At the risk of stating the obvious, this is a complicated subject, with more variables than just drop bars or no.
-- stem height -- stem reach -- bar drop -- bar reach -- bar ramps -- brake lever design -- maybe saddle position as well At 54, I happily ride drop bars, as follows: -- bar tops are about 1" below top of saddle -- ramps are absolutely flat, and flow straight into the tops of the levers -- Levers are modern Campy ergo (or the Tektro copies), and offer big, comfy handrests and smooth transitions from the ramps -- I ride mostly on the lever tops -- I drop into the drops for fast descents (better stability) or sometimes in case of headwinds -- I have played around with a lot of bars, and the Ritchey Pro feels the best to me (46 width, but maybe that's a tangential subject). YMMV. I strongly prefer ergo bars. For those who don't like the look of ergo bars, I suggest that the appearance issues are minimized when one is actually riding. -- My stems are maybe ~1cm shorter than they were twenty years ago, 10-11 instead of 11-12 -- I ride Avocet M40 saddles, and Specialized Toupe saddles. I run both of those flat, or perhaps a teeny smidge nose-up. If you get tipped forward, that can influence this discussion substantially. And the high-bar folks are steadily rotating their saddles back past flat, I assume because they are rotating their pelvises and sit bones in that direction. I would like to have a classic bike built up, and I have plenty of parts -- and frames -- to do it, but classic bars combined with classic brake levers are so stunningly un-ergonomic (IMO, YMMV) that there is no point to bothering. Campy NR or SR levers, or Mafac levers, have such a small hand platform.... I could ride them when I was 25, but I am no longer interested. Yes, they look beautiful when viewed from a standing position five feet away from the side of the bike, but that doesn't help me much at mile 90, with 40 to go. Lastly, yes, more miles will help the issue, as will stretching and some lifting, especially deadlifts, tricep extensions, and core work. Don't give up on drops too quickly. They offer the best combination of positions. Cheers, pb On Jun 6, 8:55 am, canali <jwcoll...@hotmail.com> wrote: > just wondering if it's just me and i need to take my time adding the > mileage and being consistent and patient (and getting back into > shape) > > OR do alot of us as we get older no longer find being so bent down as > comfortable...thinking of swapping out drops on atlantis for jeff > jones h loop bars or the north road bars. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
