braking in the drops

[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...

[malkin]

Is it comfy to brake while your hands are perched on the hoods?

Is it too big of a reach no matter what? ( If no, you might need smaller reach brakes.

Is there a place in the drop where it is a comfortable reach to to brake lever (even if it isn't a realistic position for riding)? (If yes, you might want to move the levers so you can reach them from a realistic riding position.)

[malkin]

I just reread your OP...to reduce strain on your wrists, you might try dropping your elbows and thus your entire upper body. This will require greater ab/core strength.

It's always something.

[jessmarimba]

It isn't strain so much as an impossible angle, which would be cured by lowering the brakes as margrette and Becky suggested. My back actually feels better on the flat part of the bars or bent over lower in the drops...halfway up with my hands forward to kinda try to reach the brakes, the muscles pull over the screws in my back.

The brakes are unreachable on the hoods as well, I generally use them by wrapping my entire hand around the little plastic brake support thingies (what are those called?)