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@noiser
Sheldon Brown...
[INDENT]People who think they don't like drop handlebars are often actually objecting to the position of the bars on the drop-bar bikes they have tried.
Bikes with drop bars often have the bars mounted rather low and far forward, so that the rider has to lean forward quite a lot to reach the bars, especially the lower "drop" position. If these people tried a bike where the drop bars were placed higher, and closer to the saddle, they might find they really liked them.[/INDENT]
So I rode for the first time (~40 miles) on drop bars this weekend. Was a bad experience. Here are a couple images to give you an idea of positioning (click for bigger).
(believe the bars need to be rotated clock-wise)
The dropped bar area was fine to grip palms down [1], as was the flat bar area [2] and the lever hoods [3]. The inside of the curve however was too small for my hands and gripping the bars palms forward [4] was uncomfortable and I carried tension in my shoulders (but not due to hand discomfort).
Now the flipside is that I could only comfortably cover the brake levers whilst having my hands in the curve [4]. Obviously it was impossible to cover the levers holding the either the dropped [1] or flat bar area [2], with my hands on the hoods I couldn't reach the lower part of the lever so had little leverage. When trying to apply significant force I had to strain my fingers and was limited as my thumbs and hand couldn't rotate any further downwards.
Now I think the problem will be somewhat alleviated by repositioning the levers higher up the bars. Is that right? Can anyone offer any other advice?
Sheldon suggests a stem with shorter extension and/ or longer length... well the frame is already a small so the shorter extension isn't really an option and the length is already a 120mm, I want to avoid a threadless stem. Setback post?
(excuse the sex mood lighting of my living room and the ridiculous english i slip into when trying to explain things, which makes things more difficult to understand)
Thanks!