Road Cycling Essentials

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Just out of curiosity what percentage of time do you all spend on the drops?

It's something I've been trying to get myself used to and now spend the majority of my time on the drops, apart from starting from a stop and when my back tells me it's had enough. I can comfortably spend an hour on them but it used to be literally 2-3 minutes before I had enough.
 
I made a point of being in the drops most of the time when I first got my bike purely to get used to it. I got some pretty good times on segments on my commutes too. Now that the weather's colder and it's darker I seem to be on the hoods nearly all the time.
 
I usually ride on the dropped bars on a faster leisure ride, as opposed to commuting.

But there was an interesting article in Cyclist magazine that stated that being on the hoods and lowered down is more aerodynamic.....which is everything on a bike.

(although being on the drops is more comfortable to me, than being really low down on the hoods)
 
Shadowness said:
But there was an interesting article in Cyclist magazine that stated that being on the hoods and lowered down is more aerodynamic.....which is everything on a bike.
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That sounds right to me, it certainly feels a little faster than on the drops.
It's very uncomfortable though as you have to hold the weight of your upper body with your triceps.

This is the sort of position im talking about:
flanders-10-CANCELLARA-1-300x208.jpg

Not really 'on' the hoods, more sitting your forearms on the top of the bars with the heel of your hand resting against the top of the hood.
 
Interesting about the hoods thing.

My commuter is basically a road bike with a chopped down flatbar as it suites a city commute better for various reasons (imo). However for the fast bits I also have some large curved bar ends which basically lets me rest my forearms on the bars, basically the position in the picture above.

It's always felt very aero specially in a head wind, good to know its not my imagination.
 
touch said:
That sounds right to me, it certainly feels a little faster than on the drops.
It's very uncomfortable though as you have to hold the weight of your upper body with your triceps.

This is the sort of position im talking about:
flanders-10-CANCELLARA-1-300x208.jpg

Not really 'on' the hoods, more sitting your forearms on the top of the bars with the heel of your hand resting against the top of the hood.
Click to expand...

It's almost an improvised TT position then, one way to get around the rules.
 
I noticed when wiggo was leading out cav in the last stage of the TDF that he used that position and not on the drops.
 
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Shamrock said:
Looks good! What frame is that? That is the look I'm going for with my build - BLACK. I do 5.5mi each way so it's not quite as bad, but that's part of the fun! Pushing a 48T-17T with all the stop-starting does wonders for the quad power.
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I was using 48-16 gears on mine when I was riding 4 miles each way and it was a great sprint gear. Now I do 10 miles each way it has taken its toll on my knees; I think I did a bit of soft tissue damage, but I can't ride gearing that tall for any distance any more. I generally ride a geared bike now, but I've dropped the gearing on my fix to 48-18 and it's made a massive difference.

I'm training for a marathon at the moment, so I'm not riding very hard or with very tall gears. Generally, I'm just sitting at a comfortable pace and spinning more than pushing. It's frustrating, but I need to preserve my knees for the running and not pack too much muscle on my thighs (which the fixed-gear does quite effectively and it's quite a lot of extra weight to lug about when you're running :p)
 
Spinny gears are awesome fixed, want to go faster? spin faster!

I ride 44/16 at the moment and its way better than the 48/16 i also started on
 
It's a momentous day today! My CX bike has had its first ever taste of off road!

My route home was blocked by fire engines because of a gas cylinder about to go off in someone's shed or van or whatever. Traffic was at a standstill. A local suggested doubling back and detouring through a field/cricket pitch to bypass it. My wheels sunk in the mud pretty far but I got through in the end. :D
 
Jonny69 said:
I was using 48-16 gears on mine when I was riding 4 miles each way and it was a great sprint gear. Now I do 10 miles each way it has taken its toll on my knees; I think I did a bit of soft tissue damage, but I can't ride gearing that tall for any distance any more. I generally ride a geared bike now, but I've dropped the gearing on my fix to 48-18 and it's made a massive difference.

I'm training for a marathon at the moment, so I'm not riding very hard or with very tall gears. Generally, I'm just sitting at a comfortable pace and spinning more than pushing. It's frustrating, but I need to preserve my knees for the running and not pack too much muscle on my thighs (which the fixed-gear does quite effectively and it's quite a lot of extra weight to lug about when you're running :p)
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Ugh running! :p

48-16 would be a too much for me I think. 48-17 seems the right balance of not spinning out too easily and not annihilating my knees.

Part of me still wants to get a geared road bike for commuting because it just seems faster and I only get overtaken by roadies which makes me curse them and think...if I was on my Rose I'd destroy you!

In commuter racing there are no winners :o
 
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