I’m riding in a charity ride this weekend on a new bike. We have mostly flat land down here but we do have one big bridge along the route. We will have a tailwind on the first day and I am shooting for a MAX speed PB on the downhill side. Question is, those of you that have exceeded 45mph, are you more comfortable (more control) on the brake hoods or down in the drops? My old bike had the cow horn tri bars, so I only had one option.
Drops!
greg
I vote for drops as well.
Got ot be the drops - it just feels safer to have your body weight a bit lower and allows you to tuck your head real low too. I’ve got a nutty roadie mate who went down the Tourmalet last year and blew by me when I was doing 50mph with his hands an inch either side of the stem and his chin on his knuckles - can’t recommend that one!
MSBiker,
On the drops! No question.
At high speed on the hoods, if you begin to brake, the bike begins to slow before yur body does. Your hands must then try and keep your body from trying to move forward over the bike. If anything happens at high speed, hit something in the road, emergency manuever, etc., it is much easier to “slip” off your hoods than come off the drops.
On the drops also lowers your center of gravity and this tends to contribute to a more stable bike/rider combination at high speed.
Lastly, on the drops is far more aero than on the hoods and if you are trying to achieve a PB max speed, you don’t want to be “catching” extra air that will slow you down, even if it is only a few miles per hour.
Good luck, but be careful.
Most definitely the drops. If you want to get really nutty you can stretch out and get behind the seat and as low as possible. This will take more weight off your front wheel and make your bike less twitchy at high speed.
I’m not saying to sit on your rear wheel, just get your weight back.