Flat-bar commuter or drop-bar tourer?

Drop bars for me. Lots more choice for how to position yourself on the bike.

I’ll just say this, and I freely admit that my personal experiences have biased me against flat bar bikes when it comes to my preference, so that is what I’m relaying here, my personal preference, not my judgment about flat bars in general…my first real bike was a Jamis Coda Sport. After not quite a year, I upgraded to a CX bike because I wanted something sportier. Apart from commuting, I was starting to do lots of longer/faster rides and using the bike for fitness as well as utility…so I wanted a bike that was still useful for commuting, but with just a little bit more zip and potential for things like touring. Anyway, the Jamis sat unused for a while after I got the new bike, and when I finally went to ride the Jamis to the shop for the pre-sale tuneup, I was amazed at how much I disliked riding it, even for a short distance. I have the same experience with my wife’s flat-bar…it’s probably lighter than my CX bike, but it just feels like a pig in comparison and I really dislike the upright seating position.

The seating position of a drop bar bike, even if it’s a relatively relaxed tourer like an LHT, will generally be more conducive to faster/longer rides than even the sportiest of flat-bars…this isn’t to say that one is better than the other, it just depends on your riding style. I think flat-bars work really well for most people that ride them, but a flat-bar bike could leave you wanting if you think you might do more than commuting, such as tours or century rides, or group rides or whatever.

Let me just double check what I wrote and make sure I caveated every single statement in there……

@vvill 29539 wrote:

^ that.

Drop bar CX. I think I’m getting closer to convincing my wife I need one for wet mornings like we had today.

I once read you are 87% less likely to get hit by a car if you ride a CX bike….I uh, can’t find the source right now or get into the details as to how that stat could in any way be realistic, but I’m pretty much totally positive it’s accurate. So really, if your wife loves you at all, she’ll encourage you to get that CX bike.

@KelOnWheels 29544 wrote:

Jamis Bosanova

After about 3 “real rides” on this, I’m getting worried I might like it more than my Trek. Tomorrow will be my first full commute on it, so I’ll report back later! (assuming I don’t invent some BS reasons why I’m not riding to work in the morning, like I did today. OK, the rain wasn’t totally a BS excuse.)

My money – very much not imaginary – went to the Surly Disc Trucker (which you can see on Friday at Coffee Club).
With the Surly, I find myself riding in the drops more than ever (in part b/c on my road bike the frame is too small and riding in the drops is just not comfortable). I even swapped out the bullhorns on my FG for drops.

I like a lot of the stuff that Raleigh is doing. Their Single Speed, disc cross bike is really nice. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but a VERY nicely done bike in my eye.

http://www.raleighusa.com/bikes/steel-road/cyclocross/furley-13/

Um, don’t forget about the Roper too! I found out about it two weeks after buying my bike. Maybe someday.