OK, well here's some news, then: There are some cyclists who sometimes ride a bicycle with drop bars, but rarely ride in the hooks. Some cyclists spend nearly all the time on the hoods or the ramps, even the tops. I think you would say their flexibility is lacking, and you may be true -AND/OR- their bars are too low for their current bodies, and that may also be true.
There are handlebars more aerodynamic than drop bars (called aero bars). The typical setup forces the rider into two very aero positions. Either in the hooks where the brake levers are, low but also medium width, like in the hooks on a narrow drop bar -OR- even more aero by getting even more narrow, with elbows in and hands forward. Maybe you should try some and see if it's even better for you! There are some cyclists who sometimes ride a bicycle with upright bars, and sometimes decide to crouch down and get low for aerodynamics and/or for power. Here's photographic proof. It is a digital photograph of a film photograph taken by Grant Petersen of a cyclist riding up a pitch on Shell Ridge in the foothills of Mount Diablo. The rider is on an Atlantis with a huge stack, plus a fairly tall stem and a low rise upright handlebar (the Choco). The rider, who is accustomed to a traditional flat back power position during climbing has elected to grab the Choco bar in the center hooks, bent elbows, etc.: https://flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/54527876217/in/dateposted/ (Yes, the cyclist is me, with a beard I rarely grow out, and a backwards Red Sox baseball cap). My stable has four bikes with upright bars, and none of them prevent me from getting low and aero or low and powerful when I elect to get there. I learned something new today about Rob English, a legendary bicycle builder who knows more than most about aerodynamics. What I learned is that he commutes 45km each way to his workshop, and he does a lot of his commuting in a Velomobile. If there were only a cyclist in windy Albuquerque, who cared about having fun defeating headwinds and who sincerely cared about aerodynamics. That hypothetical cyclist might have a hoot in a Velomobile. I've been glancing their website and they claim that the leg-power it takes to ride steadily at 50kph (over 30MPH) is 160 Watts! That's bonkers. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 4:40:59 PM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote: > On Sun, May 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM Bill Lindsay <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I've got three questions: >> >> 1. Who ever said sitting bolt upright is the winning strategy to beat >> headwinds? Not me. >> 2. What is it about drop handlebars that forces the rider to assume the >> most aerodynamic riding position possible on that bike? I dunno. >> 3. What is it about upright handlebars that prevents the rider from >> assuming the most aerodynamic riding position possible on that bike? >> Shape; but there’s the comfort factor. >> >> My preemptive answers are: Nobody, nothing, and nothing. See above. >> >> Ted's 16MPH threshold idea is that when he's moving through the air at >> less than 16MPH it makes very little difference. You riding 12MPH into a >> 20MPH headwind is you moving through the air at 32MPH, which is Ted's "drop >> bar zone”. Exactly. >> > >> Bill Lindsay >> El Cerrito, CA >> >> On Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 3:23:04 PM UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote: >> >>> Well, not so close, if you regularly ride into 20 or 25 mph headwinds. >>> If you maintain any forward momentum at all into a 20+ mph headwind, the >>> type of bike, or at least the shape, width, and position of the bar, makes >>> a big difference. >>> >>> Patrick “non-non-non-*non* racer” Moore, who finds a low tucked >>> position essential to having riding fun, very slowly, in windy ABQ, NM. >>> >>> On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM Ted Durant <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> On May 16, 2025, at 4:09 PM, Bill Lindsay <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> If the data presented by the Original Poster is representative of the >>>> larger truth as it applies to essentially ALL of us UN-racers, then when >>>> it >>>> comes to speed, it does not matter one bit what bike you ride, provided >>>> you >>>> like it and it fits. >>>> >>>> Close, but the data only applies to riding at my commuting speed, which >>>> is a few mph slower than my recreational riding speed, and now commuting >>>> represents zero percent of my riding time. >>>> >>> -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d665e090-f139-4d11-9eb1-0405cc519a55n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d665e090-f139-4d11-9eb1-0405cc519a55n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > > > -- > > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing > services > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* > > *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* > > *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b8f2f84d-12ab-4ff1-b525-008f5f866f08n%40googlegroups.com.
