Talk to me about drops

[OakLeaf]

Better control when braking and descending - it both lowers your center of gravity and makes it easier to brake and shift without unintentionally steering.

A change of position, to mix up the work by your back, core, shoulders, hands, etc., and to change up your position on the saddle.

Better use of your biceps/triceps - and less on your wrists and hands - as shock absorbers over bumpy terrain.

Plus the aerodynamics, as you mention.

You may want to try some bars with shallower drops. It's a shame to have half your handlebars basically unusable. I use mine MUCH more now that I have bars with shallow drops, although I do miss the deeper tuck for descents. My bike is set up so that I'm not in a super aero position even in the drops; the top of my bars are just about level with my saddle.

Whether or not to cover your brakes depends on the situation. It's a tradeoff between quicker access to the brakes for an emergency stop, versus a better hold on the bars and avoiding the temptation to grab the brakes when swerving would be safer. Do the LCI courses cover this?

[trista]

This is all really great info, thank you. I never considered that the drops would be MORE stable than the hoods at higher speeds. Right now it seems so shaky to me - but remember i've only been on a road bike for about 2 weeks. My previous bike has flat bars. I'm going to keep practicing in short spurts - it takes a little flexibility to do it as well.

You may want to try some bars with shallower drops. It's a shame to have half your handlebars basically unusable.

Mine are pretty shallow, I think? Here is what I have: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...e/madone45wsd/

They don't seem deep to me but I am a real novice when it comes to road bikes

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I should also mention that when going down a very steep hill I scootch way back in the saddle- helps to shift your center of gravity back.

[nolemom]

It took me the better part of the first year of riding a road bike to get comfortable in the drops. I knew in my head that I would have more control in the drops, but it didn't feel that way. Try to practice it when you are in a non-threatening situation and continue to give it a try off and on. It definitely is tiring at first if you don't have strong core muscles, but you will get used to it.

[Norse]

Ditto the reasons everyone else gave. It did take me awhile though to feel comfortable using them. The first year of my current road bike, I probably spent only 5% of the time in the drops. As I progressed, it seemed more and more natural to use them. Now it's almost 50-50 drops vs. hoods, although every now and then I will ride for a little bit on the bar tops, just to sit up for a moment and give my body yet another position - I only do this when it looks certain that I won't need to brake. Of course, that's the time when a squirrel decides to dart out in front of me.

[OakLeaf]

Mine are pretty shallow, I think?

Looks that way, yeah, even a bit shorter and shallower than my Ritchey Biomax Pro, which are a LOT shallower than the ITM Elle that came on my bike.

[BluOrchid2]

(what the heck are drops and hoods???)

[tulip]

(what the heck are drops and hoods???)

drops are the curvy part of the handlebar. The lower part.

hoods are the brake hoods--the part between the actual bar and the brake levers (and shifters, if you have that setup).

CLICK HERE and scroll down to Drop Bars for the positions (second set of photos)