Flat-bar road bikes...?

[zoom-zoom]

I believe many people associate drop bars with a more agressive position and flat bars with a more upright position even though this is only a matter of adjustment.

That's what I suspected. I've seen a few road bikes with drop bars that are VERY upright with a very angled stem.

[tulip]

I like my Jamis Coda alot. I rode it exclusively after my 1983 Vitus road bike was trashed in a crash in 2003. I got a new road bike in 2005 and now ride the Coda around town. I recently was on a week-long organized ride and lots of people were riding flat bar road bikes. Whatever works--they are on a bike and that's really all that matters.

[Velocivixen]

My Trek FX 7.3 with flat bars puts me in the same position as my Surly Cross Check, which has drop bars, HOWEVER they did not cut the fork, so my handlebars are way up high.
Not sure why folks do it. Maybe some perceived difference or comfort thing.

[radacrider]

I have seen both, as well. More than anything I am inclined to believe it is 1) personal preference; and 2) necessitated by a physical need.

I am the opposite in that my SUB started out life as a flat bar MTB. For commuting and such the twist my forearms/wrists needed, even with bar ends left my wrists achy and sore, plus I could not move the controls inward enough so the angle of shoulder to wrist was too much for my neck.

I am happily riding that bike with 40cm drop bars with the tops just slightly higher than the nose of my saddle. This is a good, comfortable position for me. No wrist pain/discomfort, no shoulder/neck issue.

[ZenBiker]

Some very good reasons have been mentioned. If someone chooses flat bars after trying both, great. On the other hand I know people who just automatically assume drop bars are uncomfortable based on their childhood experience 10, 20, 30 years ago or on seeing racers and thinking their riding position looked like a lot of work. They have decided they'll never use drop bars, which is too bad since they might like them if they gave them a try. I know I was skeptical when I started looking at road bikes two years ago, but the drop bars on my Ruby are angled so that I have a good view of the road when on the hoods and are very comfortable. I love being able to change positions on longer rides. I also ride a commuter bike with flat bars and like that just fine around town. Whatever works, just hope folks choose based on test rides not assumptions!

[Bike Writer]

As of today I can comment on this thread, I am away at a conference and rented a bike for an early morning ride before the sessions got started. Thanks to the LGRAB Summer Contest I was motivated to try out another style of bike. I rode a flat bar road bike today. Woo hoo!

I can understand the allure of riding a road bike after my ride today. Not quite my style yet, perhaps some day in the future They are agile and fast and it seemed like it could roll forever.

I had a drop bar 10 speed bike as a teen and young adult and honestly can't remember it being uncomfortable but I do like a more upright position now for many reasons mentioned here, namely arthritis and wrist pain. Perhaps another test ride some day will be with drop bars to see the difference. In the mean time, the answer to the question of why someone would use a flat bar sounds like it's twofold. Physical reasons and perceptions.

[zoom-zoom]

Some very good reasons have been mentioned. If someone chooses flat bars after trying both, great. On the other hand I know people who just automatically assume drop bars are uncomfortable based on their childhood experience 10, 20, 30 years ago or on seeing racers and thinking their riding position looked like a lot of work. They have decided they'll never use drop bars, which is too bad since they might like them if they gave them a try. I know I was skeptical when I started looking at road bikes two years ago, but the drop bars on my Ruby are angled so that I have a good view of the road when on the hoods and are very comfortable. I love being able to change positions on longer rides. I also ride a commuter bike with flat bars and like that just fine around town. Whatever works, just hope folks choose based on test rides not assumptions!

I often suspect that the flat bars are based upon often wrongful assumptions, as well. And my experience with flat bars on a mountain bike was painful. I ended up with bar ends to have some variety in hand position, but it was still not comfortable. That factored in heavily for my own disinterest in cycling for years. I love my drop bars and spend almost no time with my hands on the tops...mostly in the hoods or in the drops.

[indysteel]

Is it necessarily true that FB's are more upright? I took a look at Trek, Specialized and Jamis's offerings and, based on the elements of geometry I looked at (HT and TT lengths; HTA and STA) and didn't get the impression that the cockpits of the FB bikes were smaller than those of at least some of their road bikes. Maybe I wasn't looking at the right elements of geometry or otherwise left something out of the equation. It just made me wonder if FB and DB bikes are all as different as one might assume.