Good question, Jamie. One can ask the same for flat/alt bars right!? It's all subjective but I do believe some sensible traits apply in both cases. I have both types of bars and it took a lot of experimenting to make each work.
My Roadini with drop bars: width at the hoods is in line with my shoulders; not too narrow or wide. If the bars are too high, my shoulders shrug, and this I can feel within 10 minutes of riding (and for hours after, ouch). Reach, I think depends on a lot of things including flexibility (same can be said of height...except for too high and shrug, that's never good). With my hands placed comfortably on the hoods, are my arms stretched out too far, causing tension in the shoulder blades, or are my arms (triceps) close to inline with the side of my torso. I think it's natural to have them extend out slightly; in my case, with pre-existing neck/shoulder issues, I like my arms to not extend out very far. Lever position should be in a position to my hands rest comfortably on them with no kinking of the wrist up or down, just a nice relaxed line down my arms. Some bars have a drastic drop down and I see people with hoods halfway down this drop, I just don't understand how this can be comfortable but whatever floats your boat! Having someone with some knowledge of bike fit help you, who can 'look' at things is good, but in the end it's how you feel that counts. I think on my Roadini I've had 4-5 stems, as it took me a while to dial it in (still not perfect). On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 6:49:50 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > Jamie, > > I second Elisabeth's and Patrick's advice. I spent a couple years holding > my hands—as well as I could while riding—where they would feel most > comfortable, and experimenting with bar height, width, and shape, as well > as stem length. It was a bit of a pain, but when I got my Homer with > downtube shifters, swapping stems and bars was relatively straightforward. > > I settled on relatively narrow drop bars with a longish reach and deep > drop. I set the top of the bars 2 to 3 cm *above* saddle height. I'm > slim, and drop bars wider than 37 or 38 cm at the ramps are uncomfortable > for my shoulders and neck. Likewise most flat/upright bars (except > Albatross). I ride mostly on the ramps. > > In what way (or ways) are your current bars uncomfortable, if you don't > mind me asking? > > -- > Bob > > On Monday, September 8, 2025 at 10:28:42 AM UTC-6 Jamie D. wrote: > >> I keep trying drop bars in various forms and fashions and can never seem >> to get comfortable. Obviously this is subjective but in your experience is >> higher bars with shorter reach the most comfortable? Is there a >> 'goldilocks' zone? Any wisdom you could share would be greatly appreciated! > > -- 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/a227c792-54f3-4c99-90f8-85810e5263f8n%40googlegroups.com.
