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I've put drops on my hybrid. It's nice, happy with the bike in general but I just can't get the bars comfortable. When the drops are right, the angle of the top of the bar is so steep that when on the hoods my hands slide right down onto the hoods and all my weight's on the webbing of my hand. If I make it flatter the drops are worse and I'm too stretched out.
Argh! Bloody non-ergo bars. They can't be designed to be this uncomfortable surely - I must be doing something wrong. Normally I'd follow the orientation of the logos on the front of the bars, but if I put them so that the logos are facing forward then the angle of the tops is about 45 degrees to the floor!
Show me pics of your drops and tell me which positions you use..
what about changing the orientation of the hoods on the bar?
Move your hoods up the bars.
non ergo bars - the clue is in the name 😉
Hybrids have longer tts than equivalent road bikes, have you compensated with a short stem?
Easton's recommended positioning
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DezB - see thomthumb's post. I've never liked ergo bars - brake levers a real stretch from the drops, which have no comfy flat section.
I set them up by making the flat section of the drops comfortable & relaxed, then positioning the brake levers for comfort on the hoods. Sorted!
In none of those diagrams does it look easy to reach the brake lever from the drops. This does seem to be a fundamental flaw in drop bar / shifter design.
You guys must have teeny hands!
I hardly ever use the drops anyway, so I guess I shouldn't try to help out 🙂
XL hands here, and I actually use the drops 😛
I find the drops a little cramped, but have big hands.
like saddles there are different kinds of bars available. not all ergo bends are the same and traditional drops come in deep and shallow drop.
you either have the wrong kind of bar, incorrect stem length, have set up the hoods wrong or a combination of any of the 3.
find the right bend that suits your preferred drop position and can reach the brakes. use the correct length stem so you are not stretched/cramped. fit the hoods properly.
(shallow drop traditional bend works for me.)
what about changing the orientation of the hoods on the bar?
Done done and done, til I'm blue in the face. I just don't understand how these have been designed. I wonder what they had in mind....
The bar is one I had lying about in the garage. I've got a more "ergo" one in there to but it's OS and there's no stem to suit. Bum.
It's a 56cm frame with 90mm stem, I'm 5'11. So maybe a shorter stem? I don't have one tho and I'm sort of reluctant to buy one.. but maybe that's my problem? The hoods are just too far away perhaps?
I was out for a spin yesterday and took this photo of mine.
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Not quite as Easton seem to receommend 🙂
I've never got on with 'ergo' bars either, traditional bend all the way for me. Provided the back of the drops are pretty level and the curvature of the bar on the tops allows me to cup the curve with the palm of my hand, I'm happy.
Though, I tend to use either the drops or the tops, I don't ride round with my hands on the hoods that much.
I actually like Cinelli's cheapest traditional ali bars an awful lot.
Never seen that Easton diagram before, I set my levers like that but tip the bars so I can't drop off the ends in a sprint.
It's odd how years ago ny bar felt fine, now with the choice it's not so easy.
Finally found those FSA carbon K wing things a perfect fit for me.
If the hybrid fitted you then when you put drops on it won't, because the reach will be too much - surely? The hoods must be miles in front of where the grips used to be with flat bars.
A short stem might help I guess. Basic problem is wrong bike.
It took me ages to get used to drops when I first got a road bike, but I find them extremely comfortable now. Maybe give it a few rides to see if you like them better?