Going down steep hills with all my weight over the front struggling to hold on to those sti levers scares the crap out of me.

Should I get some CX levers or just MTFU?

TART!

Neither.

Just relax and close your eyes…..

Yes.

I'd be cautious about going road bike fast (40 plus) with your hands on the tops, extra brake levers or not. You might find that speed wobble comes out if you are too light on the bars.

Struggling off the hoods? Just use your drops then?

Struggling off the hoods? Just use your drops then?

+1

You'll have a better grip on the drops anyway.

Aye – just get down in the drops and then you use the powerful end bits of the brake levers.

I'd want to be on the drops on steep downs not on the top of the bar. better control, lower CofG, better pull on the brakes.

Going down a steep hill, you should be gripping the flat of the bars on either side of the stem with your nose pressed against the stem top-cap.

If you must use the brakes while going downhill, using them from the drops gives you better grip.

If you can't use the drops comfortably at the moment I'd be looking at raising the bars, not shifting the brakes. 🙂

as mentioned, it'll be even more lethal on the tops than on the hoods. if you get on the drops, you'll have even more leverage on your brake levers, and more weight on the front to prevent wobble.

I've never got the point of CX type levers – they don't have the same leverage on the cable as normal brakes so power is less, and they force you to put your hands on a bit of the bar that makes the bike unstable. weird.

If your scared going downhill the last thing you want is to be grabbing hold of the centre of the bars. Get in the drops that's were the leverage is.

I always feel like I've got too much weight over the front when on the hoods or in the drops, such that it's hard work on the hands to hold on and brake at the same time for long periods.

The bike never feels unstable when I'm on the tops, so maybe I need to raise the bars/shorter stem?

I've never got the point of CX type levers – they don't have the same leverage on the cable as normal brakes so power is less, and they force you to put your hands on a bit of the bar that makes the bike unstable. weird.

Useful for CX as they let you keep your weight further back on steep downs (where you're not going very fast or braking very hard).

always feel like I've got too much weight over the front when on the hoods or in the drops, such that it's hard work on the hands to hold on and brake at the same time for long periods.

Probably because you're used to being more upright. As others have said, raising your bars would help – the other question being whether you find the drops too low to get into normally anyway.

I've got some (came on s/h bike) , but as above I've never used them on a speedy downhill, but they are very handy for keeping your head up and being aware in traffic. I'd imagine they'd work well on tricky downhills on a CX too, but never tried that. Don't agree with cp re the leverage though, there's plenty of stopping power in them.

glenh
Sounds like the wrong length stem or bars with not enough reach.
Somethings wrong, a shorter stem would put more weight forward.
The feeling of too much weight forward on a road bike is something I don't quite get, unless you mean climbing then that's usually because everything is too small.

always feel like I've got too much weight over the front when on the hoods or in the drops, such that it's hard work on the hands to hold on and brake at the same time for long periods.

Probably you are dead in the saddle when doing this? ie all your weight transferred forwards to the bars? – So if you level your pedals and shift your bum back a bit with your heels well down behind the pedals you will find that you can still reach the drops but will be driving most of your weight through the bb, even if the hill is steep. Just same as mountain bike. Don't freewheel with one foot down (except cornering) because it pitches you into the front of the bike.

Drops might be too low also, but technique helps massively.

depends how steep, Winnats pass is f****** scary on the drops,

its better on the drops! more confidence in the corners! **** leaning back while going down it!

For speed it's a good idea to rest your forearms on the bars and steer with the cables to get a nice low position. Let us know how you get on.

Or lay down on the saddle with your legs out behind you, watch out for bumps though unless you want a ruptured spleen.

Winnats pass is f****** scary on the drops,

even scarier on the tops 🙂

tracknico – I think leaning back is misunderstood – you lean back according to the steepness of the gradient so that weight still goes down through both wheels, not so that it comes off the front alltogether.

Learn to use drops and to relax. If you want to see how road descending is done watch the canellara footage from last year's tdf when he rejoins the race after changing wheels.

OP how's ytour position?

yeh fair enough glenp

but sod doing winnats on the tops or hoods. naff all braking and potentially unbalanced weight into big corners? not for me!

but sod doing winnats on the tops or hoods.

Yeah. It's not as fast as Holme Moss (down to Woodhead. Saw 63mph there last year. On the drops, natch.

*zips up trousers and puts willy away*

Agree not the tops, as I said earlier.