How much time do you actually ride on the drops?

[bainbridge]

Only when going down hills due to a back condition.

[pwa]

I don't ride on the drop section much, perhaps 5% of the time. But that is not why most of us use them. We use them more for the other ergonomically good positions that they offer, especially the one with the hands on or immediately behind the brake hoods. A bit like the best bar ends you have ever had (better than any I have used) but with the brakes (and sometimes gears) at your finger tips.

[reohn2]

I don't ride on the drop section much, perhaps 5% of the time. But that is not why most of us use them. We use them more for the other ergonomically good positions that they offer, especially the one with the hands on or immediately behind the brake hoods. A bit like the best bar ends you have ever had (better than any I have used) but with the brakes (and sometimes gears) at your finger tips.

Good point and the main reason why I've never got on with bar ends on straights.
The riding position is OK but the whole of the hand has to come over the top of the bar end to get to the brake or gear levers,which most of the time isn't any more than an inconvenience,but can be the difference between stopping in time or not in an ES situation.

[Manc33]

Thats what I was getting at with the "back corners" of the bars, your hands end up facing outwards yet it feels right.

[Moodyman1]

I rode a North -South - North commute for years and never really used the drops. Then moved to a new employer and commute became West -East-West. The homeward East-West commute was always into a stiff headwind. I learnt to love the drops and rode them for circa 70% of the time.

[Heltor Chasca]

I like being on the drops. I can't tell you how long I spend on them but it's great to have all the options available on down bars. The only time I'm not absolutely 100% happy is when I need to use the brakes. My wrists feel 'forced'.

Is there any benefit to using compact down bars on a tourer like a Surly DT? What is the intended purpose of these? And why were they made?

I apologise if this is a bit of a hijack...b

[al_yrpal]

The answer seems to be if you pelt along, descend or commute fast the drops get used more. For us pootlers like me straight bars, bullhorns or butterflies would make more sense. Thanks for your input everyone.

Al

[GrumpyDidcot]

Zero, I ride with my hands on the hoods all the time.
The brake and gear levers feel more at home under my fingers, rather than having to reach forward.

I think I have a stronger hold on the bars as well, my hands feel like the drops are the last part of the bar and I'm about to let go/fall off.
Am I weird?

[foxyrider]

Couldn't for certain say when i last used the drops, these days I almost exclusively use the hoods/tops. Even the pros don't use them a lot unless it's looney fast or windy, it never was a place for regular riding.

Not entirely sure why some people ride the drops all the time, you can't see forward properly, it's uncomfortable and you certainly can't climb easily from down there.

Working on the basis that he didn't use the drops a friend installed lo pro bars instead then was forever bemoaning the lack of drops! So even if like me they get used once in a blue moon they can be useful in that gale or dodgy control situation, vive la drop!

[Bmblbzzz]

I mostly ride on the hoods but I used the hooks when riding into a headwind, downhill or sprinting (that last to be taken with a very wide meaning indeed!). I virtually never use the actual drops, in the sense of the lower flat part roughly horizontal below the hooks. I do use the straights behind the levers but virtually never the flats perpendicular to the stem (I mean the parts equivalent to flat bars).

On flat bars, I use the bar ends when going uphill or sometimes for a change of position.

[yakdiver]

So that's what the end bit are for I just thought it was to hold my shifters

[mjr]

For us pootlers like me straight bars, bullhorns or butterflies would make more sense. Thanks for your input everyone.

No: butterfly and North Roads are the best for pootling. Your hands still get bored with straights and you don't need to lean forwards as much as bullhorns.

[andrewjoseph]

I like being on the drops. I can't tell you how long I spend on them but it's great to have all the options available on down bars. The only time I'm not absolutely 100% happy is when I need to use the brakes. My wrists feel 'forced'.

Is there any benefit to using compact down bars on a tourer like a Surly DT? What is the intended purpose of these? And why were they made?

I apologise if this is a bit of a hijack...b

adjust shifter/brake position to give better position. compact drops have a tighter curve that can bring the end of brake levers closer to the fingers, less vertical distance from hoods to drops.

[Bmblbzzz]

For us pootlers like me straight bars, bullhorns or butterflies would make more sense. Thanks for your input everyone.

No: butterfly and North Roads are the best for pootling. Your hands still get bored with straights and you don't need to lean forwards as much as bullhorns.

OTOH, I once tried fitting North Roads to a flat-barred hybrid, hoping to benefit from the greater range of positions and the different wrist angle. It was a disaster! The normal way up, they were too high and too far back; inverted, they were too low and too far back!

[reohn2]

I like being on the drops. I can't tell you how long I spend on them but it's great to have all the options available on down bars. The only time I'm not absolutely 100% happy is when I need to use the brakes. My wrists feel 'forced'.

Is there any benefit to using compact down bars on a tourer like a Surly DT? What is the intended purpose of these? And why were they made?

I apologise if this is a bit of a hijack...b

adjust shifter/brake position to give better position. compact drops have a tighter curve that can bring the end of brake levers closer to the fingers, less vertical distance from hoods to drops.

And a shorter reach.
Which means if fitting compact drops you may need a longer stem to keep the hoods in the same place.