kona bikes

[wafflycat]

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> wafflycat wrote:
>
>> I'd not used drops until my personal bike mechanic bought me Gino. Prior
>> to that, the bikes I'd owned had flat bars. It took a while to get used
>> to drops - but now I am I'd not willingly go back to flat bars. On a long
>> ride drops offer so many more places to put your hands so it's just more
>> comfortable over a long ride.
>
> It's a chicken and egg thing to some extent though. On many flat barred
> bikes the seating position is more upright, so less weight goes on your
> arms, so there's less need for a load of different positions for your
> hands. The more leaned forwards you are for aerodynamics the more drops
> become an asset, but also more of a requirement.
>

Well, I had done long rides on my flatbar bikes over the years. With that
experience behind me, I now wouldn't willingly go back to flats.

Cheers, helen s

 

[Peter Clinch]

wafflycat wrote:

> Well, I had done long rides on my flatbar bikes over the years. With
> that experience behind me, I now wouldn't willingly go back to flats.

It's not just the bars though, it's the whole riding geometry. Try
something like a classic roadster and there is simply no point
whatsoever in putting drops on it (not entirely unrelated to the way you
pretty much never see any with drops, of course!). OTOH many a
flat-barred bike actually has a reasonably crouched-forwards riding
position with weight forwards on your hands, and in those cases you'll
benefit from a range of hand positions. This is probably especially
true of the "road bike with flat bars" breed like the Ridgeback Genesis,
which I certainly wouldn't relish the thought of riding for 100 km.

My MTB has flat bars and a stretched riding position, and on longer
trips it would be pretty unbearable for me without the bar ends. But
the Brompton doesn't have bar ends, and I've never felt the need of any
additional hand positions on it because almost all my weight is back on
the saddle.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Doki]

"Bob Rodden" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> The brakes are excellent, but you won't notice how good they are until one
> wet day you're on a bike that doesn't have hydraulics.

I've ridden mountain bikes with and without hydraulic disk brakes. In the
wet and mud, a hydraulic disk brake works better. On the road, V brakes are
enough, and LX and above vees are very good. Coming from sidepulls,
hydraulics will feel like a revelation, but there's no need to bother
fitting them as V brakes do as good a job.