On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 12:31:25 GMT, "Peter Cole"
<
[email protected]> wrote:
>"Donna Alinelli" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
>> I have been looking at a specialized sirrus comp with
>> straight bar and a specialized sequoia elite. I like the
>> position of the shifting levers on the straight bar in
>> comparison to the drop down bar on the seqouia but the
>> sequoia also has 3 hand positions. I will mostly do
>> road/touring/fitness with the ocassional long distance
>> trip. I have also looked at the kona Dr. Dew. I am now
>> totally confused.
>
>Tough decision. The conventional wisdom is that drop bars
>are much better for long rides, but plenty of people do
>long rides on straight bars (I know some who have ridden
>cross-US), and many drop bar riders -- although they
>theoretically have 3 hand positions -- only use 1 (the
>hoods). For my money, drop bars are much more important for
>racing, where you need the drops for sprinting, and aren't
>at all necessary for your uses.
>
I'm not quit on the hoods--just behind them--80 percent of
the time. if I'm slogging up a hill and want a break, I
come up to the tops. I go to the drops when going downhill,
going into a consistend headwind, or when I want to pretend
to go fast.
The variety of hand positions is nice to have. Going back to
flat bars for non-dirt use (when I don't have to pull up on
the bars to clear rocks or roots or whatever) feels strange.
>The thing that makes bar choice tough is that it's not easy
>to convert (actually, it is easy, just not cheap) from one
>to the other if you change your mind later.
>Shifters/"Brifters" (brake-shift combo) aren't switchable.
>That said, there are things like bar-ends, including some
>that look like drops,
The ones shaped like drops always struck me as a bit weird,
since they created really friggin' WIDE drop bars. Maybe
it's just me, but even though I have very wide shoulders, I
don't like riding with my arms that far apart...
>and I've even seen "clip-on" aerobars attached to flat
>handlebars.
Clip-on aerobars may offer the OP what she needs in terms of
further hand/arm positions, but they complicate steering and
decrease reaction time, since the hands and arms are so far
away from the brake levers. on drop bars, I can reach my
brakes almost anywhere, except from the tops (and if I'm
moving slow enough to go to the tops, then braking is the
least of my problems). I understand also that aerobars are
not the best thing to use in pacelines.
>There are other bar styles that are compatible with flat
>bars, like "priest" bars (ends sweep back), so some degree
>of easy change is possible down the road if you go with a
>straight bar now.
The North Road handlebar pattern has only one position--
hands on the grips at the end. The rest of the bar isn't
really grippable, and on the whole it places you in what the
British call a sit-up-and-beg position. Eminently in order
when you're riding an old Raleigh roadster (or a Batavus or
Gazelle or Flying Pigeon....) but probably not what the OP
is looking for.
I would recommend a long ride or two with drop bars. There
is a reason why dropped handlebars have stayed with us since
the beginning of the bicycle.
-Luigi