Handlebars & intimidation

I've been riding in earnest for 2 months and thoroughly enjoying it. My husband is an avid cyclist and has been a big support and help. We bought my bike last summer. It's a Giant and has straight handlebars. I long to ride a bike with drop bars but they are quite intimidating to me. I own a hand me down with drop bars and my heart beat fast each time I went to try to ride it - thus, we bought my flat bar bike. Does anyone out there feel like they can't balance on drop bars because they're too narrow (although they are as wide as my shoulders as they should be). Like they'll land on their head ? Is it all my imagination?? How do I get past it?? Help!!

Welcome to TE!
First off, what kind of bike is your Giant? (FCR/Dash or Rapid? Mountain bike?) And your drop-bar bike? Do you have difficulty steering? Are you physically uncomfortable on the bike? You do say you feel like you're balancing on the bars. Do you find yourself putting a lot of weight on your arms and hands? If this is the case, you may need a fitting and/or a new saddle.

This may not apply in your case, depending on your answers to the above questions, but: There's a part that's in your head, but it rapidly becomes physical. If you're intimidated by drop bars, you get nervous on that drop-bar bike. Road bikes are designed to be light and responsive, and that quality means that every nervous twitch or spasm gets magnified and results in squirrelly handling. No fun. The biggest thing you can do is make sure the bike fits properly, and relax!

Edit: The shoulder-width thing is a starting point, as are all rules-of-thumb of bike fit. Some people naturally hold their arms a bit wider than shoulder width, and if this is the case for you, the bars may well be too narrow.

I am one who holds her arms out a bit so my drop bars are a bit wider than my shoulders but I have the hoods angled in a bit which works for me although I will admit that when I switched from a hybrid to a road bike, it did feel a bit uneasy, but it was so much fun to ride.... Aerobars on the other hand, definitely felt very unstable at first.

It's amazing how fast your body will adapt if the fit is right. Core exercises for stability may help.

marni

Thanks for the comments. An appropriate fit is everything, isn't it? We have a tandem for which we had a professional fitting ... love riding that! My current bike is very comfortable as my husband used the tandem fitting to adjust my Giant - but as I said, my goal is to "graduate" to drop bars. The core issue is out there too - I was not in terrific physical shape when I started riding, but my lungs are starting to catch up with my legs. I need to find time for some core strengthening workouts. This fitness stuff is sure time consuming, isn't it??? :) Good thing it's worth it! Will update on my progress. Thanks again!!

If you're looking to ride on the tops of the bars, remember that you'll need bars that are MUCH wider than if you limited yourself to the hoods, hooks and drops.

Even if you hold your arms straight and the shoulder measurement is accurate for you, if you're riding on the tops, your hands are a good 6-8 cm closer together than they are on the hoods.

What everybody else said! Poor fit could definitely cause this.

Also, just from my own experience, is it possible that you're uneasy about the drop bars mainly because you are so used to the flat bars? You're outside your current comfort zone? Every time I've ever gotten a new road bike, the first few rides seem a bit scary (especially my first "real" road bike), because it feels different than I'm used to. You have to adjust to the new feel. Sometimes, when I've been road biking a lot and not mountain biking much, I feel awkward (like I'm over-steering) on my MTB. The grips just feel wide, in comparison. I was thinking about getting narrower bars at one point, until somebody pointed out this would just make me over-steer more, if I really was. Then the next season I upped the mountain biking, and the issue went away.

I was just talking to my DH about this, because he got a new road bike yesterday (due to crashing his old one into the garage when it was on the roof rack on the car). He kept saying how twitchy the new bike feels, and he was afraid to stand on hills. I suggested he just take it easy until he gets used to the new geometry, and not even try doing anything that feels iffy, even if he normally does those things with no problem. He's nearing the end of 6 months of chemo, so he's not in his finest physical condition, which doesn't help.

it took me a couple days to get used to the drop bars. fact is, most straight bars are way too long for a woman. your wrists get torqued in a bad way.

I'd say give it a month then reassess. During that month, if you're really nervous, make sure to ride where there's no traffic and low stress so you can focus. There's a learning curve. I hadn't ridden a drop bar bike in 27 years, bought a flat bar hybrid in October and have already purchased a drop bar bike. I've had it a month and am still getting used to it. Hang in there. Changing out bars isn't like changing shoes, it take a bit of work, so I wouldn't do it or have it done casually. Just my .02 cents.

Hi there. There have already been a lot of good comments in response to your question and fit is clearly important. However, what you've said and OakLeaf's points made me wonder whether where you are holding on to the handlebar may also be an issue. This is because I felt much like you described the first time I rode a drop bar bike. It had old style brakes without the rubber hoods over them that you now get. Because I wasn't confident about riding bent over on the drops, I held on to the top which felt narrow and difficult to steer with.

When I decided I wanted a touring bike with drop bars many years later, being able to hold on to the top of the hoods was a real revelation to me. The transition from a straight bar didn't seem so daunting then. This may be irrelevant in your situation but I thought I'd share that experience just in case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sardine

When I decided I wanted a touring bike with drop bars many years later, being able to hold on to the top of the hoods was a real revelation to me. The transition from a straight bar didn't seem so daunting then. This may be irrelevant in your situation but I thought I'd share that experience just in case.

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Same here! I had only ever tried my dad's vintage road bike as a child when all the neighbor kids got 10 speeds and I still had a kid's bike with pedal brakes. It was very scary to ride on my dad's bike and I've only had a mountain bike since. When I went to my LBS to try road bikes I explained to them about my fear of drop bars and had no idea you hold onto the hoods! They put me on a bike around the block and made sure I was comfortable (put the seat down enough that I could comfortably touch my toes even though that's not exactly proper positioning) they wanted me to feel confident when trying out the new style. Lo and behold that bike was light and fast and a blast to go ride on the pavement unlike my heavy knobby tired mtb. 3 weeks later I bought the next model up of that very bike. Yesterday I took it out for my 3rd ever ride for 20 miles and enjoyed several stretches on the trail in the drops!!

Apparently I'm a bit odd with this. I actually HATE flat bars. To me they are uncomfortable. Last summer was the first time I tried a bike with drop bars and after about 5 minutes of getting used to it I loved the drop bars. Typically I ride on the hoods. We bought bar end things for my mountain bikes so I would have a more comfortable position for my hands with riding my mountain bike. Basically holding on those my hands are more in the position they are when riding on the hoods with my road bike.