Straight bars?

Ronnieg
Ronnieg Posts: 26
edited February 2010 in Road beginners
Any one here ride with straight bars?

Will eventually get a road/ drop handle bike but seem to be doing fine with a 700c light weight straight bar?
I look at my bike and I think.....wow! you are gorgeous (Boardman Urban Pro.........)

Comments

  • bcss
    bcss Posts: 174
    had a Ridgeback R25 which is a great straight bar sportive bike (quite fast & loved the disc brakes)...though would never return to a straight bars, eventhough seldomly in the drops you still have a much greater variety of positions on your road bike...which part. on longer rides is worth gold
  • STEFANOS4784
    STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    Fase economy IMHO, if you get on with the flat bar you'll soon want a drop bar, if you don't like the drop bar straight off then flog it, if you buy 2nd hand in the 1st instance you wont lose out much, may even make a profit :D

    Drop bar has more hand positions and you can get one with a geometry which isn't to racy if that's what your worried about.


    That said my workmate has a Spesh Sirrus, can't persuade him to get a road bike and he seems ok, constantly gets punctures but i'm sure it's not the bikes fault.
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  • Ronnieg
    Ronnieg Posts: 26
    STEFANOS4784 wrote:
    IMHO, if you get on with the flat bar you'll soon want a drop bar,
    Yeah that's what 's happening.
    STEFANOS4784 wrote:
    Drop bar has more hand positions and you can get one with a geometry which isn't to racy if that's what your worried about.
    True , but on a very recent thread here the general (although hardly a massive sample) trend was to ride on the hoods..
    .....and you can get one with a geometry which isn't to racy if that's what your worried about.

    But what if the bike I will get is a little too racy geometry wise.... can i change it. Stems/bars etc.


    Cheers
    I look at my bike and I think.....wow! you are gorgeous (Boardman Urban Pro.........)
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    From my experience, I use drops and spend most of my time on the hoods, but I naturally use the other positions for comfort.

    My wife is swapping her drops for flats on her Cross bike because she prefers the MTB position in slippery conditions.

    Horses for courses, but I'd buy used if you can.

    Chain Reaction Cycles have some dirt cheap 9 speed flat bar road shifters at the moment.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    If you get bar ends on your flat bars you can still get most of the hand positions available to roadies. Very few riders use the drops with any frequency, but it is useful in a strong headwind.

    Another advantage of flatties is that the shifters are vastly cheaper to replace, e.g. in the event of an accident. STIs are silly money for what they are IMO.
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  • tawnypigeon
    tawnypigeon Posts: 1
    "Compact" drops with a tall headtube/lots of spacers suit me. I don't care about being aero, though it helps to get low against a headwind. I can comfortably use the drops 80% of the time, and the hoods are there to push my weight forward and open up my lungs on the climbs (very useful to have a dedicated climbing position rather than setting your bars up to use the hoods all the time). You'd get a similar result from flats with bar ends, but I find my wrists are more comfortable in drops than on flats. If you can ride flat bars all day without getting any wrist pain then it would be the least complicated and potentially cheapest option.
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,571
    I spend maybe 5 - 10% of my time in the drops, but that's because I'm just not flexible and strong enough to stay there comfortably longer than that. (Old bloke, dodgy back syndrome... :( )

    I built this up a while back, and it is a hoot to ride, very light, very quick and surprisingly comfortable, (Principia RSL frameset and Time carbon fork). Have now put flat bar shifters on it too, even better, if a touch heavier.

    4249480044_39141fef0d_m.jpg


    That said, I find the drop bar bike more comfortable over a longer ride (say, more than 2 hours), because you can move around more. My flat bar roadie, even WITH bar ends, is not especially suited to road riding for long hours. You definitely notice the diference in aero terms too: even sitting just slightly more upright has a major impact on your wind drag.
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  • Scrumple
    Scrumple Posts: 2,665
    Some people prefer gay bars.

    it's all down to your bend preference.
  • Lillywhite
    Lillywhite Posts: 742
    STEFANOS4784 wrote:

    Drop bar has more hand positions and you can get one with a geometry which isn't to racy if that's what your worried about.


    I agree.

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