braking in the drops

[jessmarimba]

Alright, so I've been riding around for two days on the first bike with drop bars that I've ever felt comfortable on. But I'm not sure how the bars are supposed to feel. Basically, if I'm riding in the drops, my wrists are put at a pretty painful angle in order to reach the brakes - I don't feel like I have the option of riding in the drops AND being cautious/able to stop. Is this the depth of the drops? Would it help to swap bars? (These are, I believe, a 144mm drop).

Also, the brake levers are Tektro RL-520s. The reach doesn't seem to be adjustable, or am I missing something? They're stretching my reach in the drops. Any suggestions?

[Becky]

It could be a bunch of things...do you have a pic? Bonus points if it shows your hands on the bars... It could be as simple as needing to move the levers on the bars. It's also possible that the bar is just too big (wide, long, or deep) for you.

[margrette]

First things first, make sure your shifters are positioned correctly on the handle bar and check your handle bar angle.

You can get on a trainer and untape your bar and start working different combinations of handle bar angle and shifter position.

The old rule of thumb was to take a straight edge and place it along the underside of the drops and line up the bottom of the shifter lever with that line...so that is a place to start...know though that with some of the ergo bars and such that goes out the window.

[jessmarimba]

Sorry, bar end shifters.

I'm sure the position of the levers probably isn't helping.

Becky, here's a photo. I don't have anyone to take a photo of me riding (the cats aren't that skilled) and the light is terrible so the focus isn't so great b/c I took it with the phone. But it should give some idea:



Bars are Salsa moto-ace bell lap.

Thanks!

[Becky]

My gut reaction from the photo is that the bar angle is ok, but the the levers are too high on the bars..... Take that with a grain of salt...photos aren't as good as in-person eyeballing....

What's the bar width? For me, too-wide bars can skew my reach, even if the rest of the bike fits well.

I think that I would start by untaping the bars partway, moving the levers down a touch, and then retaping. I like to have a nice flat transition from the bar top to the lever's hood and that puts my wrists in a relaxed neutral position. See if that makes things any better...

Start with the free stuff first, right?

[jessmarimba]

Supposed to be 42cm bars? I have pretty narrow shoulders but they don't feel too wide...I don't think...not sure how they should feel.

I tell ya what, my back loves the different positions these bars allow. Heaven. Now to make my wrists as happy...haha.

[margrette]

shifter levers/brake levers same idea...