Which bit of the bars do you hold when it gets a bit rougher or you want to bunnyhop over a root? First ride last weekend on a new pinnacle and it seemed to be more secure from a grip perspective in the drops but at the same time harder to lift the front end etc. Google image shows a lot of people on the hoods but if that is the case when do you use the drops?

tops are for hops. watch this at 6:45ish

[video]http://vimeo.com/85087190[/video]

Drops are for sprinting or descending – you get much more control over the brakes on the drops imo.

I have my CX set up with cross top brake levers and a position set up so that’s what I use for technical stuff and I can then have a longer position for less technical trails or the road on the hoods.

I rarely use the drops.

Drops on cross bikes are a hang over from road bike lineage. If you never use them I wouldnt worry. Aim to get a comfortable position on the hoods when positioning bars as youll be there 99% of the time. Then the drops are there for that long draggy straight into a headwind in November Drizzle as you try to catch that guy on the bell lap. Some folk like descending in drops but i find it too head down arse up. Tops are only there to connect the hoods to the stem.

All IMO of course

I use Woodchippers and they are set to a height where I ride almost exclusively in the drops. I find that a lot better for descending and on any rough stuff.

If you’re not using the drops on a cross bike at least 90% of the time then you should have bought a hybrid

as you found out covering rough ground or descending is far far more secure in the drops than on the hoods or on the tops, and it’s easier to control the brakes while you’re there too, the downside is that it’s harder to lift the front end should you need to

most people don’t use the drops because they find it scary, they have poor flexibility or their stomach hits the top-tube

their stomach hits the top-tube

LOL.

I would say on a given CX race l would use hoods for about 75% of a lap and drops for the other 25%.

I think the tops are pretty much useless when doing anything technical, even with crosstops (shudder), as your hands are too close together to really get any control.

People always say that and yet, I never seem to find that an issue. Similarly, a couple of people I know who hated the cross top levers to start with (supplied on the bike) stuck with them and now see the point…

Personal preference, I guess.

Great, thanks, all makes sense. Will have a fiddle with the bars and set them up so the hoods work better for me. At the moment I think I have them set up as a bit of a halfway house which is average for both hoods and drops.