Deep or shallow drop for racing

Get what feels the most comfortable. That will make it easier to ride, and you will do better. If you road racing do not worry about the difference a shallow or deep drop will make in aerodynamic terms. Drafting someone will make a heck of a lot more difference anyway...

koger said:

Hello

I'm pretty tall (195 cm = 6.4), should I get a handlebar with deep or shallow drop for racing?
Logic seems to tell me that air resistance would be less with a deep drop, right?
But then again, I might be able to stay in the drops for longer time then, and during the whole race, I might be better with a shallow drop?
What's your thoughts?

That's my take also, which is why I use a shallow drop bar. But....I'm not 195 cm tall :eek: Why don't you take out a spacer or two from under your stem first and see how it feels? That way you can approximate what it will feel like with the 2 different bars without actually buying them first.

I had bars with a very shallow drop for a while (I'm small so it seemed like a good thing to do...) I found that in a sprint I was bashing my forearms against the ends of the bars! Ouch...

Yep, they're not for everyone. I like 'em cause they're nice and narrow as well (38 cm), and classically-shaped drops. So I like to think I'm using less energy than my competitors, and making a smaller hole in the wind. Could just be the placebo effect, but hey, whatever works 😄

BikingBrian said:

Yep, they're not for everyone. I like 'em cause they're nice and narrow as well (38 cm), and classically-shaped drops. So I like to think I'm using less energy than my competitors, and making a smaller hole in the wind. Could just be the placebo effect, but hey, whatever works 😄

That's a small size Brian. How tall are you and how wide are you at the shoulders?

Powerful Pete said:

That's a small size Brian. How tall are you and how wide are you at the shoulders?

I'm about 176 cm (and shrinking :eek: ), and about 39 cm or so shoulders, measured outside to outside. With the 40 cm bars, my arms seem to flare out a bit, but not so with the 38s. I race mostly crits, circuit races, and track (same width bars for the track)

BikingBrian said:

I'm about 176 cm (and shrinking :eek: ), and about 39 cm or so shoulders, measured outside to outside. With the 40 cm bars, my arms seem to flare out a bit, but not so with the 38s. I race mostly crits, circuit races, and track (same width bars for the track)

Aha. Sorry about the shrinking bit. Well, if your arms flare out a wee bit then the bar size is fine... tall and thin one, aren't you?

I am 175cm and use 44cm bars, which, as you say, help my arms flare a bit... of course, I also enjoy my carbo loading (we call it pasta here 😉) so that does not really help... :o

Powerful Pete said:

Aha. Sorry about the shrinking bit. Well, if your arms flare out a wee bit then the bar size is fine... tall and thin one, aren't you?

I am 175cm and use 44cm bars, which, as you say, help my arms flare a bit... of course, I also enjoy my carbo loading (we call it pasta here 😉) so that does not really help... :o

Yeah, I'm pretty lean, usually between 63-65 kgs.
I LOVE pasta though, eat it almost everyday (when I'm not eating rice here)😄
Actually, although I live in Japan, I'm Italian-American; my great-grandparents emigrated to America from Sicily! 🙂

BikingBrian said:

I LOVE pasta though, eat it almost everyday (when I'm not eating rice here)😄
Actually, although I live in Japan...

Then they should be called "noodles"... So there you go, carbo loading, pasta and noodles are all the same! 😄