Do you care about aero when you're not racing?

[eurostar]

I hardly see anyone on the drops or tt bar extensions. I suppose hardly anyone cares about drag? All those people with the most aero kit, but riding on the bar tops or the hoods...why do it?

I suppose if you're training it doesn't matter if you increase the resistance. But if you're using the bike for transport, if you're aero you can get where you're going a bit quicker. If you're touring you can see more of the world for the same effort. And tt extensions are so comfy!

Bottom line is that dropped bars only make sense in the peleton, and we only buy them because the first law of cycling says that the Tour de France decides what's in the shops.

Edit: I will accept as an excuse that tt extensions are frowned on in group rides, chain gangs etc. I just hope you get down on your drops when you're not wheelsucking.

[spdntrxi]

aero hoods position is pretty popular with me.

[MilesG813]

I hardly see anyone on the drops or tt bar extensions. I suppose hardly anyone cares about drag? All those people with the most aero kit, but riding on the bar tops or the hoods...why do it?

I suppose if you're training it doesn't matter if you increase the resistance. But if you're using the bike for transport, if you're aero you can get where you're going a bit quicker. If you're touring you can see more of the world for the same effort. And tt extensions are so comfy!

Bottom line is that dropped bars only make sense in the peleton, and we only buy them because the first law of cycling says that the Tour de France decides what's in the shops.

Edit: I will accept as an excuse that tt extensions are frowned on in group rides, chain gangs etc. I just hope you get down on your drops when you're not wheelsucking.

I think the science says the Sphynx or joystick position is more aero (excluding tt) because the drops generate more drag due to the vertical arms exposing more of the body to the air.

[CustomMetal]

Aero hoods for flats, drops for decents.. but that's because I use flared bars so 36cm at the hoods and 42 at the drops

[tymon_tm]

quick answer: yes I do. I often ride in drops, before these integrated thingys I used to pick bars based on drop shape alone

[MrCurrieinahurry]

Yes for sure. Also your not gunna be good at putting out watts in an aero position when racing if you don't do it in training/normal riding.

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[Singular]

It’s not very strange - the hoods position has become the new default for road bikes (as opposed to the drops), perhaps both contributing to and depending on the trend/evolution of very low handlebars and ”slam-that-stem” ethos of modern race bikes.

With that, the flat-back, elbows-in, right-angle-arms racing position is now at ”aero hoods”/sphinx height, shaping the body in the same efficient shape that used to occur in the drops (but lacking the comfort, control, security and power that proper height bars offer im the drops). I’m no huge fan of Gerard Vroomen but he made a few blog posts a decade ago on this subject that are well worth a read IIRC.

”Hasn’t the aero hoods position been tested as faster”, one might ask? Indeed, but that’s more a result of the nothing short of shit form that all the test subjects I’ve seen have shown for their ”drops” position with straight, almost vertical arms, sitting ON and not IN the drops.

[Steve Curtis]

I saw somewhere that aero hoods - forearms level with the ground, is around 30w more aero than drops.
I'm not sure many people could hold this for a whole ride so default to a less aero position.

[TobinHatesYou]

I hardly see anyone on the drops or tt bar extensions. I suppose hardly anyone cares about drag? All those people with the most aero kit, but riding on the bar tops or the hoods...why do it?

I suppose if you're training it doesn't matter if you increase the resistance. But if you're using the bike for transport, if you're aero you can get where you're going a bit quicker. If you're touring you can see more of the world for the same effort. And tt extensions are so comfy!

Bottom line is that dropped bars only make sense in the peleton, and we only buy them because the first law of cycling says that the Tour de France decides what's in the shops.

Edit: I will accept as an excuse that tt extensions are frowned on in group rides, chain gangs etc. I just hope you get down on your drops when you're not wheelsucking.

You're riding around the wrong people or projecting.

[nickf]

Some of it is the geometry of the bikes. Everyone buys these off the shelf "race" bikes yet they have a stack of spacers under the stem. They are just flexible enough to get fit the tops/hoods let alone the drops. So when they are in the drops their arms are fully extended and not comfortable at all.

[Ypuh]

I like the looks mainly. Much less interested in the wattage gains.

[Butcher]

As pointed out, training in an aero position does help in a race. Just like standing on a climb, if you do not train for it, then when you really need it, you will suck.

I see a lot of people using TT bars in places where it is safe [rural, not city], the only one I see in the drops is me.

[eurostar]

the hoods position has become the new default for road bikes (as opposed to the drops)

Precisely. The invention of brifters triggered a bit of a revolution in riding positions and frame design. The hoods gradually grew and became more comfy, and morphed into short bar extensions. Did anyone realise the impact of brifters at the time? I was around then (I'm so old), but I don't remember anyone talking about it. I think we were distracted by the more obvious feature of brifters, i.e. not uaing down tube levers any more.

[Singular]

the hoods position has become the new default for road bikes (as opposed to the drops)

(I'm so old),

Knee Shift Academy alumni!

[bikeboy1tr]

I use my drops regular during my endurance rides and also sprint training and I usually go after bars with shallow drops just so I can stay in them for longer periods of time without any uncomfort. Our club does one ride per week that is quicker than the touring stuff that we typically do so yeah in the drops for long durations during these faster rides. Also do some race group training with another club which keeps me in the drops there as well.