Myself I keep coming back to drop bars. I really like the flared gravel style ones. Just feels more natural to me in my primary position which is on the hoods.
I just like that the 3 traditional positions on drop bars are pretty drastically different. If any part of my body is uncomfortable on a long ride, I can usually fix it by just changing to one of the other positions because they all put you in a different riding posture. With flat and alt bars, even if they have multiple places to put your hands, it feels like the riding posture feels about the same.
I've been riding flared on my road bike for a few years and I much prefer how it feels. I built a racing bike that isn't flared and it definitely feels more cramped and slightly awkward
Another great video. I have raised my cow chippers above my seat height so that the top/hoods are at the top of my comfort range and the drops are high enough to use without much discomfort. I use the drops all the time now. Handle bars & positions are worth experimenting with.
I have the same numbness in my hands with flat or sweep bars, but seem to avoid it with drop bars & riding on the hood. Definitely my most comfortable position to ride.
Like Russ said, it depends on the ride. I have really wide Nitto Noodle drop bars on my Long Haul Trucker and use all available hand positions on long rides. The width helps keep the bike from feeling squirrely in gravel or rough. I have an alt bar on a bike I ride in town a lot because the upright position feels safer to me in traffic. I feel like I'm better able to keep my head on a swivel.
I only use flat or alt bars because drop bars and controls are expensive, tedious to swap and I find them no more comfortable with less steering control on the fun terrain. Moloko is my fave except friction shifter mounting isn’t ideal. Pedro’s tire levers are the best but I snapped one for the first time last week (trying to mount a wtb raddler) so it’s making me revisit everything I know about bikes. Maybe I’ll put a drop bar on my commuter just for experimental purposes
Love traditional road drop bars. I don’t even want a little bit of a flair. I use regular 44 cm drop bars on my gravel bike same bar I use on my road bike. And I like the way they look.
I've used drop, straight and alt bars. I prefer straight and alt bars because I feel I have quicker access to the brake levers. I ride in an urban environment and being able to get on the brakes quickly can be a life saver. I have nothing against drop bars but at 63 I just don't find them as comfortable as I do ride in a more upright position.
I had the same issue sliding into my 60's. Stiffness, sciatica, and a little bit of arthritis, made riding a bit less comfortable than it used to be, even on the same 2007 Surly LHT I have ridden for years. But when they were available, I swapped in Surly Truck Stop Bars. They could use a skosh more flare, but the small rise on them seems just right for me.
Agree. That combo is better than drops for descending, straightaways, and getting a lot more bike for your money. And I think it looks cool, like my bike has antlers. 😅
I’m sorry for being dense. It’s not purposeful, I assure you. I’m both a retired Navy Officer and a retired federal wildlife officer….dealing with head injuries that impact my thought process sometimes. Now In retirement, I’m getting back into bicycling…and now own a Chumba Stella ti, outfitted for backcountry riding, to access out of the way fly fishing spots in New England. It has flat bars, but what you offer as an alternative to drops, is intriguing. Do whatever these are, just bolt on? Or is this something that is part of the original flat bars. Mine is equipped with a Thompson flattie. Can you explain just a bit more. Or turn me in the right direction, to find out more. Thank you, I’d appreciate it. Be safe, and I wish you well….many smiles with the miles!
You just did the best, most comprehensive -and to the point-comparison of these two types of handlebars! I’m approaching my late 60s…a bicycle rider since 1972, maybe 1973? I’ve done my “crazy” riding, but healing takes much longer now. My old road bike sits, as I hate “roads with cars”. My old thrasher sits, as I’m more relaxed in my riding, and again, I just don’t heal as quickly as I used to. My primary ride now…is my Chumba Stella ti…built up with Rohloff aft, and SON Dyno forward….used for gravel, rail trail, forest service roads to access New England fly fishing spots….and long bikepacking trips when I just have to get away! Bravo-Zulu, we’ll done….explaining. I’m now considering those hand extensions on my Thompson flattie, just to give me another hand position. Wishing you many smiles with the miles, and safe riding, brother!
I've been using a Jones H-Bar for about 5 years now for daily use and tours on my Cross Check (had to scale down from 5 bikes to 2). I enjoy it very much and at 66 y.o.a., the upright position works for me. But I really enjoy the panache of drops, especially the way Russ has his set up and the hoods I do miss...
I do love my drops but I’m building up a Gunnar with some new Nitto’s with a dramatic sweep. It will be interesting to see how I like it on long rides(I know I’m going to dig the upright position for shorter stuff).
drop bar components are more expensive and harder to swap around so not so nice but I love the feel of drop bars. Riding downhill in the drops is fun and I like how the shifting feels
Nice balanced presentation. I'm used to drop bars and like the varied hand positions. Riding the hoods is my default, in a non-crouched position. One problem with drops is that they take a little while to get used to. New cyclists ate often intimidated.
A good analysis . I use drops - and this is for comfort reasons more than anything else. If you are doing more gnarly down hills then flats/alts may be a better solution, but what and where you ride and how comfortable you are will dictate what you are using. I am just a bit miffed that no handle bar can deal with the flooding we have at the moment 😂
I prefer the drop bar for its multiple hand positions. Gripping the outside edge is a much more comfortable, natural position that is gentle on my wrists. Keep up the good work.
The benefit of drop bar for me is it spreads some of your body weight from you tush to your arms and legs for longer hours in the saddle. But upright is where it’s at for cruising the town when you need your head on a swivel it gives better visibility.
Yep, for urban transportation being more upright gives me a better view and and no compromises on maximum braking ability (arms braced, weight pushed back, whaling on the front brake as the front wheel rubber protests on the asphalt). For that usage I consider drops a non-starter, but that's just me - half the people I know commuting in the city don't even use their front brake, so ... ... they and all the crazy riding behavior I see comfort me, knowing any accident statistic I read must be heavily made up of these people.
That dirt dropper looks cool. If you want a real chill ride on your bike even when putting in strength into the pedals the alt bars are great. I have straight bars, and ones that are slightly moved back. And there both good. I think mostly it’s a feel for the bike, and aesthetic.
Russ's retro-grouch quotient has been rising, and upon seeing the headline, I was hopeful that I would see further growth. But "it depends" isn't grouchy enough. I have a Jones Bar on my 96 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo. Love it. Didn't Russ used to appreciate them? Haven't seen them on any of his bikes recently.
I agree. Depending on what your plans are one is better than the other. I ride on my fixed gear both risers and Dropbars. Riser for commuting because of the more upright position and better view over traffic and drop for recreational riding ✌️
I just can't do drop bars. I've tried a few times with bike setups, but I always end up swapping out the drops. I think it's in part because I come from a more mountain bike perspective so I'm just more accustomed to the flat bar hand positions, but as I've gotten older, I've really been prioritizing upright riding positions and, as you said in the video, alt bars offer more of those. With drop bars, I don't end up using the drops because of that body position. But that's me. No shade, of course, to drop bar diehards. I love that alt bars are becoming more prevalent with more options. I love that they're being designed with multiple hand positions in mind and that there are so many options.
As a member of the bad back club, I love my alt-bar, but then again the wind blows in different directions all the time. What to do? Simple buy more bikes!! Three and counting, but #4 is in the works. Its good too to have adult kids with bike addictions so I get good deals, but they also steal bikes.
I’ve had one bike with drops and one with the Surly Sunrise bars. The bike with the sunrise bars is my Surly 1x1. Loved that setup up. Then threw the Surly corner bars on my 1x1 🤯. Love the corner bars!!! Don’t miss flat bars like I thought I would.
Bravo. My bike came w cowchipper bars, and I like them for the reasons you gave: many holds, hide from the wind, and given their width, plenty of leverage. I had a 30 yr old MTB w flat bars and I pulled one or two sons in a kid trailer. Until I turned into the wind. And didn't have a low enough gear to continue. There's almost always wind. Long live cowchippers. Where's your join button.. (JK, I'm on my phone, I'll find it w my pixel book). Great, informative challel IMHO.
Depends on the use... City riding? Upright handlebars (old Raleigh style) are the only way to go for visibility and safety. On our road touring tandem? Drop bars... multiple hand positions, ability to tuck down on descents and into the wind, brake levers out of the way on the front of the drops. On our folding tandem for shorter urban/railtrail and train out-ride back rides? H-bars which have compact brake levers and SRAM grip shifters. If we had gravel bikes, they would have more upright bars, maybe with extensions for hand positions.
I have ridden several configurations of flat bars and my hands/wrists start hurting after an hour or so. After a few years of commuting, I settled on short-reach, short-drop drop bars with cyclocross levers so I can brake on the flats and in the drops or on the hoods. I set my handlebars about 2” above my saddle. I found ways to attach handlebar bags without interfering with the cyclocross levers.
Both! On my chill touring rig I run Bosco bars and love the various hand and body positions - I can go from laid back couch bike vibes to an aero tuck. But for going fast and far I'm working on a build that will be super wide drops + clip on aero bars.
Alt bars are a great choice for any kind of go-anywhere ATB/trekking soft-roader type scenarios but I do recommend throwing a bit of bar tape on any bar-ends or extensions you may have. Makes a big difference.
Russ, I have the same problem with my hands and forearms having shooting pain. My solution and an aspect of dropped bars that you did not mention is wing bars and especially for me carbon wing bars. The only way I could continue to ride drop bars was to get rid of the round cross-section. Wing profile bars with ergo-grip contours made a huge difference for my comfort.
For my monster cross bike, drop bars are my favorite, 44cm Ritchey Biomax. Reason being I ride a lot of narrow trails with trees on the sides or many of the local areas have narrow entrances to keep out motorcycles. I rarely use the drops unless there's a strong head wind or fast descent. I have more of an alt bar on my touring bike that I used to ride a lot on the dirt and found, like Russ, that my hands get fatigued on longer rides.
Good compare and contrast. 100% for me too on not being able to ride flat/alt bars for long (2+ hours) rides without having issues with medial and ulnar nerves and tendonitis. Even with aero bars or big curvy bull horns, just not enough variation of hand position. Size L Ergon grips helped immensly for me, I put most of my weight on the trailing rubber "wing" which acted as a nice shock absorber. The added surface area and shape really helped with spreading the weight across my whole palm. Still not enough to keep from getting numb/tingly hands. Decided to experiment and got a used Salsa Cowbell for $10 at Recycled Cycles and mis-matched 3x and 9x brifters for $25 at an REI garage sale. So much better for me on the tarmac, rail trail, and FS road riding I was doing at the time. I snapped a Pedro's tire lever and couldn't find the piece that broke off. I figured it had dropped out into the gravel and weeds. 15 miles later I found it, the piece had hidden silently somewhere in my 47c tire and gave me another puncture, lol. They work well, I just have to dial back my "superhero level strength" a bit ;P
Alt bars. I've got Ritchey Coyote bars, which I love, on a 26" MTB style rigid bike, along with Profile Design brief bar ends mounted on the inside curves to somewhat replicate a Jones Bar or a Moloku bar. (Oh, how I wish we could upload pics in these YT comments.) It leaves a gap in between the "inner bar ends". Those can be used as another hand position, or to mount stuff. Love it!
Drops were good for me on my fixed track bike back in the early 00s but for the last 15 years I've been on riser variations. My favorite is the Surly Sunrise bar. To me it's perfect geometry for roads, dirt, trail, touring,packing, all of it. I'm also on a 26+ bike which adds to the ride and STYLE because we know how it looks matters too. If it looks wack it's going to ride wack.
I use both. Depending on the bike. However I prefer drop bars. It was refreshing to hear drop bars can be set up less aggressive, level with the saddle. That’s how I set all of mine up.
I'm lucky enough to have two gravel bikes. One is the Surly Ghost Grappler which I modified and put a Moloko Bar on, and a Salsa Fargo that now has the same Redshift Kitchen Sink! It is nice having choice. The Grappler is good for shorter more rugged days and the Fargo for long or multi-day trips.
I swapped to flat bars some years ago, and the windy days really made me rue the change! I have added tribars to overcome this problem, but I find it very difficult to get the right saddle position for both positions. However, I noticed recently that Redshift do a two position seat post, which might help - but it isn't cheap.
Thank you. One more important thing (not sure if you mentioned it): braking in the hoods is very different compared to braking with a flat bar, which allows a much more natural hand-movement. Thats why i am not sure if its a good idea using a dropbar in town were you have to brake all the time.
I’m with you on this one. I also have the new version of the Crazy Bar and love it 👍🏼. Probably not for everyone but it suits me well especially with the Rohloff twist grip.
I was brought up on drops. About 12 or 15 years ago I had a spell of using just flats to help my back but I've come back to drops except on the mountain bike, the tandem and child haulers, where the extra control is useful.
Nice summup. Furthermore, shifters and levers are often less expensive on alt/flat bars. And narrower curly bars can be nice to escape the hustle and bustle of a dense city, espacially in Europe, with narrow streets. I live in Paris, putting a 800mm width alt bar it's like riding a bull in a bush.
Another great video, I have on one Geoff bars on bike, Sq labs on Another and ultra wide dirt drops in Another! The bars should match the riders needs! I will give a slight nod to my Geoff bars, wide, tons on hand placements, bag/accessorie mounts galore and great for all off road conditions.
Before ten speeds (and hence drop bars) became common in the western rural U.S., in about 1964 (sixth grade) I put drop bars on my 1958 Western Flyer (wide steel bars with some rise and about 30 degrees of sweep, 24" x 1-3/4" wheel size) to make it more wind-efficient, as I lived in a windy town (our high school's paper was titled "The Sandstorm") and commuted a couple of miles to and from school every day. Of course they were steel bars - there was no other option available from the one small sporting goods store in our small city, and in that time, drop bars were the "alternative" bars. I have to say there was a noticeable improvement in speed, due to the more aero position, both narrower and lower (I was young and flexible, and could ride in the drops all day given the top of the stem was about the same height as the saddle.) When ten speeds started to become a thing in our town (1970) I ordered a Schwinn Varsity; it was like ordering a car, took about 6 weeks to arrive. The glossy catalog didn't mention it weighed 41 lbs with the chrome steel fenders, steel drop bars with stem shifters and transparent blue plastic tape, Ashtabula one piece steel cranks, and a welded water-pipe frame that was as solid as a locomotive descending paved mountain passes at 50-60 mph with touring loads. I paid extra for toe clips and nearly killed myself trying to get leather sandals disengaged from them before tipping over when caught in too high a gear on a short climb. Anyway, drop bars were the bomb in our flat-as-a pancake town.
I have gone from a Cannondale superX to now riding a more everyday ebike with flat bars and 48mm 650b tires and i love it. The only downside is the drag from going faster than 15mph, when the motor shuts down. But on gravel roads I'm okay with that. 9 gears should be upgraded in the future tho. My Cannondale has been fitted with 17 degree riser and surly truck stop bars and hopefully this year i can use it on roads if my back allows it.
I have used drops, specifically the Sim Works 'Wild Honey' bars on my gravel touring rig for over 13,000 miles. The hooks flare out slightly and are honestly very comfortable but do handle poorly in sandy conditions. Flat bars and their technical leverage would be preferable. But for the long haul the hoods are the most comfortable. I have also experienced the hand tingle with most stock flat bars, but I'm building a Crust ScapeBot now with the Tumbleweed Persuader bars with touring off the beaten path in mind.
I put some Ritchie double bends on my fatty, wrapped the whole bar, and like the various options it provides. I like a true aero position with arm pads to take all the weight off my hands. I could see one with memory foam being a lot more comfortable than the velcro foam pads on my old profile bars. You can't have enough hand positions these days. Also, when I get into heavier trails with my gravel bike (Davinci) I instinctively reach for MTB brakes! I can't wait to get away from having to shift and maintain a chain! Something that keeps my cadence up is all I'd need.
Drop bars for me over anything else. The possibility to switch between three (or three- and-a-half) markedly different hand positions makes longer rides (i.e. any ride longer than an hour) so much more pleasant. Also, if you live anywhere where there is the slightest possibility of air movement (commonly known as "wind"), you are grateful for every centimeter that you can lower your silhouette. Tri-bars might accomplish the same thing, but they add weight and impair handling. Then, drop bars are usually much less wide and therefore less cumbersome than flat bars (ideally the hoods are at shoulder width), which makes squeezing through traffic much less stressful. Also, maneuvering a bike through doorways and staircases is much easier with narrower bars. (This is only an issue for the urban cyclist - if you live in the middle of nowhere, that should not bother you). Yes, you lose some leverage, but this is compensated in part by the longer reach of the bar itself (if riding in the hoods), and by the fact that usually you would also run a longer stem. There is one real disadvantage (rather: an advantage that can in some situations turn disadvantageous) that @pathlesspedaled has correctly identified: the more weight over the front wheel means the tendency to "go over the handlebars" on a steep decent or under hard braking is increased. But there is a way around this: get out of the saddle and then move your bottom *way behind* the saddle, in order to shift center of gravity as far back as possibly. You will end up with mostly straighened arms (but not completely - there I must be some bend in your elbows to absorb shocks) and mostly straight legs (again, not completely - some knee bend necessary to absorb shocks and let the bike move around), your butt hanging over the center of the rear wheel and you stomach hovering over the saddle. I admit that this is somewhat counterintuitive, and indeed a slightly awkward position. A beginner cyclist probably would not find this on his own, unless he had very good observation skills and watched to many cyclocross races. Most people will need someone to tell them this (in my case, both my grandfather and my dad took my first "handlebar dive" as an opportunity to teach schoolkid-me about the need to shift bodymass around). Rests a final drawback of the drop bars: the sportier, stretched-out riding position requires more core strength. But then, if you lack the core strength to ride in the drops, you will run into back problems eventually even outside cycling. Working on core strength benefits practically everone, so we may even interprete this drawback as a positive. ;-) I must admit that I do own one bike with flat bars - a 1990s rigid steel frame mountain bike. In true 1990s fashion, the bike frame is a bit to small me, because this makes it easier to move around the bike (or let the bike move under you) - after all, your limbs are the suspension. This means that I cannot reasonably fit a drop bar, because my seating position would be to compressed in the drops. The bad joke is that I don't even ride gnarly offroad, but I only use this bike for bike paths and forest roads with rougher gravel or more mud that I don't have the confidence to take my road bike on 25mms on. I really need to get my s**t together and restore my late grandfather's randonneur, so that I can retire the MTB...
Great piece Russ and Laura. I'm running the wide Redshift on my road//occasional gravel ARD 1.4 (REI) and Jones H-bar on my hard tail gravel/mtn bike. Both are comfortable (upright) and accommodate bags
For decades, I could not even look at a bike that didn't have drop bars. I grew up into the '70s bike boom, and that was it. A few years ago, though (at age 62.x) I discovered that riding drops made my neck hurt (granted, drops in their conventional position) and I started to experiment. I ended up with a relatively narrow (540mm) bar that was almost, but not quite, perfectly straight. I had to replace my saddle and stem (and handlebar controls) to make things work, but the upshot is that I'm on the same bike and worlds more comfortable. I know that won't work for everyone, but that was my experience. Now riding happily at 65+.
Drop bars allow more hand positions, which allow to engage/disengage more back muscles. Varying the stem’s length will permit riding drop bars either more upright or more stretch out. With the advent of gravel drop bars and levers (such as shimano’s grx) these allow almost as much control going down technical hills as flat bars. Then there is that concept of underbike, which can be fun as it demands more attention and bike handling.
Really good info here and a lot of important details. I generally like frames with higher stack heights so drop bars don't feel super low. I have a State 4130 All-Road and a Salsa Fargo both with drop bars and both have much higher stack heights than a typical gravel or road bike.
Thanks Russ for dispelling the belief that bars need to be "slammed" down as in most new bike ads. Drives me crazy that bike companies can't start to make higher rise stems and bars look cool. The cool factor is getting out and riding comfortably.
Thanks Russ for all of your videos. Perhaps somebody will produce flat bar nubs or extensions that have more of the shape of drop a bar brake lever body (with a "stop" between the thumb and index finger, and a broader vertical section to grab onto). Apologies if somebody in the comments already suggested such a product.
I don't doubt that drops can be faster. In my 20,s and 30,s I used drops but for a long time my back has been telling me that its not a good idea. I also find more control on flat bars. One thing to try could be the Dutch style handlebar where your hand orientation is at 90° compared to a flat bar. I've tried it in Holland, no flying machine but comfortable.
I've tried those bar ends exactly like in this video and it just wasn't narrow enough to be at the right place. There's also the fact that if you are riding on the road, having your hands always at the brakes for emergency situations is a safety feature. For gravel it's fine to ride a beach cruiser setup if that is the type of ride you want. I actually think that Russ is becoming more of a gravel cruiser rider/backpacking chill rider than anything. Nothing wrong with that.
I own and ride both. It truly is a very complicated subject and riding position on the bike is nuanced and generally exceeds the grasp of average riders. I will tell you two signature mistakes I see with both. 1. People who ride dropbars ride them too low and too close to their body. As mentioned, at saddle level or above is preferred for comfort. I have done a lot of competitive riding in all genres and build high performance ebikes because I like speed as in world class cyclist speed with a motor....not limited off the shelf ebikes sold in bike shops. Dropbar users typically don't have the functionality aka flexibility to ride dropbars like a pro. As a result they struggle. Dropbars are wonderful when positioned closer in position to what a flatbar should be. 2. Biggest mistake riders make with a flatbar is they ride with the handlebar too close to their body. Riding like Mary Poppins, you can't enlist your glutes and get power into your stroke. So general conclusion is this. Position your dropbar in space closer to where a flatbar generally is and position a flatbar closer to where a dropbar many times is placed. In summary, both are excellent and rider fit and ergonomics which affects performance and comfort are key. Drops can be wonderful because of variation in hand positions, provided the handlebar is in a position where all positions can be utilized comfortably which is commonly not the case. Coming from the world of dropbar road racing, I will tell you many aging fast guys never use the hooks because they have their dropbar positioned too low for vanity. A good and important discussion. PS. if you extrapolate from the Leadville mountain bike race which is really a dirt road race without much technical difficulty, the race is 95% ridden and won on a flatbar. 100 miles. It has been raced on a dropbar gravel/mountain bike but not as successfully and its a high speed race where aerodynamics matter which historically is the benefit of a dropbar.
Firstly, greetings from the uk. Love the channel. I like the multiple hand positions that drop bars provide, though I hardly ever use the drops on my adventure/gravel bike, preferring to ride with hands on the hoods, top bends, and tops. I’d probably find alt bars limiting, especially on long rides where hand/wrist fatigue sets in.
The value of dropbars is on steep rough gravel decents, a strong grip in the drops prevents a fall due to your hands bouncing off the hoods when the front wheel shifts abruptly.
Upright alt bars work perfectly for the riding I primarily do (especially the swept back versions like Nitto's Albatross, Albastache, Bosco, et.al.); lots of hand positions available. I used to ride drop bars exclusively but as time went by the advantages of the alt bar for me won out. YMMV
I went Butterfly, and I never went back. The trekking bars give me all the positions I need from full aero tucked in, to upright as a prairie-dog on alert. Edit: It would be bad for mounting bags though. That said, mounting a front bag would take up too much precious handlebar grip area for my personal taste... I do wonder just how many variations of alt bars there are by now.
Dropped traditional drop bars, haven’t tried the in between sort of! Use relatively straight bars with ergonomic grips and barends! Will though change to more like a moustache bar with multiple grabbing points! Will change because it looks better with my Brooks saddle and a more upright position! Aiming for more party pace riding and less sporty riding.
I have three bikes, all different and with different handle bars. A road bike with drop bars, mostly for exercise, a light weight "city bike" ( all ost road bike but with flat bar, mud guards and a pannier with a basket) for commuting and an electric Bullitt long John Cargo bike with a mild riser bar with EasyUp to make room for large items in the cargo bay. All good for their purpose. Maybe I should ad that I am 60 and have turned the stem upside down on both the road bike and the city bike to raise the bar so I don't hurt my fragile old backbone
I've gone all in on alt-bars as it's best suited to my bike and I can't afford a new frame that would suit a drop bar. Love the alt-bars, but the biggest disadvantage for me, that you didn't mention is just how much of a nightmare it is to wheel the bike into a small flat/apartment where the bars are wider than the door/corridor.
I recently swapped my 2022 Trek Checkpoint ALR to a flat bar. Started with the stock Bontrager drops, switched to the Curve Remlaw, which is, as the marketing materials say, the flat bar for drop bar bikes. It doesn't greatly effect the aggressive position over the head tube (particularly after I lengthened the stem from 90 to 130 to account for the difference in 'reach' between the bars), which isn't what I was looking for. I just really don't ever know where to put my hands on drop bars, and no position is particularly comfortable, and I love the new Ergon GA3. I also vastly prefer flat bar levers to drop bar brifters (goes double for the goofy dropper lever they gave me for the drops, lol). I swapped out the stock GRX groupset for a full SRAM GX 1x12 groupset, 32t front, 10-50t rear. I almost never used the top like three gears of the GRX, but I might yet get a bigger chain ring. Got Hope RX4+ flat mount calipers front and rear, attached to Shimano SLX levers. Too bad the max rotor size is 160, which hugely limits the braking power even with a 4 piston gravel caliper. My suspension stem (120; my 130 Salsa stem was maybe a tad long) just arrived today, hugely looking forward to trying it out, and the bar needs cutting down to about 770 from 800. But generally, so far, the change has been a dream. The Checkpoint was already one of my favorite bikes, and now it's definitely second to none except my e-bike. Once my brand new Mezcal 44mm wear out, I'm going to get a ZIPP XPLR wheelset so I can put some real MTB tires on there. I was thinking about getting a gravel fork, but honestly (and aside from the expense) that would make the bike too similar to my XC/trail HT, and with the suspension stem and cush core front and rear, there's no point.
I like both types of bars, but that is all up to the terrain, the length of the ride, and most of all, the wind. It can be windy here in Unbound Gravel country. My wrists and shoulders get uncomfortable on long rides with non-drop bars. So I will go with the Ritchey Adventure Max Comp bar for the long ride. I love the shallow drop feature a lot. That's just my preference though. Whatever works for the maximum amount of comfort is the right choice.
High mounted drop bars can be set up so they offer a lot of comfort and a wide range of usable positions so they might be best for touring. For shorter rides of a couple hours or less I prefer the super high position of alt bar because ot is great for sightseeing and traffic. And wheelies are really hard with drop bars unless you empoly the ghetto roll alternate mounting position!!!
I haven't had the broadest experience, but for my typical rides a well swept back handlebar is the best for me. My wrists are almost at a drop bar angle of rotation, but I'm upright and comfortable. Having said that, my only drop bar experience is a 60s style narrow one. It feels like I'm gonna fall forwards all the time. I should experiment with a wider drop bar like the one you have here!
Agreed that I like the hand positioning with very swept back bars. You should definitely try modern drops too though / the really wide ones are game changers.
Drop bars = less aero drag/more weight on arms wrists and hands. Tall drops, upright bars = more aero drag/less weight on arms, wrists and hands and more weight on the seat. Generally a given rider is faster the lower the drop bar can be so his aerodynamic drag is at its lowest which will give the best speed overall. Certain disciplines within cycling such as BMX stunting, Mountain Biking, Downhill MTB and others really cannot use drop bars for one reason or the other depending on the discipline which you have noted nicely. You bring up the comfort thing of being able to have multiple hand positions to ward off pain and injury from only one hand position. Upright bars can raise the risk of saddle sores for the user so there are pluses and minuses for each setup. Good video. I find that I like more upright bars. But I don't race or do real long rides.
I’m still fairly new back to bikes(rode them through high school and kind of dropped off of riding), and have largely stayed away from drop bars because of perceptions of hardcore cyclists using dropbars. Since I want to ride casually I kept to alt/flat bars so far, though I am mildly curious about testing drop bars on a longer ride to see how it feels since I too struggle some with comfort on alt/flat bars after a while
I thought the same as you before trying drop bars simply because I was not comfortable working on dropbar when maintenance comes. Took time to learn and get used to them and now I can never go back to flat bars on longer rides. My wrists bother me riding prolonged rides on flat bars.
I use the term "Bendy Bar Bike" which I picked up from BikeSnobNYC - I like the alliteration. I have bikes with both, though on the bendy bars I'm never in the drops and avoid anything too technical. One plus for me on the alt bar is it's easier to mess with shifters and brake levers (swaps, adjustments when dialing in a fit, or installing new inner cables) or even experimenting with different bars since there's no bar tape involved.
I use an alt bar (Surly Terminal Bar) on my bridge club with inner Bar ends (SQ Lab) that are thick taped with bar tape. Love it. But at the Moment Im thinking about building up a Straggler and am debating between drop or alt bars. Would be nice to have a drop bar bike on one hand. But i think im more a flat bar guy. Never had drop bars on any of my bikes.
I have a Haro Mary bike, which I think was released about 2009. It came with an On-One Mary bar -called 'Mary' because it is M-shaped with its backsweep. On-One, an English brand, must have been one of the early ones to produce an alt bar.
Crazy idea! Got an old mtb that could convert to a drop bar bike. Could fit smaller stem to bring in the reach. Also fit 29r front wheel to slow the steering down. Even maybe a reverse stem (super crazy) - as that bike was a size too large as an mtb and had long reach. I need a computer app where I can put the fame in and play about with options and gem affects. Could be too high BB with the bigger front wheel, but was considering skinny tyres for it (as an mtb it would have higher BB due to 2.0 typical tyres). Could also fit a 27.5 front instead.
It’s nice having different bikes with different bars for every day of the week…. Oh I wish I had 7 bikes, or more. Currently rocking 5 and each with a purpose from the commuting, to the pub bike, the gravel set up for epics, and a hardtail for slamming on shit etc
Turning my wrists to ride flat/alt style bars tends to cause some discomfort on long rides where sitting on modern hoods doesn't but I also might just be changing positions more on drops and not paying attention.
What the guy above said. Drop bars at the hood feels more natural for me. Flat bars even using the mustache shape feels constricting on alternate hand positions.
Personally I'm sticking with 44cm drop bars with just a little bit of flare. I find it really brings the bike to life, while being very comfortable for long rides, and still fast which means it takes less effort to cover bigger distances. (especially in windy conditions indeed) Downside: when bike touring, the 44cm bar can be a bit twitchy with panniers and a tent on the rear rack.
There are other options to either of these. "Trekking" bars offer multiple hand postions and a variety of reaches, making them a good alternative to some more traditional styles. No handlebar is going to excel in all situations. These days I prefer an upright pisition similar to that of the old Raleigh Roadsters, with their swept back "North Road" bars. Alternatively, I lay down on my recumbent trike which has under seat steering, a comfy mesh seat and a headrest. 😉
I have a trek fx1 it’s a great bike but the flat bar position was giving me pain in shoulder and rest I thought it’s a saddle position problem so i did get my saddle correctly and still the same pain then one day I bought a cheap gravel handlebar with cheap microshif shifters, and man it’s a better bike now it’s looks awesome and feels great in ride . Thanks for the video
I am a drop bar fan. But it’s hard to find components these days for a touring bike, since you basically want a mix of mountain bike and road components. I am currently building a new touring bike for me, and it’s a struggle. It would have been easier and cheaper for sure if I’d dropped the drop bar requirement, or started my project a couple of years ago when some parts where still manufactured, like the TRP hydraulic drop bar breaks for post mount e.g, or back in the days when you could get a high end wide range 3x9 system with front mech for road and rear mech made for MTB compatible with shifters for drop bar. I find todays gravel 2x10 or 2x11 does not have enough gear range for touring, otherwise that would been the choice. The main reason I started my new touring build project was to get better breaks - i.e disk breaks. My wife also wanted better breaks, and switched to hydraulic rim brakes, but decided to switch to alt bars, because there was nothing on the current market to get that on a drop bar. I tried to build a solution for that on my previous bike with drop bar, but it didn’t work that well, so now I building a completely new bike with drop bars and (mechanical) disk breaks (TRP hyrd) and bar-end shifters, and a 3x9 drive train.
Loved your agnostic and nuanced presentation as always. I'm a drop-bar addict mainly because of the wind and mainly being in tarmack or light gravel, but some scary descents and having to use a backpack for my laptop made me install some sketchy secondary brake levers in the tops, they work fine thou. As for your carpal tunnel, have you tried those ergonomic mice and keyboards? Got one for my father and his pain has gone away
At 63, I don't like cricking my neck to see where I'm going as much as I used to. And my hands can't take pressure for long distance, so I need to get off them to go any distance. I pretty well have to sit up, and in that position even your alt bars are too straight, so it twists my wrists uncomfortably. On a diamond frame, I pretty well always go for a North Road style. The pull-back angle fits my natural wrist position. I've gone full Dutch upright, so I use bars that match. Although for long trips I go even farther and lean back a bit. Recumbents are my go-to distance bike.
I've used dropbars for 20 years and counting. For me nothing beats the comfort, any road I can ride with 32mm tires (max width on an old road bike) I can cope with using 40cm handle bars (though now I have changed to 35, that fits my weedy little cyclist shoulders better, I have yet to come to a place where I come unstuck).
"industrial roadie complex"--best description of the corporate bike industrial complex. This is why I SUPPORT this channel....made my day... :)
Myself I keep coming back to drop bars. I really like the flared gravel style ones. Just feels more natural to me in my primary position which is on the hoods.
I borrowed a bike with no flare and they felt super weird/bad after riding drop bars with flare for a while.
I just like that the 3 traditional positions on drop bars are pretty drastically different. If any part of my body is uncomfortable on a long ride, I can usually fix it by just changing to one of the other positions because they all put you in a different riding posture. With flat and alt bars, even if they have multiple places to put your hands, it feels like the riding posture feels about the same.
I've been riding flared on my road bike for a few years and I much prefer how it feels. I built a racing bike that isn't flared and it definitely feels more cramped and slightly awkward
Another great video. I have raised my cow chippers above my seat height so that the top/hoods are at the top of my comfort range and the drops are high enough to use without much discomfort. I use the drops all the time now.
Handle bars & positions are worth experimenting with.
I'm exactly the same with the same bars. I want my bars high but use drops all the time
Sometimes I feel I could do with a riser bar drop
@@tcw8287 I just installed a 'Red Shift top shelf' with 70mm rise on my road bike which puts me about level with my saddle.
I have the same numbness in my hands with flat or sweep bars, but seem to avoid it with drop bars & riding on the hood. Definitely my most comfortable position to ride.
I appreciate your honest and broad-based comparison of different competing products without any predisposed preference or motive.
Like Russ said, it depends on the ride. I have really wide Nitto Noodle drop bars on my Long Haul Trucker and use all available hand positions on long rides. The width helps keep the bike from feeling squirrely in gravel or rough. I have an alt bar on a bike I ride in town a lot because the upright position feels safer to me in traffic. I feel like I'm better able to keep my head on a swivel.
I only use flat or alt bars because drop bars and controls are expensive, tedious to swap and I find them no more comfortable with less steering control on the fun terrain. Moloko is my fave except friction shifter mounting isn’t ideal.
Pedro’s tire levers are the best but I snapped one for the first time last week (trying to mount a wtb raddler) so it’s making me revisit everything I know about bikes. Maybe I’ll put a drop bar on my commuter just for experimental purposes
Love traditional road drop bars. I don’t even want a little bit of a flair. I use regular 44 cm drop bars on my gravel bike same bar I use on my road bike. And I like the way they look.
I've used drop, straight and alt bars. I prefer straight and alt bars because I feel I have quicker access to the brake levers. I ride in an urban environment and being able to get on the brakes quickly can be a life saver. I have nothing against drop bars but at 63 I just don't find them as comfortable as I do ride in a more upright position.
I had the same issue sliding into my 60's. Stiffness, sciatica, and a little bit of arthritis, made riding a bit less comfortable than it used to be, even on the same 2007 Surly LHT I have ridden for years. But when they were available, I swapped in Surly Truck Stop Bars. They could use a skosh more flare, but the small rise on them seems just right for me.
I know this is old comment but redshift has riser drop bars that help.
A popular set up for bickpacking is actually flat bars with clip on aero bars. It’s a little busy and ugly but quite functional
I had that set up on my 90s mtb that I converted to a commuter and short tourer. worked great!
I do a variation of that for touring. Not my idea, but it works wonderfully.
Agree. That combo is better than drops for descending, straightaways, and getting a lot more bike for your money. And I think it looks cool, like my bike has antlers. 😅
I’m sorry for being dense. It’s not purposeful, I assure you. I’m both a retired Navy Officer and a retired federal wildlife officer….dealing with head injuries that impact my thought process sometimes. Now In retirement, I’m getting back into bicycling…and now own a Chumba Stella ti, outfitted for backcountry riding, to access out of the way fly fishing spots in New England. It has flat bars, but what you offer as an alternative to drops, is intriguing. Do whatever these are, just bolt on? Or is this something that is part of the original flat bars. Mine is equipped with a Thompson flattie. Can you explain just a bit more. Or turn me in the right direction, to find out more. Thank you, I’d appreciate it. Be safe, and I wish you well….many smiles with the miles!
You just did the best, most comprehensive -and to the point-comparison of these two types of handlebars! I’m approaching my late 60s…a bicycle rider since 1972, maybe 1973? I’ve done my “crazy” riding, but healing takes much longer now. My old road bike sits, as I hate “roads with cars”. My old thrasher sits, as I’m more relaxed in my riding, and again, I just don’t heal as quickly as I used to. My primary ride now…is my Chumba Stella ti…built up with Rohloff aft, and SON Dyno forward….used for gravel, rail trail, forest service roads to access New England fly fishing spots….and long bikepacking trips when I just have to get away! Bravo-Zulu, we’ll done….explaining. I’m now considering those hand extensions on my Thompson flattie, just to give me another hand position. Wishing you many smiles with the miles, and safe riding, brother!
I've been using a Jones H-Bar for about 5 years now for daily use and tours on my Cross Check (had to scale down from 5 bikes to 2). I enjoy it very much and at 66 y.o.a., the upright position works for me. But I really enjoy the panache of drops, especially the way Russ has his set up and the hoods I do miss...
I do love my drops but I’m building up a Gunnar with some new Nitto’s with a dramatic sweep. It will be interesting to see how I like it on long rides(I know I’m going to dig the upright position for shorter stuff).
I prefer drop bars personally but I don't set them too low which is common now, this allows me to use the drops and not just the hoods.
drop bar components are more expensive and harder to swap around so not so nice but I love the feel of drop bars. Riding downhill in the drops is fun and I like how the shifting feels
Nice balanced presentation.
I'm used to drop bars and like the varied hand positions. Riding the hoods is my default, in a non-crouched position.
One problem with drops is that they take a little while to get used to. New cyclists ate often intimidated.
A good analysis . I use drops - and this is for comfort reasons more than anything else. If you are doing more gnarly down hills then flats/alts may be a better solution, but what and where you ride and how comfortable you are will dictate what you are using. I am just a bit miffed that no handle bar can deal with the flooding we have at the moment 😂
I prefer the drop bar for its multiple hand positions. Gripping the outside edge is a much more comfortable, natural position that is gentle on my wrists. Keep up the good work.
I applaud your honesty from the outset.
The benefit of drop bar for me is it spreads some of your body weight from you tush to your arms and legs for longer hours in the saddle. But upright is where it’s at for cruising the town when you need your head on a swivel it gives better visibility.
Yep, for urban transportation being more upright gives me a better view and and no compromises on maximum braking ability (arms braced, weight pushed back, whaling on the front brake as the front wheel rubber protests on the asphalt). For that usage I consider drops a non-starter, but that's just me - half the people I know commuting in the city don't even use their front brake, so ... ... they and all the crazy riding behavior I see comfort me, knowing any accident statistic I read must be heavily made up of these people.
Lol...I'm 60.
Dutch bars, Moustache bars...Alt Bars- whatever you call them...they ROCK...it's all about the comfort for me. Ymmv
So, Russ, in a nutshell, I think you said "horses for courses" and "if it hurts, don't do it."
abchaplin out here scoring headshots
Where's the UA-cam revenue from such a short video though?
This is UA-cam not Twitter.
That dirt dropper looks cool. If you want a real chill ride on your bike even when putting in strength into the pedals the alt bars are great. I have straight bars, and ones that are slightly moved back. And there both good. I think mostly it’s a feel for the bike, and aesthetic.
Russ's retro-grouch quotient has been rising, and upon seeing the headline, I was hopeful that I would see further growth. But "it depends" isn't grouchy enough. I have a Jones Bar on my 96 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo. Love it. Didn't Russ used to appreciate them? Haven't seen them on any of his bikes recently.
I agree. Depending on what your plans are one is better than the other.
I ride on my fixed gear both risers and Dropbars. Riser for commuting because of the more upright position and better view over traffic and drop for recreational riding ✌️
I just can't do drop bars. I've tried a few times with bike setups, but I always end up swapping out the drops. I think it's in part because I come from a more mountain bike perspective so I'm just more accustomed to the flat bar hand positions, but as I've gotten older, I've really been prioritizing upright riding positions and, as you said in the video, alt bars offer more of those. With drop bars, I don't end up using the drops because of that body position. But that's me. No shade, of course, to drop bar diehards.
I love that alt bars are becoming more prevalent with more options. I love that they're being designed with multiple hand positions in mind and that there are so many options.
I was a drop bar snob but a few years ago converted, and all my bikes are alt bars now.
As a member of the bad back club, I love my alt-bar, but then again the wind blows in different directions all the time. What to do? Simple buy more bikes!! Three and counting, but #4 is in the works. Its good too to have adult kids with bike addictions so I get good deals, but they also steal bikes.
I’ve had one bike with drops and one with the Surly Sunrise bars. The bike with the sunrise bars is my Surly 1x1. Loved that setup up. Then threw the Surly corner bars on my 1x1 🤯. Love the corner bars!!! Don’t miss flat bars like I thought I would.
Bravo. My bike came w cowchipper bars, and I like them for the reasons you gave: many holds, hide from the wind, and given their width, plenty of leverage. I had a 30 yr old MTB w flat bars and I pulled one or two sons in a kid trailer. Until I turned into the wind. And didn't have a low enough gear to continue. There's almost always wind. Long live cowchippers. Where's your join button.. (JK, I'm on my phone, I'll find it w my pixel book). Great, informative challel IMHO.
Depends on the use... City riding? Upright handlebars (old Raleigh style) are the only way to go for visibility and safety. On our road touring tandem? Drop bars... multiple hand positions, ability to tuck down on descents and into the wind, brake levers out of the way on the front of the drops. On our folding tandem for shorter urban/railtrail and train out-ride back rides? H-bars which have compact brake levers and SRAM grip shifters. If we had gravel bikes, they would have more upright bars, maybe with extensions for hand positions.
I have ridden several configurations of flat bars and my hands/wrists start hurting after an hour or so. After a few years of commuting, I settled on short-reach, short-drop drop bars with cyclocross levers so I can brake on the flats and in the drops or on the hoods. I set my handlebars about 2” above my saddle. I found ways to attach handlebar bags without interfering with the cyclocross levers.
Both! On my chill touring rig I run Bosco bars and love the various hand and body positions - I can go from laid back couch bike vibes to an aero tuck. But for going fast and far I'm working on a build that will be super wide drops + clip on aero bars.
Alt bars are a great choice for any kind of go-anywhere ATB/trekking soft-roader type scenarios but I do recommend throwing a bit of bar tape on any bar-ends or extensions you may have. Makes a big difference.
Russ, I have the same problem with my hands and forearms having shooting pain. My solution and an aspect of dropped bars that you did not mention is wing bars and especially for me carbon wing bars. The only way I could continue to ride drop bars was to get rid of the round cross-section. Wing profile bars with ergo-grip contours made a huge difference for my comfort.
For my monster cross bike, drop bars are my favorite, 44cm Ritchey Biomax. Reason being I ride a lot of narrow trails with trees on the sides or many of the local areas have narrow entrances to keep out motorcycles. I rarely use the drops unless there's a strong head wind or fast descent. I have more of an alt bar on my touring bike that I used to ride a lot on the dirt and found, like Russ, that my hands get fatigued on longer rides.
Good compare and contrast. 100% for me too on not being able to ride flat/alt bars for long (2+ hours) rides without having issues with medial and ulnar nerves and tendonitis. Even with aero bars or big curvy bull horns, just not enough variation of hand position. Size L Ergon grips helped immensly for me, I put most of my weight on the trailing rubber "wing" which acted as a nice shock absorber. The added surface area and shape really helped with spreading the weight across my whole palm. Still not enough to keep from getting numb/tingly hands. Decided to experiment and got a used Salsa Cowbell for $10 at Recycled Cycles and mis-matched 3x and 9x brifters for $25 at an REI garage sale. So much better for me on the tarmac, rail trail, and FS road riding I was doing at the time.
I snapped a Pedro's tire lever and couldn't find the piece that broke off. I figured it had dropped out into the gravel and weeds. 15 miles later I found it, the piece had hidden silently somewhere in my 47c tire and gave me another puncture, lol. They work well, I just have to dial back my "superhero level strength" a bit ;P
Alt bars. I've got Ritchey Coyote bars, which I love, on a 26" MTB style rigid bike, along with Profile Design brief bar ends mounted on the inside curves to somewhat replicate a Jones Bar or a Moloku bar. (Oh, how I wish we could upload pics in these YT comments.) It leaves a gap in between the "inner bar ends". Those can be used as another hand position, or to mount stuff. Love it!
I like the different lighting setup in this vid.
Drops were good for me on my fixed track bike back in the early 00s but for the last 15 years I've been on riser variations. My favorite is the Surly Sunrise bar. To me it's perfect geometry for roads, dirt, trail, touring,packing, all of it. I'm also on a 26+ bike which adds to the ride and STYLE because we know how it looks matters too. If it looks wack it's going to ride wack.
Good presentation, well-balanced, logical rationale throughout. 👍
I use both. Depending on the bike. However I prefer drop bars. It was refreshing to hear drop bars can be set up less aggressive, level with the saddle. That’s how I set all of mine up.
I'm lucky enough to have two gravel bikes. One is the Surly Ghost Grappler which I modified and put a Moloko Bar on, and a Salsa Fargo that now has the same Redshift Kitchen Sink! It is nice having choice. The Grappler is good for shorter more rugged days and the Fargo for long or multi-day trips.
I swapped to flat bars some years ago, and the windy days really made me rue the change!
I have added tribars to overcome this problem, but I find it very difficult to get the right saddle position for both positions.
However, I noticed recently that Redshift do a two position seat post, which might help - but it isn't cheap.
Thank you. One more important thing (not sure if you mentioned it): braking in the hoods is very different compared to braking with a flat bar, which allows a much more natural hand-movement. Thats why i am not sure if its a good idea using a dropbar in town were you have to brake all the time.
Love the Harvey Mushman reference! That was the name Steve McQueen used when entering dirt bike races.
Velo Orange Crazy Bars. Lots of sweep. Plenty of hand positions. You can get fairly tucked in on them too.
I’m with you on this one. I also have the new version of the Crazy Bar and love it 👍🏼. Probably not for everyone but it suits me well especially with the Rohloff twist grip.
I was brought up on drops. About 12 or 15 years ago I had a spell of using just flats to help my back but I've come back to drops except on the mountain bike, the tandem and child haulers, where the extra control is useful.
Nice summup. Furthermore, shifters and levers are often less expensive on alt/flat bars. And narrower curly bars can be nice to escape the hustle and bustle of a dense city, espacially in Europe, with narrow streets.
I live in Paris, putting a 800mm width alt bar it's like riding a bull in a bush.
Another great video, I have on one Geoff bars on bike, Sq labs on Another and ultra wide dirt drops in Another! The bars should match the riders needs! I will give a slight nod to my Geoff bars, wide, tons on hand placements, bag/accessorie mounts galore and great for all off road conditions.
Before ten speeds (and hence drop bars) became common in the western rural U.S., in about 1964 (sixth grade) I put drop bars on my 1958 Western Flyer (wide steel bars with some rise and about 30 degrees of sweep, 24" x 1-3/4" wheel size) to make it more wind-efficient, as I lived in a windy town (our high school's paper was titled "The Sandstorm") and commuted a couple of miles to and from school every day. Of course they were steel bars - there was no other option available from the one small sporting goods store in our small city, and in that time, drop bars were the "alternative" bars. I have to say there was a noticeable improvement in speed, due to the more aero position, both narrower and lower (I was young and flexible, and could ride in the drops all day given the top of the stem was about the same height as the saddle.) When ten speeds started to become a thing in our town (1970) I ordered a Schwinn Varsity; it was like ordering a car, took about 6 weeks to arrive. The glossy catalog didn't mention it weighed 41 lbs with the chrome steel fenders, steel drop bars with stem shifters and transparent blue plastic tape, Ashtabula one piece steel cranks, and a welded water-pipe frame that was as solid as a locomotive descending paved mountain passes at 50-60 mph with touring loads. I paid extra for toe clips and nearly killed myself trying to get leather sandals disengaged from them before tipping over when caught in too high a gear on a short climb. Anyway, drop bars were the bomb in our flat-as-a pancake town.
I have gone from a Cannondale superX to now riding a more everyday ebike with flat bars and 48mm 650b tires and i love it. The only downside is the drag from going faster than 15mph, when the motor shuts down. But on gravel roads I'm okay with that. 9 gears should be upgraded in the future tho. My Cannondale has been fitted with 17 degree riser and surly truck stop bars and hopefully this year i can use it on roads if my back allows it.
I have used drops, specifically the Sim Works 'Wild Honey' bars on my gravel touring rig for over 13,000 miles. The hooks flare out slightly and are honestly very comfortable but do handle poorly in sandy conditions. Flat bars and their technical leverage would be preferable. But for the long haul the hoods are the most comfortable. I have also experienced the hand tingle with most stock flat bars, but I'm building a Crust ScapeBot now with the Tumbleweed Persuader bars with touring off the beaten path in mind.
"Industrial Roadie Complex" is the best thing I've heard all week!
The B roll of you hammering the nail with the screwdriver was the best moment on UA-cam all year
I put some Ritchie double bends on my fatty, wrapped the whole bar, and like the various options it provides. I like a true aero position with arm pads to take all the weight off my hands. I could see one with memory foam being a lot more comfortable than the velcro foam pads on my old profile bars. You can't have enough hand positions these days.
Also, when I get into heavier trails with my gravel bike (Davinci) I instinctively reach for MTB brakes! I can't wait to get away from having to shift and maintain a chain! Something that keeps my cadence up is all I'd need.
Great review with pros and cons. You can check your personal habit, style against them and decide.
Drop bars for me over anything else. The possibility to switch between three (or three- and-a-half) markedly different hand positions makes longer rides (i.e. any ride longer than an hour) so much more pleasant.
Also, if you live anywhere where there is the slightest possibility of air movement (commonly known as "wind"), you are grateful for every centimeter that you can lower your silhouette. Tri-bars might accomplish the same thing, but they add weight and impair handling.
Then, drop bars are usually much less wide and therefore less cumbersome than flat bars (ideally the hoods are at shoulder width), which makes squeezing through traffic much less stressful. Also, maneuvering a bike through doorways and staircases is much easier with narrower bars. (This is only an issue for the urban cyclist - if you live in the middle of nowhere, that should not bother you).
Yes, you lose some leverage, but this is compensated in part by the longer reach of the bar itself (if riding in the hoods), and by the fact that usually you would also run a longer stem.
There is one real disadvantage (rather: an advantage that can in some situations turn disadvantageous) that @pathlesspedaled has correctly identified: the more weight over the front wheel means the tendency to "go over the handlebars" on a steep decent or under hard braking is increased. But there is a way around this: get out of the saddle and then move your bottom *way behind* the saddle, in order to shift center of gravity as far back as possibly. You will end up with mostly straighened arms (but not completely - there I must be some bend in your elbows to absorb shocks) and mostly straight legs (again, not completely - some knee bend necessary to absorb shocks and let the bike move around), your butt hanging over the center of the rear wheel and you stomach hovering over the saddle. I admit that this is somewhat counterintuitive, and indeed a slightly awkward position. A beginner cyclist probably would not find this on his own, unless he had very good observation skills and watched to many cyclocross races. Most people will need someone to tell them this (in my case, both my grandfather and my dad took my first "handlebar dive" as an opportunity to teach schoolkid-me about the need to shift bodymass around).
Rests a final drawback of the drop bars: the sportier, stretched-out riding position requires more core strength. But then, if you lack the core strength to ride in the drops, you will run into back problems eventually even outside cycling. Working on core strength benefits practically everone, so we may even interprete this drawback as a positive. ;-)
I must admit that I do own one bike with flat bars - a 1990s rigid steel frame mountain bike. In true 1990s fashion, the bike frame is a bit to small me, because this makes it easier to move around the bike (or let the bike move under you) - after all, your limbs are the suspension. This means that I cannot reasonably fit a drop bar, because my seating position would be to compressed in the drops. The bad joke is that I don't even ride gnarly offroad, but I only use this bike for bike paths and forest roads with rougher gravel or more mud that I don't have the confidence to take my road bike on 25mms on. I really need to get my s**t together and restore my late grandfather's randonneur, so that I can retire the MTB...
Great piece Russ and Laura. I'm running the wide Redshift on my road//occasional gravel ARD 1.4 (REI) and Jones H-bar on my hard tail gravel/mtn bike. Both are comfortable (upright) and accommodate bags
For decades, I could not even look at a bike that didn't have drop bars. I grew up into the '70s bike boom, and that was it. A few years ago, though (at age 62.x) I discovered that riding drops made my neck hurt (granted, drops in their conventional position) and I started to experiment. I ended up with a relatively narrow (540mm) bar that was almost, but not quite, perfectly straight. I had to replace my saddle and stem (and handlebar controls) to make things work, but the upshot is that I'm on the same bike and worlds more comfortable. I know that won't work for everyone, but that was my experience. Now riding happily at 65+.
Drop bars allow more hand positions, which allow to engage/disengage more back muscles. Varying the stem’s length will permit riding drop bars either more upright or more stretch out. With the advent of gravel drop bars and levers (such as shimano’s grx) these allow almost as much control going down technical hills as flat bars. Then there is that concept of underbike, which can be fun as it demands more attention and bike handling.
Really good info here and a lot of important details. I generally like frames with higher stack heights so drop bars don't feel super low. I have a State 4130 All-Road and a Salsa Fargo both with drop bars and both have much higher stack heights than a typical gravel or road bike.
Thanks Russ for dispelling the belief that bars need to be "slammed" down as in most new bike ads. Drives me crazy that bike companies can't start to make higher rise stems and bars look cool. The cool factor is getting out and riding comfortably.
Thanks Russ for all of your videos. Perhaps somebody will produce flat bar nubs or extensions that have more of the shape of drop a bar brake lever body (with a "stop" between the thumb and index finger, and a broader vertical section to grab onto). Apologies if somebody in the comments already suggested such a product.
I don't doubt that drops can be faster. In my 20,s and 30,s I used drops but for a long time my back has been telling me that its not a good idea. I also find more control on flat bars. One thing to try could be the Dutch style handlebar where your hand orientation is at 90° compared to a flat bar. I've tried it in Holland, no flying machine but comfortable.
I've tried those bar ends exactly like in this video and it just wasn't narrow enough to be at the right place. There's also the fact that if you are riding on the road, having your hands always at the brakes for emergency situations is a safety feature. For gravel it's fine to ride a beach cruiser setup if that is the type of ride you want.
I actually think that Russ is becoming more of a gravel cruiser rider/backpacking chill rider than anything. Nothing wrong with that.
I own and ride both. It truly is a very complicated subject and riding position on the bike is nuanced and generally exceeds the grasp of average riders. I will tell you two signature mistakes I see with both.
1. People who ride dropbars ride them too low and too close to their body. As mentioned, at saddle level or above is preferred for comfort. I have done a lot of competitive riding in all genres and build high performance ebikes because I like speed as in world class cyclist speed with a motor....not limited off the shelf ebikes sold in bike shops. Dropbar users typically don't have the functionality aka flexibility to ride dropbars like a pro. As a result they struggle. Dropbars are wonderful when positioned closer in position to what a flatbar should be.
2. Biggest mistake riders make with a flatbar is they ride with the handlebar too close to their body. Riding like Mary Poppins, you can't enlist your glutes and get power into your stroke.
So general conclusion is this. Position your dropbar in space closer to where a flatbar generally is and position a flatbar closer to where a dropbar many times is placed.
In summary, both are excellent and rider fit and ergonomics which affects performance and comfort are key. Drops can be wonderful because of variation in hand positions, provided the handlebar is in a position where all positions can be utilized comfortably which is commonly not the case. Coming from the world of dropbar road racing, I will tell you many aging fast guys never use the hooks because they have their dropbar positioned too low for vanity.
A good and important discussion.
PS. if you extrapolate from the Leadville mountain bike race which is really a dirt road race without much technical difficulty, the race is 95% ridden and won on a flatbar. 100 miles.
It has been raced on a dropbar gravel/mountain bike but not as successfully and its a high speed race where aerodynamics matter which historically is the benefit of a dropbar.
Firstly, greetings from the uk. Love the channel. I like the multiple hand positions that drop bars provide, though I hardly ever use the drops on my adventure/gravel bike, preferring to ride with hands on the hoods, top bends, and tops. I’d probably find alt bars limiting, especially on long rides where hand/wrist fatigue sets in.
The value of dropbars is on steep rough gravel decents, a strong grip in the drops prevents a fall due to your hands bouncing off the hoods when the front wheel shifts abruptly.
Well said. Both are useful. I have jones h bars and they give a lot of control but are not as comfortable for long hauling as drop bars. I have both.
Jones bars with the unicorn extension give a good aero position but hey when the winds at your back alt bars are the dream 😃
Upright alt bars work perfectly for the riding I primarily do (especially the swept back versions like Nitto's Albatross, Albastache, Bosco, et.al.); lots of hand positions available. I used to ride drop bars exclusively but as time went by the advantages of the alt bar for me won out. YMMV
I went Butterfly, and I never went back. The trekking bars give me all the positions I need from full aero tucked in, to upright as a prairie-dog on alert. Edit: It would be bad for mounting bags though. That said, mounting a front bag would take up too much precious handlebar grip area for my personal taste...
I do wonder just how many variations of alt bars there are by now.
Dropped traditional drop bars, haven’t tried the in between sort of! Use relatively straight bars with ergonomic grips and barends! Will though change to more like a moustache bar with multiple grabbing points! Will change because it looks better with my Brooks saddle and a more upright position! Aiming for more party pace riding and less sporty riding.
I have three bikes, all different and with different handle bars. A road bike with drop bars, mostly for exercise, a light weight "city bike" ( all ost road bike but with flat bar, mud guards and a pannier with a basket) for commuting and an electric Bullitt long John Cargo bike with a mild riser bar with EasyUp to make room for large items in the cargo bay. All good for their purpose. Maybe I should ad that I am 60 and have turned the stem upside down on both the road bike and the city bike to raise the bar so I don't hurt my fragile old backbone
I've gone all in on alt-bars as it's best suited to my bike and I can't afford a new frame that would suit a drop bar. Love the alt-bars, but the biggest disadvantage for me, that you didn't mention is just how much of a nightmare it is to wheel the bike into a small flat/apartment where the bars are wider than the door/corridor.
I recently swapped my 2022 Trek Checkpoint ALR to a flat bar. Started with the stock Bontrager drops, switched to the Curve Remlaw, which is, as the marketing materials say, the flat bar for drop bar bikes. It doesn't greatly effect the aggressive position over the head tube (particularly after I lengthened the stem from 90 to 130 to account for the difference in 'reach' between the bars), which isn't what I was looking for. I just really don't ever know where to put my hands on drop bars, and no position is particularly comfortable, and I love the new Ergon GA3. I also vastly prefer flat bar levers to drop bar brifters (goes double for the goofy dropper lever they gave me for the drops, lol).
I swapped out the stock GRX groupset for a full SRAM GX 1x12 groupset, 32t front, 10-50t rear. I almost never used the top like three gears of the GRX, but I might yet get a bigger chain ring. Got Hope RX4+ flat mount calipers front and rear, attached to Shimano SLX levers. Too bad the max rotor size is 160, which hugely limits the braking power even with a 4 piston gravel caliper.
My suspension stem (120; my 130 Salsa stem was maybe a tad long) just arrived today, hugely looking forward to trying it out, and the bar needs cutting down to about 770 from 800. But generally, so far, the change has been a dream. The Checkpoint was already one of my favorite bikes, and now it's definitely second to none except my e-bike.
Once my brand new Mezcal 44mm wear out, I'm going to get a ZIPP XPLR wheelset so I can put some real MTB tires on there. I was thinking about getting a gravel fork, but honestly (and aside from the expense) that would make the bike too similar to my XC/trail HT, and with the suspension stem and cush core front and rear, there's no point.
I like both types of bars, but that is all up to the terrain, the length of the ride, and most of all, the wind. It can be windy here in Unbound Gravel country. My wrists and shoulders get uncomfortable on long rides with non-drop bars. So I will go with the Ritchey Adventure Max Comp bar for the long ride. I love the shallow drop feature a lot. That's just my preference though. Whatever works for the maximum amount of comfort is the right choice.
High mounted drop bars can be set up so they offer a lot of comfort and a wide range of usable positions so they might be best for touring. For shorter rides of a couple hours or less I prefer the super high position of alt bar because ot is great for sightseeing and traffic. And wheelies are really hard with drop bars unless you empoly the ghetto roll alternate mounting position!!!
I haven't had the broadest experience, but for my typical rides a well swept back handlebar is the best for me. My wrists are almost at a drop bar angle of rotation, but I'm upright and comfortable. Having said that, my only drop bar experience is a 60s style narrow one. It feels like I'm gonna fall forwards all the time. I should experiment with a wider drop bar like the one you have here!
Agreed that I like the hand positioning with very swept back bars. You should definitely try modern drops too though / the really wide ones are game changers.
@@TimFitzwater I was thinking about bull horn bars, for the same reason. If I can get a cheap second hand of both I can do a comparison 😁
This is such good sense making heresy
I love the Jones bar!
Drop bars = less aero drag/more weight on arms wrists and hands. Tall drops, upright bars = more aero drag/less weight on arms, wrists and hands and more weight on the seat. Generally a given rider is faster the lower the drop bar can be so his aerodynamic drag is at its lowest which will give the best speed overall. Certain disciplines within cycling such as BMX stunting, Mountain Biking, Downhill MTB and others really cannot use drop bars for one reason or the other depending on the discipline which you have noted nicely. You bring up the comfort thing of being able to have multiple hand positions to ward off pain and injury from only one hand position. Upright bars can raise the risk of saddle sores for the user so there are pluses and minuses for each setup. Good video. I find that I like more upright bars. But I don't race or do real long rides.
Lucky to have several bikes. Old school drops, Jones bar, straight flat MTB. They all work great up to the point when they don't.
I’m still fairly new back to bikes(rode them through high school and kind of dropped off of riding), and have largely stayed away from drop bars because of perceptions of hardcore cyclists using dropbars. Since I want to ride casually I kept to alt/flat bars so far, though I am mildly curious about testing drop bars on a longer ride to see how it feels since I too struggle some with comfort on alt/flat bars after a while
I thought the same as you before trying drop bars simply because I was not comfortable working on dropbar when maintenance comes. Took time to learn and get used to them and now I can never go back to flat bars on longer rides. My wrists bother me riding prolonged rides on flat bars.
I use the term "Bendy Bar Bike" which I picked up from BikeSnobNYC - I like the alliteration. I have bikes with both, though on the bendy bars I'm never in the drops and avoid anything too technical. One plus for me on the alt bar is it's easier to mess with shifters and brake levers (swaps, adjustments when dialing in a fit, or installing new inner cables) or even experimenting with different bars since there's no bar tape involved.
I use an alt bar (Surly Terminal Bar) on my bridge club with inner Bar ends (SQ Lab) that are thick taped with bar tape. Love it. But at the Moment Im thinking about building up a Straggler and am debating between drop or alt bars. Would be nice to have a drop bar bike on one hand. But i think im more a flat bar guy. Never had drop bars on any of my bikes.
I have a Haro Mary bike, which I think was released about 2009. It came with an On-One Mary bar -called 'Mary' because it is M-shaped with its backsweep. On-One, an English brand, must have been one of the early ones to produce an alt bar.
Crazy idea! Got an old mtb that could convert to a drop bar bike. Could fit smaller stem to bring in the reach. Also fit 29r front wheel to slow the steering down. Even maybe a reverse stem (super crazy) - as that bike was a size too large as an mtb and had long reach. I need a computer app where I can put the fame in and play about with options and gem affects. Could be too high BB with the bigger front wheel, but was considering skinny tyres for it (as an mtb it would have higher BB due to 2.0 typical tyres). Could also fit a 27.5 front instead.
It’s nice having different bikes with different bars for every day of the week…. Oh I wish I had 7 bikes, or more. Currently rocking 5 and each with a purpose from the commuting, to the pub bike, the gravel set up for epics, and a hardtail for slamming on shit etc
Turning my wrists to ride flat/alt style bars tends to cause some discomfort on long rides where sitting on modern hoods doesn't but I also might just be changing positions more on drops and not paying attention.
This! I think the orientation of your hand/wrist on the hood is just more natural than how it is on a flat bar.
What the guy above said. Drop bars at the hood feels more natural for me. Flat bars even using the mustache shape feels constricting on alternate hand positions.
I love my Velo-Orange Tourist bar; the 60* sweep puts my hands and wrists in a natural position.
Currently trying some drop bars on a Hardtack. Also an exercise in open mind stretching. Should be fun
Personally I'm sticking with 44cm drop bars with just a little bit of flare. I find it really brings the bike to life, while being very comfortable for long rides, and still fast which means it takes less effort to cover bigger distances. (especially in windy conditions indeed)
Downside: when bike touring, the 44cm bar can be a bit twitchy with panniers and a tent on the rear rack.
I loved the demonstration how the screwdriver doesn't work as a hammer :)
There are other options to either of these. "Trekking" bars offer multiple hand postions and a variety of reaches, making them a good alternative to some more traditional styles. No handlebar is going to excel in all situations. These days I prefer an upright pisition similar to that of the old Raleigh Roadsters, with their swept back "North Road" bars. Alternatively, I lay down on my recumbent trike which has under seat steering, a comfy mesh seat and a headrest. 😉
I have a trek fx1 it’s a great bike but the flat bar position was giving me pain in shoulder and rest I thought it’s a saddle position problem so i did get my saddle correctly and still the same pain then one day I bought a cheap gravel handlebar with cheap microshif shifters, and man it’s a better bike now it’s looks awesome and feels great in ride . Thanks for the video
I am a drop bar fan. But it’s hard to find components these days for a touring bike, since you basically want a mix of mountain bike and road components. I am currently building a new touring bike for me, and it’s a struggle. It would have been easier and cheaper for sure if I’d dropped the drop bar requirement, or started my project a couple of years ago when some parts where still manufactured, like the TRP hydraulic drop bar breaks for post mount e.g, or back in the days when you could get a high end wide range 3x9 system with front mech for road and rear mech made for MTB compatible with shifters for drop bar. I find todays gravel 2x10 or 2x11 does not have enough gear range for touring, otherwise that would been the choice. The main reason I started my new touring build project was to get better breaks - i.e disk breaks. My wife also wanted better breaks, and switched to hydraulic rim brakes, but decided to switch to alt bars, because there was nothing on the current market to get that on a drop bar. I tried to build a solution for that on my previous bike with drop bar, but it didn’t work that well, so now I building a completely new bike with drop bars and (mechanical) disk breaks (TRP hyrd) and bar-end shifters, and a 3x9 drive train.
Loved your agnostic and nuanced presentation as always.
I'm a drop-bar addict mainly because of the wind and mainly being in tarmack or light gravel, but some scary descents and having to use a backpack for my laptop made me install some sketchy secondary brake levers in the tops, they work fine thou.
As for your carpal tunnel, have you tried those ergonomic mice and keyboards? Got one for my father and his pain has gone away
At 63, I don't like cricking my neck to see where I'm going as much as I used to. And my hands can't take pressure for long distance, so I need to get off them to go any distance.
I pretty well have to sit up, and in that position even your alt bars are too straight, so it twists my wrists uncomfortably.
On a diamond frame, I pretty well always go for a North Road style. The pull-back angle fits my natural wrist position. I've gone full Dutch upright, so I use bars that match.
Although for long trips I go even farther and lean back a bit. Recumbents are my go-to distance bike.
I've used dropbars for 20 years and counting. For me nothing beats the comfort, any road I can ride with 32mm tires (max width on an old road bike) I can cope with using 40cm handle bars (though now I have changed to 35, that fits my weedy little cyclist shoulders better, I have yet to come to a place where I come unstuck).