Flat Bar Vs Drop Bar Road Bikes | Comfort, Speed & Ease

As a beginner, it can be difficult to know which is the best bike for you. Should you choose drop or flat handlebars? James and Ollie are on hand to help you find the right bike for you.

Buying a bike can be confusing when you are unsure of what you need. We put two bikes to the test, a flat bar and a drop bar. After taking a look at the visual differences, we put the bikes to the test. Firstly, we found out which is faster over a 2km section of road and secondly, we tested their agility and stability on two very sophisticated courses.

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Music: Epidemic Sound:
ES_In My Feelings - A P O L L O.mp3

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Leave us a comment below!

[gcn]

Introducing a friend to cycling? Make sure you share this with them.

[barriewilliams]

At 82 I now ride mainly flat bars (kinder on my arthritic neck lol) but I still ride my drop bar bike when I'm feeling good :) So the answer might be, have more than one

[barrybarnard]

I got my first bike in 1959, with drop bars, I am now 70 and still have drop bars, once a roady always a roady :)

[srjones]

Can't believe you didn't call it the Eggility Test.

[AHR_James]

Key difference for me is the added awareness when riding in town that you get with the flat bar - more upright - position

[benl]

Hours of watching British cycling videos has taught me many things, not the least of which is that I need to go cycling in Britain.

[pickle]

I prefer flat bar because:
-I go to school with my bike and carrying a backpack is easier
-I don't care much for aerodinamics
-I feel safer and the hand is always ready to brake

[manfromnantucket]

Imagine going to your local dog park and seeing two grown men in full racing kit trying to ride their road bikes through the grass and over a log for seemingly no reason

Wild

[Max-itwm]

I’m mostly a commuter and a mountain biker, not a cyclist but I prefer the flat bar. I find it more friendly to my posture and It feels more comfortable for a casual ride

[kenshoalexander]

Drop Bar: I am speed
Flat Bar: I am agility

[michaellynn]

I changed to road biking in 2012 after about 8 years of mountain biking, mainly out of curiosity, and while intimidated at the drop bars, I was amazed at how stable they were. However, I converted it to a flat bar in 2017 after losing my love of early morning cycling without traffic. I moved to China in 2019 and have recently bought a road bike with drops, and now reflect on why I changed in the first place and may never go back. The cycle lanes in Beijing are sometimes two car lanes wide and can therefore afford to use the drops on long flats. I recently seen a fully carbon Pinarello Dogma (old model) for about £300 and am thinking of converting it to a flatbar to use as a gravel/touring bike with wider tires in the more rural areas....when the restrictions lift!

[GordonMoat]

I exercise on a slammed road bike, but commute on a flat bar single speed. The main advantage I found with the flat bar is that I can see ahead better, due to sitting more upright.

[beetoven]

You guys are young and fit, so I'll forgive your neglecting to mention that older cyclists naturally suffer more discomfort on the drop-bars. Backs and necks!

[slimelord]

Super fun video! As an xc racer I will add that flat bars have 2 extra positions if you get creative. The easy one is grabbing the bars as narrow as you can (close to the stem) which allows you to tuck a little bit and put your elbows at 90. The more adventurous one is to do the "phantom aero bars" by placing you elbows on the bars. I do these when there are long stretches of road in an xc race (:

[trapbois]

personally commuter/performance hybrids happen to be my favorite type of bikes. You can still go pretty fast though the bicycle frames are slightly heavier, work pretty well offroad like on gravel and dry dirt tracks and its flat handle bars allow for better postures, reduced back pain and better control. Road bikes are incredibly fun to ride because of the incredible speeds you can move at but you definitely notice reduced control when you are riding on terrain that isn't road. I mean even if its just a few pebbles on the road you can still feel it and its something I can ride for short periods of time. Since commuter bikes offer versatility while still moving nearly as fast as road bikes, I would always take a commuter.

[wschart]

Having ridden both, I find that I prefer dropped bars. with flat bars, after a while I get numb hands, particularly my left. It seems there is a nerve running across my palm and the flat bar puts pressure on this. With the drop bars, I can change position if this starts to be a problem. While for short distances, this is probably not an issue, for longer distances I would not use anything other than dropped bars. As always, YMMV.

[vladimirputin]

1:04 that face though, he looks like a murderer cycling after a victim

[robertwrites]

I use flat bars. Just better control. In the city if you're commuting with a road bike and choosing speed over agility then you're asking for trouble. Great video. Thanks.

[neft]

I like the conclusion that the flat bar is the one to get if you are doing an egg course or riding over beams.

[wdude]

This is the kind of video I've been looking for. The current situation has me (and many others) cycling everywhere so I've been looking to invest in a new bike. These videos are definitely helping with my shoping around