Quote Originally Posted by gbunker View Post
Wow, you all have given me a lot to think about! This is really interesting.

Can you tell me more about what's preferable about riding a drop-bar road bike? Part of my commute involves riding downtown amongst lots of cars. Doesn't having your head down lower make it harder to see and be seen? I know that there are lots of hand positions avaliable on a drop bar bike, and some of them position you up higher. But how do you brake quickly if your hands are on the upper part of the bars and the brakes are down below? Is this a challenge for the less-coordinated, like me?
Gillian, I have been riding an Electra Townie since last October, and just bought a beautiful road bike. Like you I wanted to sit upright and not put any weight on my hands, since they did seem to fall asleep on an earlier hybrid that I owned. But recently I decided to go faster and farther - and the best way to do that is with a road bike.

You can get your LBS to install brake cross levers on the top of the handllebars, & I had mine do that because I was nervous about getting to the brakes. Also, the drop handlebars give more hand positions than straight bars, and this was important to me. When riding on the flat top part of the bars you can look around, but you won't be sitting as straight as you were on your Electra. This does require you to hold your body up and so can be tiring. I had my LBS put on a stem extender, which detracts from the beauty of my road bike, but makes it easier for me to not put weight on my hands.

Good luck!