1942alexander wrote:Remainder of photos...
Hope you like the restoration.
I DO like the restoration. Well done.
Old drop bar bikes and riding position.
Re: Old drop bar bikes and riding position.
I DO like the restoration. Well done.
Re: Old drop bar bikes and riding position.
We're all different. It takes a while to get to optimum position. I still ride with friction down-tube gear levers, and I still ride with traditional brake levers (Shimano RX100s, and their successors).
My cycling colleagues down the years have ridden with such a variety of bar types, bar positions (i.e. heights), bar angles and lever positions that you may not believe..........I don't think there was ever a 'standard'.
My drops were set with level tops, about level with the saddle - a bit lower rather than higher - and the levers always had rubbers and were mounted about the same position as those shown on Alexander's photos (above). The curved rubber hoods start level with the level tops of the bars and curve gradually up to the angle of the lever-hoods. I've nearly always (since I found my best position) ridden grasping the hoods and with the ball of my hand on the bars the only exception has been when riding into a strong wind. I ride long daily distances (maximum down to about 140 miles now) and I don't ride fast - no 'head-down-eyeballs-out' stuff for me. Faster lads seemed to have their bars set a lot lower and the tops sloping down to get the drops position about level. Having said that, in the course of my very short and undistinguished time-trialling career I did once get under the hour for a 25 - on my normal position. I made the fast lads laugh.
The cycling colleagues with whom I ride and have not changed to STI levers still ride with such a variety of lever/hood/bar positions that you'd wonder how we could possibly all be comfortable - but we have been for half a century or more.
We're all different - there's no one 'right' position - except the one for you.
My cycling colleagues down the years have ridden with such a variety of bar types, bar positions (i.e. heights), bar angles and lever positions that you may not believe..........I don't think there was ever a 'standard'.
My drops were set with level tops, about level with the saddle - a bit lower rather than higher - and the levers always had rubbers and were mounted about the same position as those shown on Alexander's photos (above). The curved rubber hoods start level with the level tops of the bars and curve gradually up to the angle of the lever-hoods. I've nearly always (since I found my best position) ridden grasping the hoods and with the ball of my hand on the bars the only exception has been when riding into a strong wind. I ride long daily distances (maximum down to about 140 miles now) and I don't ride fast - no 'head-down-eyeballs-out' stuff for me. Faster lads seemed to have their bars set a lot lower and the tops sloping down to get the drops position about level. Having said that, in the course of my very short and undistinguished time-trialling career I did once get under the hour for a 25 - on my normal position. I made the fast lads laugh.
The cycling colleagues with whom I ride and have not changed to STI levers still ride with such a variety of lever/hood/bar positions that you'd wonder how we could possibly all be comfortable - but we have been for half a century or more.
We're all different - there's no one 'right' position - except the one for you.
Re: Old drop bar bikes and riding position.
JohnW wrote:We're all different - there's no one 'right' position - except the one for you.
Spot on!
Since when did anyone else know when I feel comfortable?
For years I rode with the h/bars 25 to 30mm lower than the saddle,and couldn't ride the drops for long periods,and I'm quite flexible,easily able to bend and put the flats of my hands on the floor with legs straight
These days they're 10 to 15mm higher than the saddle and I ride FSA Vero 44cm compact drops similar to Frieston's with the same levers but mine are a little further round the bend(like me
) the drops are sooo comfortable and as they sweep back further than most others(due to the short reach) there's three ''micro'' positions on the drops alone.I agree with Frieston about the short ramps behind the hoods but it's a small price to pay for the other comforts/positions these h/bars offer
Edited for typos
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden