CX - hand position

[Dead Man]

I get heckled constantly for riding the drops on the CX course. When I ask bros why they ride the hoods, I usually hear "just have better control" or "you can keep a looser grip," but I feel like I have way more control in the drops and don't feel like I over-grip the bar. I also feel like brake modulation is much harder from the hoods.. I use my index fingers for braking from the drops just like I do for road - that's just how I ride technical sections/courses. Always in the drops. Hoods, to me, are for road exclusively, just grinding out the flats. As soon as I gotta sprint or climb or turn at speed, I get back in the drops.

But everyone out there rides the hoods, and I read article after article that repeats "you should be on the hoods" multiple times without ever explaining why.

Sup with this?

[gt eunuch]

Getting heckled in cross means that you are doing everything perfectly. :hello:

Also, screw it. Whatever makes you comfortable, and faster, do it. However, I generally find I can float over rough sections easier on the hoods, since my upper body is looser and more relaxed. Drops are used for steep, gnarly descents where the hoods do not offer enough control (rare for me)

[John H.]

For me- drops work better.
Better control and I know my hands are not going to slip off. Especially when it gets bumpy.

[notsew]

At my race last weekend, I ate **** on the first lap and one of my levers came loose. It spent the rest of the race with the shifter moving ever farther down the handlebar. This was pretty unpleasant, so I tried to ride in the drops a bit but I just didn't like it. I felt like it got my weight too far forward and I wasn't able to maneuver as well in the muck. In my albeit limited experience, it helps to keep the front end light so that front wheel floats around a little more. Plus more weight back keeps the traction on. That's just me though, you should do whatever works for you.

Needless to say, the race didn't go super well..:crap:

[MattTuck]

This question cannot be answered because you're not talking about something that is standard.

Handlebars can be set up so that hoods and drops are in the same spot relative to the bottom bracket. This isn't specific to cyclocross, just a fact of bikes. If you are set up to be comfortable in the drops, that is all good. Others may set up so they are comfortable on the hoods, and use the drops for more aggressive stuff. Different strokes, and all that.

[Formulasaab]

It totally depends...
Relative control isn't based on drops or hoods, but simple height.

Depending on your frame size and stack height, headset and spacer stack height, handlebar dimensions (shirt and shallow or more traditional), stem angle and length, and hood/lever placement... Your drops might be the same height as my hoods, or vicey versey.

One of the reasons CX-ers rotate the bars up more compared to their road bars, is to make braking easier while on the hoods. Another reason would be to make that position more secure while navigating rough ground. But a consequence of that bar orientation is that the drops position are no longer comfortable or secure.

When I started racing cross, my bike was set up very similar to my road bike. I rode in the drops whenever things got difficult. At the advice of some friends, I rotated the bars to a more cross-ish position and immediately I found the hoods to be more effective. I ride there almost exclusively now.

So... I don't think one is more right than the other, only that one fits your current setup more than the other.


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[myette10]

it's really irrelevant if you adjust the bar position isn't it? If your parallel to the ground in a roadie position it doesn't matter if your hands are on the hoods, in the drops or holding each side of the skewer: I'd suggest you're a little to "low."

What is important is that you are comfortable for 30/45/60 minutes while delivering optimal power, that you can see the course and competitors ahead and around you, and that you have sufficient access to braking. Whatever your hands are resting on in that position is secondary.

[myette10]

three answers within one minute with the same information. that should tell you something!

[chiasticon]

do what works for you, screw everyone else. that said, if you're not currently as good as you'd like to be (true for everyone), you may try experimenting with your position. you are indeed doing something abnormal; at least as compared to, say, pretty much all euro cx pros. for them, it's more like described above: drops for gnarly descents and sprint finishes, hoods otherwise.

the general idea of being on the hoods and a bit more upright than on the road is that your weight is shifted back more. this gives you more traction in the rear which allows you to drive the bike more, especially though mud or sand. too much weight in the front is often a recipe for disaster: washing out through a corner or going over the bars in the sand, for example.

if your current position is working for you, then you are apparently favoring a lower/more aggressive position. and we're to assume that your weight distribution is working well this way. so perhaps you could try lowering your bars to put you in this position while on the hoods? then move to the drops on descents or if you need to get low and aero on someone's wheel during a flat and non-technical section, for example. in other words: you never use the hoods now, right? wouldn't it be worth at least experimenting to give you another option, if that option may help you?

but again, YMMV. if it's working for you and you don't feel like changing (especially this late in the season), don't stress. just enjoy the race and come up with some witty retorts for those who are heckling you.

[kevinvc]

Most of the really good riders I've talked to about it, as well as the instructors for the clinic series I did a few years ago, suggest riding in the drops as much as possible. Supposedly you've get better balance, lower center of gravity and better steering control, particularly on technical sections.

Personally, I've never been comfortable in the drops for anything other than straight-aways. In fact, my current cross bike is set up with flat bars. I feel like I have better steering and can modulate braking more easily. It's also a lot less fatiguing for me.

This is a minority opinion and looked down upon by the purists, but it works well enough for me. And it gives the hecklers something to target.

[sparky33]

Getting heckled in cross means that you are doing everything perfectly. :hello:

Also, screw it. Whatever makes you comfortable, and faster, do it. However, I generally find I can float over rough sections easier on the hoods, since my upper body is looser and more relaxed. Drops are used for steep, gnarly descents where the hoods do not offer enough control (rare for me)

Bravo. (but this is cylcocross so you don't need my approval.)

fwiw I agree with the hoods v drops here, but then again there is a guy racing locally with flat bars who gets on the podium a lot... so I guess he is doing it right.

[rusty1200]

Whatever floats yourboat. Hoods for me. Drops if it comes down to a sprint

[AJosiahK]

Truely doesn't matter

Whatever works

Hoods for me most of the time but heck yeah I'll rip some drops no prob

[JStonebarger]

I wish Ti-Designs would chime in here, as he commented on this in an earlier thread. IIRC, he said for many people the drops are out of their range of motion. This and so many people's insistence on riding the hoods does make me wonder -- does riding in the drops = less power?

I like riding in the drops. My bars might be a bit higher than some, but not noticeably. The drops seem more stable, the leverage is good, shifting and braking are as good or better, and my hands won't slip at all. If I didn't have issues with my back I would say I don't see a single down side to riding the drops.

[benb]

Seems like Ti Designs statements could be interpreted to be those people just have the bars too low. If you can't use the drops cause the bars are so low then there is no point in having them other then you're racing and the rules require them. Gerard from Cervelo has emphatically stated that too.

If you're going to ride cross the whole time in the hoods you might as well just ride a flat MTB bar with a healthy saddle-bar drop. Lots of XC riders do exactly that.

One thing here, and I have traditionally rode with my bars quite low too is that the hoods on these modern brifters seem designed to support the bars being really low. I personally have had a lot of trouble with ergonomics of the hoods in my recent experiment with higher bars over the last few years. In a lot of cases you just can't keep your wrists straight if the bars are too high, which negates the entire purpose of raising the bars to try and ease pressure on your wrists. If the angle of the wrist breaks you open yourself up to way more chance of injury then if they are lower, straight, and have a little more weight on them.

[classtimesailer]

Most of today's CXers are road riders who ride the hoods so, they ride the hoods. Put on some bar end shifters and they will stop teasing you about riding in the drops.

[redir]

I almost never ride the hoods in CX races. It's either the drops or the tops. When cornering I'm almost always in the drops. IT gets your weight down low and balanced, much better control. So sounds to me like you are doing it right ;)

[JStonebarger]

I haven't noticed if she still does, but Katie Compton used to always ride in the drops. It seemed to work for her.

[Dead Man]

My road bike and CX bike are set up pretty similarly, except that the CX bike has a longer TT and about 20mm of spacer/hanger under the stem. That doesn't put my hands "on the tops" relative to my road bike, but it definitely opens me up more than my road bike, which is a really tight fit.

At the last Crusade yesterday, with an average HR of 188 and lots of long open stretches of road-racing, I did actually find myself on the hoods a couple times, just trying to open up the lungs even more I guess. Course was relatively un-technical, just really fast and cardio-intense, so I spose that makes sense.

Overall I've done pretty OK. Forced upgrade to 4 in was essentially amounted to 4 races, saw the podium a couple times.. can't really complain. As said, anyone can get faster and/or better, though, and at least one trick to not plateauing is to constantly evaluate what you're doing and look for ways to imprve.

State champs next weekend, then the season is over... don't plan to make any changes to the bike at this point, but maybe next year when I dust the XNight off for CX I'll look at playing with the cockpit some, and just see what happens.

Thanks for everyone replies.