Dropbar position on a road bike

I just bought a 2006 Trek 1200 on ebay for what I think was a very good price. It is in immaculate condition, and I am delighted with it as I return to the roads. It has been so many years since I rode a road bike, though, that I can’t even remember what the posture feels like. And in any case, I suspect the geometry of my old 1988 Bianchi is significantly different to this new bike.

Anyway, I have been out acclimatising myself to the new bike, and it sort of feels like I am going to launch head over the bars because of the way I am positioned. Assuming everything else is correctly configured, is it just a matter of me getting used to the difference between my mountain bike, my upright commuter bike, and this? Or is this the reason people change their bar position?

As it is, my bike looks almost exactly like this:

but I have noticed that some people have set their bars like this:

The second picture looks weird, but I wonder if there is a method to the madness.

On a related note, I feel like I need to completely re-train on the road bike. Jeez, the world has moved on a bit… 😐

Personally I have my bars set so the profile from the side follows a straight line from the stem (rather than tilted down as in the 1st pic). I can’t see the setup in that pic being at all comfortable.

2nd pic looks like someone wanted a bike with a longer head tube!

To me the forst image tooks like the bars are rotated a bit too far down with the hoods in too far down, doesn’t make for a comfortable position on the tops/hoods…

This is a handy illustration:

You sort of want the top of the bar, combined with the hood to form a sort of continuous section you can select a couple of comfortable hand positions on

Dunno how much use it is but try reviewing this link see if it helps at all…

When I first got my Roady I rode with the stem flipped up for a while until I got used to the position then flipped it back down once I’d got used to it.

As zilog6128 says I try to keep the side on profile of the top more level than in the top pic, although I think mine’s level to the ground rather than inline with the stem.

hand position on the hoods should be roughly level or angled very slightly up. a bit like this.

Both of the pics the OP has put are odd bar positions, cookeaa’s pic is a good guide though, once you’re close to that you can rotate the bars up or down to suit. I prefer mine a bit further down the drops that huws but that’s just preference.

Re. Saddle to bar drop, that is very personal dependent on flexibility, type of riding and generally what you find comfortable. I like a big drop and find that comfortable but that’s because I’m tall and reasonably flexible.