How about drop bars in the city ?

Having a Drop handlebar with one goldfinger brake only
deprives the rider of the one handposition where no grip
through the finger is needed. Correct ?
Sitting more upright should also improve viewpoint in traffic ?
Is that the reason hardly ever I see a rider holding the low
position of the drops in the city.
Having only a Goldfinger any hand position
other than the vertical one also adds reaction latency for reaching
the lever.
Am I just building a case for straight bars being the best solution
for riding in the city ?
...or a case for building a second bike for the weekend rides

bit of both. I find drops really useful out of traffic. in traffic- its flat bar all the way baby!

that's one solid answer. Thanks
So how do Pista/Nitto track drops come in without brakes.
Why that soft and early downward shape ?

i use cinelli criteriums/ some unknown track drops brakeless i guess it's all about getting used to...

the shape is made like that because track riders normally spend most of their time in the drops and those curves ensure you don't bash your forearms on the bars whilst sprinting aggressively.

No one really rides fixed with drop bars anymore, they are out of fashion accordingly with the fixedgearbible.org

i think risers/flat bars are more practical in the city....because like you said it gives you a good view point of traffic ahead and (if you have a break) your hand would be closer.
i spend most of my time riding on the outskirts of the city....and now that the weather is getting worse (and it bound to get windier) i plan to use my drops for the aerodynamics..

see, i'm not a poseur... :D

Roberto No one really rides fixed with drop bars anymore, they are out of fashion accordingly with the fixedgearbible.org

Isnt that one good reason to put some on ? My thought started on the weekend when I simply find straight uncompfy for 1h+ rides where there is
no trafficlight every 5min to give yer arms a break. And on that hill towards Kingston Gate I was simply swearing cause I had no lever for the climb in 48x17

fsck fashion.
Go with what you like. The nitto drops are severely 'droppish'. It feels weird initially in a city- but you have to remember their designed for the track.
Pretty comfortable, though....
I don't ride on the bottom flat part much, mainly the vertical, or just below.
ATM i'm using a flat bar because i love my nittos too much, and I hand stitched leather on em, and i have to leave my bike outside. :(
Hence Dawes beater/ polo/ winter bike.
It has hand-lined lugs though...

Hmmm. The bars are very aero.

My suggestion is road specific drops.

I actually prefer my drops in town (although I run a 36cm set of Nittos, so they're slightly narrower than my risers). I spend most of the time on the top, but it's really nice to get down 'n' dirty when the lights ahead start to change and you want to make the junction, or the road just opens up in front of you and you want to sprint.

I keep a seperate bar/stem combo with a set of cheap risers that I switch out as and when, mostly for longer rides - because anything over about 50 miles can get a little uncomfortable on drop bars that don't have brake hoods.

Eyebrows leaves his bike outside !
My bicycle really ties the room together ;-)

I like the chopped and flopped option. You can ride it as if it's a flat bar near the stem but then 'relax' on the slightly raised bull horns. That said, i am planning on getting some cheap rise bars to see how they feel.

Naar...
I had a pursuit bars which is the fancy version of flopped-chopped I s'pose
and that was not for me. But its all personal choice of course !

i ride with drops and hoods plus a crosstop lever it's not fashionable but then i don't really give a toss.
i use the drops on my commute, mostly on the long straight run from kennington to tooting as i'm often coming back late when there is no traffic so can go a lot faster. i use the hoods most of the time and the tops for cruising and slowing down. i wouldn't change my set-up as it's versatile and comfortable being able to swap between positions on longer rides plus the drops are useful for cunting headwinds and winding the fashion police up.

I don't get it.. even if you never use the drops the tops are as high as an xc bar and if you want them higher (like risers) you can up the stem.
With drops you can use bmx style brake lever or hoods. Track drops or ergo road bars or anything in between. Risers are for mountain bikes.
Bah humbug, etc. Use what you like and fight for your right to party :)

I use road drops (old Cinelli 66s) with brakes. To get 'round the lower position I'm using a flipped stem to raise the front end a bit. The bike would look better with a quill stem, but then I'd have to raise it about 2" and it would look just as ugly as the A-head stem!

I only have to ride in from South London to South Kensington, so I don't spend much time in dense traffic.
If I was riding in heavy traffic then flat bars would make more sense and to be honest SS would make more sense than fixed if the traffic was really bad (there are just some times when being able to back pedal makes a lot of sense).

i have 6 different bar stem combinations and still cant get it right on my new bike and duff elbow : {

i use cinelli criterium. everything's just fine. i can see perfectly well.

my choice for all round riding would be road drops, for the reasons already explained, with hoods (one brake and a dummy on the left)

risers or flats are good in traffic, there's no doubt. the reason I've got them on at the moment is because I had an old pair knocking about and they cost nowt.

nitto track drops are lovely on the drop, but the bend on the tops makes it pretty miserable for town only.

I'm using road drops at the moment. I do like them - very comfortable.

But i miss my nitto track bars. I used to ride with them mainly with my hands on the curvy part. Not uncomfortable, and also a good position for both cruising and sprinting. Also, when attacking hills, the horizontal drop-part makes it feel really easy to pull up. Unlike these

Another problem with hoods are, when riding in dense traffic, you can sometimes accidently touch vehicles, and the first thing that would get squashed are your fingers imo.

I've got lot's of very strong opinions on this subject., but I haven't got the time to type them all out right now.....

I use straights with short stubby mountain bike bar-ends, they're great for acceleration, hill-climbing and you can even achieve a semi-aero position with them...plus never too far from the brake (on the left side...separate discussion!)

lpg if you miss the horizontal bit of your nittos you need traditional drops not those anatomical things. i use deda ones (available in shallow italian and belgian deep drop style)

I loved my Nittos in Aus. Can ride the top or I liked the as-if-they-have-hoods hand reversed position. Hard to describe.

I squashed my finger riding on the hoods last year. Wouldn't stop me using them though, although I don't like anatomical bars on any bike - just normal drops for me

The last item on the page seems to be the bar that's aimed at the gearless crowd.