered about the Dutch-style butterfly bars, which seem to offer lots of positions (and change seems to be as good as a rest when it comes to hand positions which is why I have bar ends on my hybrid).

That's interesting! I had exactly the opposite problem - couldn't do more than ~25 miles on flat bars without losing feeling in my hands (to the point where I couldn't operate the brakes), so I acquired a drop-bar bike, which has been a great improvement from a comfort point of view.

I still have my flat bar bike as a utility steed, and I am considering sticking some butterfly bars on it for the same reasons as you. The bar ends I've got at the moment don't seem to have quite done the trick :-(

Lycra Man

I would go for flat bars. I started off with a flat bar road bike, and moved to a drop-barred road bike in January. I have tried the drops once (didn't like them) and more importantly, the brakes are very difficult to achieve full stopping power compared to the excellent V brakes on the flat bar bike.

The width of the bars wouldn't be an issue for me. If I couldn't get through a gap with the flat bar set up, I wouldn't go there. Plus I have bar ends fitted, which have been fine for 200k and 300k Audax rides, so long rides aren't a problem.

But that's just my opinion.

Lycra Man

jeremyrundle

I only commute on my mountain, in fact over the years I have been so happy with my Saracen I had one built by Dartmoor Cycles, expensive but worth every penny, see it here the more relaxed "sitting" position takes weight off the hands, you sit up and see more, that is my opinion.

http://sirpatrickmooresales.co.uk/Ourpage.aspx

jonny_trousers

jeremyrundle wrote:

I only commute on my mountain, in fact over the years I have been so happy with my Saracen I had one built by Dartmoor Cycles, expensive but worth every penny, see it here the more relaxed "sitting" position takes weight off the hands, you sit up and see more, that is my opinion.

http://sirpatrickmooresales.co.uk/Ourpage.aspx

I can't imagine that set-up is ideal if you are into speed, but Jeremy's bike is a classic example of what suits one rider may very well not suit another.

rossigp

I run two bikes for a diffrent purpose. My road bike (Lemond) for serious riding, training and longer tours. For those purposes I would always stick with drops. I also use a hybrid (Specialized Sirrus comp) for running here and there, general riding and riding the many miles of "paved trail" we have here. The hybrid is very convinent and amazingly fast and not afraid to do a longer ride. The flat bars work well in my opinion and are comfortable but bar ends are needed. I added a set of Ritchie carbon bar ends to my Sirrius and was surprised how much time my hands spend on them. The right hybrid is an awsome bike but I would avoid triple chainrings also. Road bikes have thier purpose and the hybrid can't match them but overall, thier a very workable bike !

simon_e

Not sure anyone can help you, as you may have guessed, most experienced cyclists will have established a firm preference for one or the other.

I use an old Kona MTB for commuting in poorer weather and find that the single hand position on the low, straight flat bars can get a little annoying after a while. A riser with some sweep (or some bar ends) would probably help but otherwise it's fine. I prefer the road bike in better weather, partly because it feels quicker and climbs the gradients better but before I had it the MTB did the job just fine.

As regards desirability to thieves, you could consider one of the less flashy looking hybrids available. And buy a decent D-lock.

pdw

I find that bull horn bars like the Profile Airwing are a great compromise for a commuter. Puts your hands roughly where they would be if they were on the hoods of drop bars, but your fingers are in a much better place for the brake levers.

roger_merriman

where a bouts was the drops feeling not right? shoulders?

drops tend to be on fast light bikes, they don't in them selfs make them fast.

what they do give is the option of changing hand positions.

since gear and brake levers etc differ one big advantage for flats is brakes and the possibility of big beefy disc brakes.

Blue Meanie

Tops are for cruising, hoods are for general cycling, but the drops are great for those killer-headwinds. Or when engaged in SCR, although you do risk 'trying'.

Unforunatley, the recent weather has forced me onto my mtb and just last night the wind made me go faux-aero: elbows on the bar and holding onto an invisible 'tri-bar'. No real comfort, and you are steering with your elbows, but it's better than slowing down. Word of warning, I'm quite practised at this and would suggest you experiment when it's not windy and the traffic's light.

hatbeard

when I got my tricross I was worried as I'd never ridden a bike with drops before and was keen to ride on the bar instead but the brake positioning effectively stopped that idea.

then I moved to the hoods but found braking was too flaky as it was harder to get a decent amount of braking pressure.

now I just ride the drops constantly. but that said my seat is pretty low at the moment as i like to be able to get a toe down when the conditions are poor so i'm not leaning over as much as i could be were the seat to be a bit higher.

rolf_f

Lycra Man wrote:

The width of the bars wouldn't be an issue for me. If I couldn't get through a gap with the flat bar set up, I wouldn't go there.

That doesn't entirely make sense! You'll have your own comfort zone for clearance with whatever width handlebars you are using - narrower bars just means that for the same comfort zone, you can get through a narrower gap. Whether the drops benefit you in that respect is probably down to how much space you have on the roads you ride. On my routes I find that gaps that are an absolute doddle on the road bike become a bit awkward on the MTB.

Certainly, my standard width mtb bars are really not a good compromise for commuting and I cannot see any disadvantage at all in cropping them to the same width as my drops for commuting purposes; except that I use the MTB for MTBing and that is where the extra width is really is a benefit.

Hatbeard - maybe worth practicing braking on the hoods - they are certainly designed to work pretty well from the hoods and tests I undertook implied that the issue was more one of feel rather than actual performance. The differences weren't so great. On the other hand, I do usually move to the drops (if I need to - I'm often on the drops anyway) when I expect to need to brake sharply because most of my mileage is on pre sti era brakes which certainly are not very effective from the hoods - the pivot is much lower so you can't really do much other than modulate speed from the hoods.

hatbeard

I'm actually quite happy to ride on the drops to be honest. I don't find being on the hoods offers any benefit, the only time I might switch to them now is if I'm tired and I want to change my arm position for a bit and in that case braking is less of an issue as I'll be going slowly cos i'm already knackered