Anyone using Deda 215 shallow drop bars?

[cs124]

I just put a set of these on my Prodigy...

...did one ride on them and am now ready to start an add-on series to the the Zipp 303 chucking contest (discussed at length in another thread;-)

Where do you put your hands when you are in the drops? I've got pretty small mitts but I really felt cramped when I had them snugged up in the curve behind the brake levers and when I held on a bit further back on the flat bit...well...the bike wouldn't steer, it just felt wierd.

Previous bars were Ritchey WCS with the ugly/funky anatomic curve. I sort of liked them but the bump was just in the wrong spot and made my fingers go numb after about 15 mins.

Thoughts, suggestions, insults?

[Climb01742]

i find the ramp on the 215s too steep for my hands. newton shallow drops have a less steep ramp, and for shimano levers and my mits, they feel better. i wish more bars had longer, flatter ramps. they best i've found so far are the newton shallows and easton ec90 equippe pro, with the newtons being much less expensive.

[Dr. Doofus]

have on one bike, ritchey classics (almost identical bars) on the other
are you talking deda 215 shallow non-anatomics, or those crappy anatomic things?

comments below are for 215 shallow non-anatomics:


they feel great if you get them low (92mm of drop here), so you have the hoods positioned where the bottom of the levers is even with, or just below, the bottom of the drops -- the more curve you have, the better the hand position

if you don't want to drop the bars lower, maybe try the deda deep drops to achieve the same goal -- hoods higher on the bar, more curve for the mitts

you have the flats "flat?" that helps....

it may also take a while to get used to real bars after riding the bendy bits...after having been stuck bith anatomics (went to the ITM Pro 260's in '97), and also taking two years away from the bike, it took about a week for doof's hands to get used to real bars again...that and taking out 2mm of spacer and moving the hoods up....

[cs124]

...are you talking deda 215 shallow non-anatomics, or those crappy anatomic things?...


thanks doc...I'm using the shallow non-anatomic bend...flats are flat...I know I'm too high...will probably spend some time this week fiddling with spacers and stems to get the whole shebang a bit lower...only got about 25mm of drop at the moment but would like to get to maybe 40mm, will take some stretching and diet to get there though...92mm? with my physique, no chance!

[Dr. Doofus]

indeed..looking at your bike, you are a wee thing

doof is six foot and one half....

keep fiddlin with those 215s...guys rode round bars for uh...about 70 years and liked em

guys rode anatomics for about 4 years and hated em

[marcus]

Try rolling your hands to the outside so that the curve of the bar wraps under your thenar eminence, (the bulge at the base of the thumb). From this position it is very natural to slide your hands back slightly when you don't need to be on the brakes and vice versa. This has the added benefit of straightening the wrists and easing your grip on the bars. Hope this helps.

[jeffg]

Like them even better than the Ritchey WCS classic ...

My current saddle to bar drop is only about 6-7cm, but I am not flexible like dbrk!

[shinomaster]

I hate mine ..they are going on my cross bike.