Ted’s is the best response in this thread, I think. Ted: curious: you refer to both “drops” and “hooks.” What do you mean by “drops”? (I assume by “hooks” you mean the lower curves of a drop handlebar, where your hand position is lowest. If I’m wrong, please correct.)
On Sun, Mar 22, 2026 at 11:02 AM Ted Durant <[email protected]> wrote: > Galen - This is a very opinion-oriented topic with lots of well-meaning > people offering their opinions based on their experience plus a few appeals > to expert advice. I can only weigh in with my experience as someone who has > gone with Noodle bars on every bike, who has done brevets up to 600km, and > also as someone who frequently is asked by other cyclists to give fit > advice. > > First, on bike fitters - I have encountered dozens of cyclists who say > they've been professionally fit, and only one time have I watched that > person riding (and it was someone I had done a lot of miles with > previously) and thought, "Wow, that fitter absolutely nailed it for her." > Any fitter who says a Riv road bike can't be properly fit should be > ignored, and I certainly wouldn't hand over any cash to that person. > > Okay, regarding your fit. Everybody is different, so take this with a > whole cellar of salt grains. Your handlebars are wider than your shoulders, > by quite a bit, judging by the photo you posted. I would also observe that > your handlebars could possibly be rotated up a tiny bit, so the bottoms are > pointing at the rear brake or the midpoint of the seatstays. And, I would > suggest bring the brake levers down the hood a bit, bringing the lever > blades back a bit closer to the hooks, and making the tops of the hoods a > bit closer to level (but definitely not all the way level). You definitely > have tall brake lever bodies that extend well away from the bars, which in > my experience makes fitting difficult. You might want to consider trying > different brake levers. My goal with those adjustments is to get (as > mentioned by other posters) my wrist angle as neutral as possible in the > various positions. I'm obviously a lot smaller than you, but I have gone to > the narrowest model of Noodles and it has taken away some shoulder and > elbow issues. > > Now, regarding riding positions. As others point out, it's all about > amount and location of pressure. I think a lot about the balance between > hands, feet, and seat. My hand position is mostly dictated by how hard I am > riding, because the harder you ride, the more of your weight is being > carried by your feet and the greater the need for a low back to lessen wind > resistance. At a "tempo" pace, just below anaerobic threshold, I have > almost zero weight on my hands and, in fact, might be pulling slight upward > on them. Riding on the drops or hooks at that pace is where I need to be > and it's no problem for the hands to be there. Riding at that level of > effort while climbing I would typically be on the hoods or ramps. At a > "zone 2" pace, which would be a pretty good effort over long distances, I > spend most of the time on the drops and on the brake hoods, but not in the > hooks. On the drops, I'll move my hands around a bit but they're mostly > positioned so that the pad below the base of the thumb is taking the small > amount of pressure there. At the forward end of the drop, before the curve > starts, it's a short reach to the brake lever. At less than moderate > effort, I would never be lower than the brake levers unless I'm stretching. > The exception to that would be on a descent, where I'm coasting or lightly > pedaling and want to minimize air drag. There, as you described in your > first post, I'd have my hands in the hooks and fingers covering the brake > levers in case of emergency. Typically in that case the pressure on the bar > is in the joint between my thumb and index finger, but I'm trying to keep > that pressure very light so my grip is relaxed. I'm carrying most of my > weight on my feet at that point, with my butt back on the saddle and only > slightly weighted to allow the back wheel to float over bumps. Regarding > saddle fore-aft, I think there's too much pearl-clutching about how that > needs to be set EXACTLY and don't EVER use that to adjust reach. In my > experience changing the reach by 1cm makes a giant difference to my upper > body that my hips and legs don't notice at all. But, then, I ride flat > pedals with no clips and I'll move my feet +/- 2cm on the pedals during a > ride, so getting my knickers in a twist over 1cm of seat setback would be > kinda silly. > > Comfort position for me is upper arms pretty close to perpendicular to the > ground, elbows bent (slightly when not working too hard, progressively more > as the effort increases). Back angle anywhere from almost upright (lightly > twirling the pedals, hands on the "piano keys" on the bar tops) to pretty > close to flat (max sustained effort, hands in the hooks. My distance riding > stance is typically between the ramps, brake levers, and drops, depending > on the slope and level of effort, back somewhere around 45 degrees. My bar > tops are just below my saddle height. > > Last part - gloves and bar treatment. I only wear gloves in the winter to > keep my hands warm. I like two layers of cotton tape to increase the bar > diameter just a bit. > > Be your own scientist. Make changes one at a time, give them a fair test, > and take notes. > > Ted Durant > Milwaukee, WI USA > > -- 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]. 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