Stoked to see an article like this on NSMB. Too many people are told that a wider drop bar will all of a sudden make their gravel bike some kinda trail monster. Yes wider, flared drop bars are better for rough surfaces than a traditional drop bars but the reality is you're still not much closer to a true mountain/trail bar.
This is coming from someone who started out riding trail on a touring bike with 42cm drop bars who now tours with 820mm wide flat bars with 80mm of rise and 15 degrees of sweep. I've also got 52cm flared drops on my gravel bike but I'm considering moving to a flat swept bar on that too. Honestly, I've go no desire to ride drops on anything but the smoothest of roads.
June 8, 2022, 2:43 a.m. - bushtrucker
Stoked to see an article like this on NSMB. Too many people are told that a wider drop bar will all of a sudden make their gravel bike some kinda trail monster. Yes wider, flared drop bars are better for rough surfaces than a traditional drop bars but the reality is you're still not much closer to a true mountain/trail bar. This is coming from someone who started out riding trail on a touring bike with 42cm drop bars who now tours with 820mm wide flat bars with 80mm of rise and 15 degrees of sweep. I've also got 52cm flared drops on my gravel bike but I'm considering moving to a flat swept bar on that too. Honestly, I've go no desire to ride drops on anything but the smoothest of roads.