Ah, OK, so I can start from there and adjust down?

Like tinas I use almost the same position for touring as I do for my road bike as I find it comfortable* – at the end of the day it’s just riding and my personal preference is for efficiency (which also means not carrying too much – we credit card toured on the tandem with one pannier each – though I’ve also camped on the tandem with just rear panniers and a tent strapped to the rack, you can manage with a lot less than some people think). Given the way I use my hoods with bent elbows it’s not that far down to the drops – more often than not into a headwind I’ll simply bend my elbows more on the hoods to get the same back position. I agree that it’s stupid to have drops to low that they’re not getting used though.

Phew!

* yes I am flexible – trained myself into a genuinely flat back position on the TT bike on which I’ve done 100+ mile rides, so relatively this is a relaxed position.

I use an mtb triple chainset and STI levers it works fine 44 x11 is plenty high enough and I use 22×28 as bottom gear

200km Audax about 9 to 12 hours depending on terrain and cake stops.200km in 5 hours would be really good timetrialling speed

Yeah, but TBH I’m pretty fit.. but I’m not dwelling nor asking about that.

So, 9hrs in the saddle incl stops.. Thats ok, I don’t know anything about Addax see and only hear hushed tones with a few in the group who’ve delved.. I don;t think I’ll get into them, just wondering about pace and length and expectations etc.

Still, all good stuff…

Of course it is – the same as 52×13, which was once the top gear people used for racing (and pretty much the same as the 52×12 we have as top gear on the tandem with 26″ wheels and narrowish tyres).

What front mech are you using with that?

This just appeared in my Facebook feed from Firefly
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Firefly-Bicycles/126838920723087?fref=photo

No idea if it works or not for you – but I am just returning to flaccid after seeing it.