Drop bar position and shape

I’m struggling to get happy with the bars on my bike.
When in the drops, the brake levers are a long reach, unless I move my hand up the curve, at which point it’s pulling my elbows down and wrists uncomfortable. I end up having to get fingers around the levers and pull just enough that I’m not dragging brakes, just to ensure I can get to them.

When in the hoods it feels ok, perhaps not wide enough, but it tips by wrist upwards compared to my arm. I’ve angled the brakes a touch inwards at the top, which helps.

Today I rotated the bars downwards more, but it still isn’t ‘right’.

Could it be the shape of my bar? Perhaps worth trying a different bar?

Also, how do I know what width of bar to go for – I think a touch wider would work better?

Not sure which series of Tiagra you have, but newer ones have proper reach adjusters (no need for rubber blocks)

I would have said also that this levers are fitted too high up on the bars.

I get this problem. I find anatomic bars work better for me.
like this:
http://www.dedaelementi.com/en/zero-100-anatomic/
I also think your levers are rotated too far round. They need to go a bit more clockwise looking at the picture.

Ooh, I’ll check if reach is adjustable.

I did wonder about rotating the levers a touch clockwise.

Then though, being shallow drop, my hand ends in the bottom return curve of the bar – increasing distance to lever tip.

I would say your levers are a little too high. I tend to position mine so the the run from the top of the bar onto the top of the hoods is about horizontal. But personal preference really.

How wide are your bars. I’ve got On One Midge bars on my gravel bike, think it’s 420 at the top, flaring to 560. They’re an acquired taste, but I like them. Did take a lot of tweaking to get the shifters at the right height and angle, and also the bars rotated just right. The SSCX bike has a much more modest flare.

If you are looking for new bars, these have a nice shape, but drop bars are a bit like saddles…

https://eu.ritcheylogic.com/eu_en/bike/handlebars/comp-venturemax-handlebar

Do you know what series the levers are?

I appreciate that we are all a bit different, but this is how I have the drop bars and levers set up on my two road bikes.

I have small/medium sized hands and can easily brake from the hoods or the drops.

Those bars are Woodchippers, so heavily flared. I don’t have a similar photo of my Cube but that uses standard compact drops.

I’d suggest you rotate your bars back to make the top flat/parallel to the ground, then move the levers back down so that they are upright. Try that a few times before finally re-taping.

I always aim for the tops of the hoods to be horizontal and a nice flat transition from the tops of the bars to the hoods as it gives a big flat area to rest your wrists when holding the hoods. From the photo, I would try moving the levers down. Bar shape does appear to be more round in comparison to the ergo shape of many others

Do you know what series the levers are?

4700

There is no one, universal placement of levers on drop bar. If someone is insisting on that it telling total BS…

What suits you best is the best. Never mind how does it look.

In regards to not reaching to the levers from the drops… Might be that you are just small handed like me and standard drop bars will be too much for you.

Hence I went with Ritchey Beacon. Wide flare and ultra compact drop 80mm and very short of reach 65mm.

Might be that’s your golden ticket?

Also sometimes playing with stem that got extreme rise, by extreme I mean like swan neck style stem, or something like Ergotec Charisma High.

That mainly allows rolling handlebars front a lot to shorten reach and drop effectively.

Cheers!
I.

V similar bars to mine but my brake levers are lower and drop section a little flatter.

When in “comfy” position on the drops, my hands are on the flat section and I don’t expect to reach the brakes. I move them forward of I need to brake. I’m used to road bikes tho, many years including chain gangs and road races.

I wonder if moving your saddle forward might help the drops position easier? I have also found saddle angle very crucial in terms of whether your hands are pushing/pulling the bars to compensate for it.

Agree with the others that your bars are drooping forwards a bit, and your brakes are mounted too far up the bar to compensate.

I’ve added mine for comparison…until I just looked at the photo, I would have claimed the flat top of my bars are aligned with the hood of the brake, however it looks like mine actually rise slightly first.

Photo annotations are probably a bit exaggerated but illustrate the difference. Should resolve the wrist angle on the hoods, may help reach the brakes if not, at least make the hand position more comfortable.

I’d be rotating the levers round further round the bars, clockwise on that pic. I’d wind the reach of levers in too.

Id also be looking at the bars themselves, they seem a similar to a pair I had on an old Kona and I didn’t like them at all. RHM Zero bars are a good, compact shape and worth looking at.

Thank you all.

@spooky_b329 – those lines do help show things.

The bars are Uni which came on the bike.

I need some new bar tape ‘in case’, then will faff with the angle of the dangle of things some more.

It may just be they are odd shape, they do feel narrow, and are only a couple of cm wider than the bars which came on mrs_oab’s XS giant.

get a shallow drop with some decent flare, venturemax is good. base the width on where your collar bone goes into your shoulder as a start but this is mainly for an aero position on the road, so for gravel I’d say that width plus a bit. go wider still if using a short stem, say 70mm or less. don’t be araind to turn your levers in a little to get a more comfy position for your hands, this has the added benefit of throwing the brake lever out a bit making it easier to reach

Yeah those levers are pretty high up. I’ve often had that issue but for me it was really caused by the bars being too low.

Another for bars too far up, your saddle looks quite far back as well.

You might just not get on with drop bars no matter the shape, size or drop.

Glad the photos helped. I also echo the comments about a shallow drop and the shape…again if you compare the photos, my bars bend tightly at the top and then the radius increases through the drop. I replaced the ‘traditional’ bars on my commuter with a similar pair that are also slightly flared, I can ride in the drops for longer and with more comfort now.

Also, if you get more tape get some without adhesive. It doesn’t slip (or at least my Boardman stuff didn’t) because it’s still tacky on the back, but you can retape it as many times as you want. A big plus when you’re still fettling position.

+1 for silicone backed, glueless tape 👍👍👍
Cheers!
I.

Have you tried a shorter stem or a bar with a shorter reach? I fitted an On-One Brian bar and it fixed that problem for me.

I generally ride for a few days without bar tape while I fiddle with the lever position and bar angle. That helps.

Interesting.

My saddle is set back a bit as I didn’t feel stretched out when I first got it.

A wider bar will in effect lengthen the reach, so I could pull the saddle back forward a touch.

I might just add a venture max to the order.

It’s not ‘bad’, it’s just not ‘right’

or the other extreme

@rOcKeTdOg Is that lower pic near North Berwick? Oddly familiar. 🙂

 Is that lower pic near North Berwick? Oddly familiar

@epicyclo deepest darkest Warwickshire

Looks like they are angled upwards?

And mounted too high, as others have said.

I, like several other posters, also think your levers are a little high in the original pic.
If you’re going to move them, mark the bars with a sharpie pen, so you can move them both by the same amount.
There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way really, what matters is whether they are comfy or not.
But, having said that, spooky’s picture is very close to what i do.
Also, as others have said, some people just never get on with drops at all.
Doesn’t cost anything/much to experiment though.

Spooky’s pic looks more comfortable to me as well. I think that will move your hoods forward by a bit, but it seems your saddle might be able to move forward a touch to compensate.

+lots for non-sticky bar tape as well. I have no idea what benefits the glued stuff might have that would offset the utter ballache of removing it.

@matt_outandabout

4700.
Ok so apart from bar / lever position 4700 has reach adjust without needing rubber shims.

If you roll the tops of the rubber hoods back there is an adjuster screw underneath.

Roll the bars forward a bit more. The extension on the drop is designed to be level a la:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxWtPQLh1Cg/

Reach to the levers will probably be reduced by 20mm+!

EDIT: Bar width usually dictated by distance between Acromiom which puts the majority of men on 40cm (c-c) although sizing up will help with stability riding off-road. Most off the shelf bikes come with 42cm as stock.

+1 for silicone backed, glueless tape

As we move into T4 I need to sort my bars out, what silicone tape or are they all such and much?

Roll the bars forward a bit more. The extension on the drop is designed to be level a la:

I really don’t think this is the case on most bars .

Perhaps not on some of the more extreme flared/ergo variants but most standard shape drop bars (even with flare) are designed to be set up as below:

Like I said, this is how they are designed to be set up but not necessarily how all people will find them most comfortable.

Source: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/bike-handlebars-345953

Mark them with a Sharpie or Tippex, ease off the bolt tension in the stem and STI’s until the bars and shifters can be moved up or down with effort, then go ride somewhere smooth. Nudge the bars up and down until comfy, then do the same with the shifters. If it still isn’t right, look at bar profile / height, stem length and, as a last resort, seatpost setback.

Like I said, this is how they are designed to be set up b

That’s how the ZIPP Service Course SL bars are meant to be set up. Read around a bit and other bars are designed to have the drops point approximately at the rear axle.

If it were me, I’d flip the stem, rotate the bars so that the curve of the tops is level, the hoods are level and continuous with the tops. That will move the levers significantly lower on the front curve.

Flipping the stem will increase the reach even further. Roll the bar OP!

Roll the bar OP!

Which will increase the reach on the hoods.

This has some good pictures of various set-ups and the advantages and disadvantages. I’d copy their ‘neutral’ examples based on what you’ve said

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/09/how-to-set-up-road-bike-drop-handlebars-tips-guidelines/

Come-on @cromolyolly, OP’s issue is NOT the position on the hoods but reaching the levers on the drops. Rolling the bars forward will bring the levers CLOSER to him at a more neutral angle. OP also says that the angle of the hoods tips his wrist upwards so having them set closer to level might offset this. Flipping the stem and therefore lowering the bar will increase the angle of his wrists.

I appreciate that this isn’t a road forum but it is a road bike we’re advising on.