Forum menu
It's driving me mad.
If I have the tops and hoods set up so it's comfy when I'm riding on them, the drops aren't comfy and I can't reach the levers from the drops.
If I angle the bars so it's comfy in the drops and I can reach the levers in the drops then it's uncomfortable on the tops/hoods.
Any help appreciated. FWIW it's (oldish) Ultegra STI's on Bell Lap bars.
Position the bars so you are comfortable on the drops, then move the levers up or down the bars till your comfortable on the hoods and levers.
Where do you ride mostly? Hoods or drops? Position it so it's comfy in your primary position and just deal with it otherwise.
on Bell Lap bars.
IME that's a good part of the problem right there.... Try out some On One Midges, WTB dirt drops or similar. Or maybe if it's a more 'pure cross' use some shallow drop Dedas are really nice. For mine the amount of drop on the Bell Laps is just far too much. And the 'anatomic' bend is not.
pick some bars where the reach, drop and bend suit me, set the flat ends of the bars so they're pointing ever so slightly down, position the brakes so it's flat and comfy on the hoods
i suspect the Bell Laps might be your problem
+1 hated my bell laps, would second one of the modern shallow bends, Deda Fluida, FSA Omega etc
My EA50 short and shallows are very comfy. I agree with wehat richpips says. Also, try using the reach adjust blocks, even if you have bigger hands. Makes it easier to reach the levers when in the drops.
Cheers all.
TBH, I don't know why I'm that worried about reaching the brake levers, it's not like they really do anything on a crosser 🙂
actually, mine are EA70s, not 50s.
My brakes are pretty damn fine. endoes a-go-go.
What they said.
I've never got on with anatomic bars though, I suspect I'll nt have much choice next time I need to buy some drops.
what they all said & maybe try a higher rise stem too, or more spacers under the stem if you have the room.
John has a point - do you have the stem pointing up or are you forcing yourself into a must-look-racer-cool downward stem position?
No, no, stem upwards and spacered up too. Me, racer cool? I think we both know the answer to that one.
I may try a longer stem, the current one is quite short (90mm I think), I'm thinking that maybe I'm a bit 'cramped' which stops me getting to the drops as easily.
I get that with standard bars. It's mainly cos my bike's too small, really. I got a longer stem than the one it came with, which has helped loads. Also putting the saddle back a bit - don't forget to lower it too of course. And try some bars with a sharper bend on the drop, they call them 'ergo' bars.. some are more ergo than others.