anyone else not get on with drop bars?
i need to sort a nice comfy position on my new tourer, and drops are not helping me.
anyone use a other cockpit set up.

tourer you say – butterfly bars >?

You don’t need drop bars to tour but the bike you bought will be designed with those in mind. The Euros seem to manage just fine with flats, risers or butterfly bars. I’ll be doing a fair amount of road work on my El Mariachi and I’ll likely fit some TT bars for longer trips.

Otherwise, have a look at Woodchippers and a very high-rise stem, or just MTFU until your body adjusts.

They take a while, hang in there.

Got a pic of how you’ve got them set up?

just MTFU until your body adjusts.

😆

sell me your cane creek ergo bar ends cheap…..or swap for my wide drops.

go for a more compact drop, or something with flared drops? – Midge bars etc.

oh, and define ‘not getting on’

(edit: what bandito said)

midge bars are drops-but-not-drops and I bet others exist that are the same

I quite like em

and/or a higher rise stem might be worth a go

I struggled with drop bars, I fitted Woodchippers but was not that impressed. The bar that has done it for me though is the Ragley Luxy bar. It has a great angle and shallow drop.

they are too narrow, brakes are in the wrong spot, remember my shoulder are 3ft wide…..bars are 46cm.

They give me neck ache from having to look up. On my road bike (ancient 27″ fixed) I turned the bars upside down, back to front and chopped the ends off. Bullhorn style. I keep the flat section clear so I can ride with my hands anywhere along them and I often find myself cruising along with hands touching the stem and index fingers linked together. Which is probably stupidly dangerous.

EDIT My shoulders are under 20″ wide (I can get through a 500mm gap straight on) and my bars are 390mm (15 1/4″). I told you it was old.

I’m a pretty chunky 6 footer who windsurfs. I used to regard myself as having wide shoulders till just now!

It’s uncomfortable if I spend too long in the full drop position, but riding whilst leaning on the top of the curve is surprisingly comfy… takes time to adjust from MTB though.

OP, your shoulder are superhero proportioned?

Midge bars on my old Peregrine:

DSC_0880 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

Lovely and wide, and the angle meant riding on the hoods was as comfortable as a worn in sofa in your favourite pub 🙂

Bullhorns on the fixed gear. Seem ok but take some getting used to.
I imagine drops would be very similar though but with the option to…..drop.

Drop bars are a stupid idea – designed to make a 1930s racing bike faster, they’ve got no place on modern bikes.

IMO, of course 😉

Butterfly bars are a bit German-tourist-with-a-moustache, but very comfy, or semi-drops are excellent. You want lots of varying hand positions, not aerodynamics.

We are a bit fixated on drop bars in this country. A casual browse of the Cube Bikes Trekking range will bring up lots of alternatives, or look at Koga Miyata/Tout Terrain.

Here’s Tons new bike

Maybe it’s just that I’m one of the more “mature” riders on STW but that looks far too aggressive a riding position to use for a 3-day tour.

I’d be very surprised if 46cm bars are too narrow for anyone. As a rule of thumb handlebar width should match the width of your clavicles. Basically, feel for the bony knob on each shoulder – and that’s the width.

As for comfort – road bars should be very comfortable as are a variety of hand positions – tops, hoods, drops. If you are not comfortable then you might want to consider looking at how well the bike fits you? Are the bars too low? Is the reach too long?

When you say the brakes are in the wrong spot – maybe they are, or maybe this is an indicator that your position on the bike is wrong?

I’d be interested to know if he ever gets down to the drops. Almost everyone I’ve ever built a touring bike for or fixed with drops has never used the drop, just rides on the hoods all the time.

It’s basically a way of carrying more metal than you need, and using brake levers inefficiently.

What are the Midge bars like for braking & gear changing, ir_bandito? I changed largely because I found I needed to go to the drops to get decent brake purchase, which was exactly when I also wanted (commuting) to be upright. I did like being on the hoods though – seemed a perfect position for fill climbing.

I went to flat bars & Ergon grips which I like, although the bar ends are not as good as Cane Creek ergos to “get hold of” when giving it some climbing welly.

you are also aware that most of your time on drop bars would be spent on the hoods right ? the drops are for agressive riding/sprinting or hiding out the wind during your turn on the front 😀

the drops are for agressive riding/sprinting or hiding out the wind during your turn on the front

Exactly – not for touring 😉

Really, though, the whole shape of the bike is wrong – it should be recumbent…

It’s basically a way of carrying more metal than you need, and using brake levers inefficiently.

I mostly use my drops for extra power whilst burning skallies on BMXs… I imagine Indurain did the same. 😉

That is one hell of a saddle/bars height difference.

However, I’d rotate them up a nats (so the tops are flat) and move the levers down a gnats (so the tops pf the hoods are level with/flat out from the drops).

And probably stick a higher rise stem on.

Like ben says though, if you’re never going to use the drop bit of the drops, use flats and bar ends.

If you go back in time a bit to when bikes were the majority mode of transport, most sports type bikes had much bigger frames than we use these days. There’s nothing wrong with dropbars if they’re set up properly.

This means higher and longer headtubes. Look at old touring pics and on most of the bikes the top of the drop bar is in much the same height as the saddle. That lets you cruise all day in a comfortable position but lets you get down to it if you want a bit of speed or hit a headwind.

Fashion these days dictates that bars and stem should be slammed – that’s only good for genuine racers or those trendy chaps who want to look like a monkey pleasuring a coconut.

Ton, I reckon your frame is much too small for touring with deep drops. Try a set of North Road bars – you can flip them up if the down position is too uncomfortable.

What are the Midge bars like for braking & gear changing,

Absolutly fine. Gear changing may be different with different levers I guess, I was using Versa shifters for my Alfine hub.

the drops are for… ..hiding out the wind during your turn on the front long days into a headwind on a multi-day tour

FTFY

Check out the bars that Mark Beaumont uses for his epics.

Then check out his saddle angle and shake your head in disbelief.

“That is one hell of a saddle/bars height difference.”

This – very much so given your stature, you need to get those bars up its set up like a racing bike there. infact ive seen racing bikes with less saddle to bar drop

nah Ir – much prefer aero bars for hiding out the wind on multi day tours

scotroutes – that pic looks far too bum up bars down to me for touring – frame too small ? I’d say there is a good 3 inches too much post out for a tourer setup

After a few thousand miles you will get used to drops.

Swapped to Midge Bars on my CX/tourer/commuter and really like them.Not done any touring yet ,but they just feel right.

when i am on the bike, on the tops, i am comfy, as in not too stretched or cramped.
the problem is that the BARS ARE TOO NARROW AND THE BRAKES ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE.

I don’t get on with drops, so my Boardman flat barred ‘hybrid’ is ideal for me. Done the C2C on it in a day with no problems – plus it means i can fit discs and CX tyres 🙂

are you riding on the tops ? thats why they are too narrow

just get some wider flat bars if thats where you want to ride.

THE BRAKES ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE

As in you can’t reach the levers when you’re in the drops? Try tweaking it like I suggested.

If the bars feel too narrow then the only option is wider bars (obviously), but then if you’re used to MTB bars a road bar will feel narrow anyway.

I also have a set of these that I use on other bikes.
I cut them in the middle and set them up like mini tri-bars ,just to give some more choice for hand positions.

Midge bars are not the answer to your problem here Ton. I used a set on a cross bike I borrowed and while the width was (sort of) welcome the drop and brake position is awful if you have hands larger than a size medium. I found my hands scrunched up and aching (I use the drops a lot on normal bars) as the curve is very small and doesn’t leave space for a big hand. Your hands are then angled horribly on the hoods and reaching the brake levers is a pain. The levers are also about four yards from the bar in the drop position. And the top is very narrow, so when you want a comfy, upright, touring position you’ve only got 38cm to play with.

I’d go for a higher rise stem on that bike (for you, what with being a giant, everyone else can MTFU). Since you need a new stem, these come in 48cm and may help-

http://www.hubjub.co.uk/store/index.php/handle-bars/nitto-m177-detail

Drops are a godsend when descending. Gets centre of gravity lower. Shifts your weight forward. And gives you better leverage on the brakes.

How about a Randonneur bar?

Nitto are hard to find, but Freshtripe have the Velo Orange version which comes in a nice and wide 48cm option:

Higher stem might help.
Try small adjustments to angle of bar and brake lever position?

Took me well over a year to get my touring bike (with drops) set up perfectly, as it was completely new to me.
I was methodically making small changes and one day it just felt right.
Patience paid off, it’s now dead comfy for bimbling around for a week or so… 🙂

It was a revelation to take 5mm out of the steerer stack, suddenly the bars fitted.