Road bike with flat bars and bar-ends or drop bars?

So….mate looking to buy a road bike.

Got me thinking about why I bought a road bike with drop bars (PX RT57) rather than decent 700c wheeled with flat bars and bar-ends.

TBH I hardly ever use the drops…hands on flat part of bars or on hoods most of the time.

Got me thinking that the drops are probably superflous in my case.

How many folks actually use the lower drops – if you are a competitive cyclist then fine, but just using your road bike for general leisure cycling…

I use them mostly when descending but I don’t race so it’s not like I’m sprinting etc. I wouldn’t swap them for flat bars though. If your mate buys flat bars, he doesn’t even have the option to use the drops.

A road bike with flat bars is a hybrid, call it what it is 😉

I use the drop part of the bars probably about 30% of the time on my commuter, more so on proper long road rides.

Heres a pic of mine – can’t say I miss drops, but I do miss sitting on the hoods (and that slightly extended position)…

If you don’t ever use the drops then maybe you need to get over the fashion thing and raise your bars a bit. That or get a bit more flexible (personally I have a slammed stem and use the drops regularly).

With flat bars you don’t even have the option of a position similar to what you get using the hoods – which is where the majority of riders with drops spend most of their time.

I do miss sitting on the hoods (and that slightly extended position)…

Not to mention that out on the bar ends your hands are far wider than on the hoods, so creating a nice parachute effect.

Not to mention that out on the bar ends your hands are far wider than on the hoods, so creating a nice parachute effect.

+1

Flat bars aren’t comfy on the road IMO, and the bar ends but your hands too far apart to sit like that for hours too.

I use the drops plenty.

I have one of these, which apparently (accrding to the salesperson who served me) is simply a road bike with flat handlebars:

It’s very fast, and very comfortable on smooth roads. I don’t like those dropped handlebars on racing bikes.

Agreed with aracer – if oyu don’t use the drops it’s probably because they are too low. It’s likely a combination of a frame with too short a head tube for your intended use, lack of flexibility and core strength to hold a good position in the drops (something I struggle with myself), and possibly a bar with too deep a drop for your needs. So I would try a couple of positional things before making the change to a flat bar – get your bars up, try a compact bar and work on a bit of core strength and stretching.

All that said BITD I won a few crits on a converted mtb with flat bars and bar ends 🙂

Oh – and yes I use my drops quite a bit.

Only got a road bike with drops in the last year or so, so I have 20 years of riding with flat bars prior to that which dictates my default preference.

Having said that, the default position when out on the road bike seems to be the brake hoods – not sure that there’s an exact equivalent to that position with a flat-barred set-up. I don’t really use the drops that much but I do use them when riding into a headwind, or as leverage when you’re trying to zip along with a bit of extra oomph.

I guess if you’re not racing and trying to make every second count, they’re there to give you a few different options, so you can have a bit of a stretch when you’re stuck in the same position for hours on end the way that you tend to be when doing some “proper” road riding. Plus they look right. Which is what it’s all about, at the end of the day.

I don’t like those dropped handlebars on racing bikes.

But look at that saddle – like sitting on a razor blade.

Depends what sort of riding your mates going to be doing.
I have a flat and drop barred bike and the flat bar is more comfortable with the bar ends but you are out into the wind a bit.
I use the drop barred bike generally for longer quicker rides and only really use the drops when i’m in the mood to try and get a bit of a move on.

I prefer flat bars tbh but the extra hand positions make for better comfort with drops IME. Enough that I tolerate the drops the rest of the time…

TBH I think if I had a better setup I’d like the drops more! I have loads of potential positions and they’re all decent but none feel totally right- if I make the drops feel perfect the hoods feel grim and so on.

I have this one. Its comfortable.

Profile bars

I had a similar experience, so I switched to these. Gives the extended position I wanted, keeps hands on the controls all the time.

thx1138 I have one of those for my commuter, and it is great, but it is nothing like a ‘road bike’ with flat handlebars

look at the wheel clearances and wheelbase for a start

it is much more upright, so more effort to get a crack on, and the handling is a lot slower

it is much better for keeping an eye on traffic and while wearing a rucksack though – and still plenty quick enough to burn off gheyers in their flouro jackets on the drops on their cross bikes and racers

If you don’t ever use the drops then maybe you need to get over the fashion thing and raise your bars a bit. That or get a bit more flexible (personally I have a slammed stem and use the drops regularly).

Same here, either get some flexibility or raise the bars , you gain 4 useful positions. Tops, hoods, hook and flat part of the drops (if they aren’t anatomics).

Flat bars is a hybrid not a road bike whatever the wheel size or gearing.

REAL road-bikes require drops, but for a roadbike used for commuting…
Profile Airwings.

Not JUST for the hipster fixie kids, great bars. That bikes not mine but I have ’em too. Nice for a commuter road-bike because you can access the brakes from the full length of the extensions and not just while sitting on the hoods. In traffic your rarely going to get down in the drops anyway.

Flat-bars and barends are a poor imitation.

How about flats with a pair of Cinelli Spinacis ? I use mine gravel riding as they give a nice low position.

I use a flat bar road bike. Never liked drops. I get loads of grief about it but it still doesn’t make me prefer drops.

I think a flat bar road bike is a fine concept

But putting a flat bar on a road bike may not work as the to tube is likely to be too short