Dropped bars

[cyclistjohn]

.....
'Americans call these "suicide levers".'

Why?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_e-f.html

Look under "Extension levers"

[Jeckyll_n_Snyde]

Hi, the bars "lack of straightness" are finely adjusted so as to give me maximum amount of "quick" steering..i.e. avoiding pot-holes at speed etc.

Can you explain how that works please? I ride small wheeled bikes which are fairly easy to work around potholes etc., but I wasn't aware that big wheels could be made to do that by handlebar adjustments.

Hi John, basically it's the ANGLE that i've adjusted so as my arms are not "over" or "under" stretched....... over being hard to make quick steering adjustment/snatches and under being way too uncomfortable after a period of time. My set-up allows for the odd quick burst of power (sprinting) whilst remaining reasonably comfortable.

[Simon L6]

Mary - Mrs L has just bought her first dropped handlebar bike, at the age of (ahem, looks over shoulder, types gently) 48. She is completely smitten. Her old straight handlebar bike now sits unloved in the garden. Now - answer me this.......Why are women so fickle?

[aesmith]

Mine was the opposite, she'd bought a "racing bike" as a teenager. Together we'd systematically upgraded both our bikes over a number of years before one day she mentioned that she'd never really liked dropped handlebars.