When trying out a new bike yesterday, I noticed brake levers along the top bar of a drop handle bar. This made me suspicious, because I know that suicide bars are dangerous. LBS said these are not suicide bars, because they have a separate cable, and are much shorter, than the old suicide bars, which were a curved bar that extended from the brake at the bend of the handlebar, to parallel the top bar.

What do you gals think? On my current bike, I avoid positioning my hands across the top bar, due to fear of relying on the suicide bars, so I tend to only hold the brake hoods.

Mary