Is having your hands "on the hoods" of drop handlebars safe for braking?

Question

I've never had a bike with drop handlebars, but may get one for commuting in busy London (likely a single-speed with mechanical disc brakes).

This would mean riding with my hands mostly on the hoods, but it seems like a slightly awkward position to use the brakes from:

Riding on the drops seems to offer better access to the brakes, but is apparently "less stable due to narrower hand position" anyway — so when talking about cycling with cars, vans and busses around, doesn't seem like the best choice either (for a non-professional).

Overall, is that just all in my head, or is there some cause for concern?

Also, is there any reaction speed data compared with flat handlebars, or other such studies, for this?

Personally, I'd be most worried about situations where I need to react quickly, as well as situations that are usual but I need to be consistent in my braking.

Flat handlebars are like second nature to me, would those be safer?

Answer 1

TL;DR: Position: drop bars can be set up to match almost any reasonable flat-bar body/head position and hence visibility. Braking: if you can squeeze your front brake from the hoods hard enough to initiate rear wheel lift-off on dry flat pavement - you're good.

The long answer: Position: Higher body/head position will generally give you better visibility. An average drop bar bike (properly fitting) will give you considerably lower body/head position than average flat bar bike (properly fitting), but this is not because of the bars per se. Rather, the manufacturers know that drop bar bikes are perceived as more "sporty" and so a bike with relatively high drops (hence less aerodynamic position) will not sell as well. Still, road bikes with high-ish drop bars are available (look for touring or "relaxed" road bikes). If you want still higher body/head position, you can use stem risers and/or adjustable stems. I can't think of any reason for reaction time to be different between drops and regular bars if body position is the same.

It's important to note, however, that higher body position means more drag and less speed; also, any position higher than touring will be less comfortable on longer/regular rides, and comfort affects safety.

Braking: Whether some particular braking setup is safe enough depends on how quickly you can stop the bike in an emergency. Because a bicycle/rider system's combined center of gravity is so high and close to the front wheel, on clean dry pavement the most braking you can get is when the rear wheel is about to lift off. Unlike with a car or even a regular motorcycle, clean dry pavement always provides enough traction to do that on a bicycle while still not skidding the front tire. BTW, that also means that rear brake is useless in an emergency on dry pavement - so don't use it!

Now, whether you can initiate rear wheel lift-off from the hoods depends on several factors - your hands' strength, your fingers' length, what type of brakes you use and, perhaps most importantly, how well tuned your whole braking system is (levers, cables, calipers, pads, rims/discs). If you can initiate that lift-off with conventional rim brakes, you can choose any bike you want (or keep existing one). If you can't, you can always upgrade something. Longer fingers are probably out of the question, and developing strength takes time, but better brakes are readily available. As of now, the most powerful solution would probably be SRAM RED 22 hydraulic hoods/levers and matching RED 22 disc brakes; much cheaper but probably just as powerful solution is TRP HY/RD hybrid (cable/hydraulic) disc brakes; there are also less integrated hybrid systems. The cheapest (and good enough for most) would be just giving your existing brakes a tune up.

Sources: Sheldon Brown, personal experience and research.

Answer 2

I commute every day in SF with drop bars. It's not an issue for me. You quickly adapt to the hand position, if you bike is set up in a way that is comfortable for you.

The real safety issue you should be worried about, IMHO is not braking itself, but rather the "heads-down" position you can be in on the bike itself. You have to get used to looking around you/behind you for cars, etc. That's why your position/comfort on the bike is so important.

You can also install cross/interrupter levers for a second braking position option, usually at a nominal cost (not sure if this works with your particular breaking system).

Answer 3

To complement the other answers here, I want to add that the only time I've ever felt that braking from the hoods is inadvisable is when doing fast mountain descents.

In those cases, you can be going anywhere from 35–50mph and braking hard just before turns. If you're riding on the hoods, not only is your center of gravity higher, but you're also at a bad angle for braking your body with your arms (the brakes stop the bike, and it's your connection to the bike that slows you down). Because of this, any time I'm descending I'm in the drops. This reduces the likelihood of going over the handlebars when braking hard by allowing me to push straight against the drops of the handlebars, rather than down and at an angle against the hoods.

Answer 4

It's an understandable feeling...

As a matter of fact I had the same which is why I got flat bars to begin with.

I switched to drops some time later which cost me a lot.

Still, the braking is awkward to begin with but you get used to it. I won't lie to you, it's never better, nor even is "as good" as on flat bars, but it's more than enough to react fast.

When you know you need strong braking (riding very fast downhill for example), you go down on the drops a have better leverage on the levers...

But the pros of drops are way too strong to use flats... The biggest is the multiple hand positions.

Answer 5

It's a question of ergonomics. Ensure you try out the levers before you buy them. Depending on the size of your hands you may find braking awkward from the hoods. I tried Shimano brifters and found I couldn't comfortably operate the brakes from the hoods (I have smaller than average hands). It felt like the pivot point was too low, so that unless I reached far down the lever with my middle finger I didn't get much, erm, leverage. The top part of the hood is also fatter with Shimano, so this might have been a factor too. This was the main reason I chose Campagnolo brifters, which I found much more comfortable on the hoods.

I doubt there is a difference in reaction speed to apply the brakes, but bad ergonomics may affect how hard you can apply them.

It's certainly true that you get more power when braking in the drops, but that isn't a comfortable position for long periods.

I prefer not to take my drop-bar bike in traffic and generally take the hybrid (flat bar) if towns are involved.

Answer 6

Riding «on the hoods» give you advantage viewing all around.

I commute every day through the hard Moscow traffic with speed of 20mph (32kph) and I always have enough time to stop if I need.

However, braking is often needless — only at the traffic lights and if some driver had decided to change a line and forgot to look into mirrors — rare situation.

Answer 7

On the question of safety, hoods are safe. The levers on brakes provide mechanical advantage enabling the rider to apply breaking power through the levers, even when hands are placed on the hoods and might seemingly be at a disadvantage in terms of applying power (vs. say the drops).

Breaking power will not be the same as with the hand position on the drops. I would recommend the drop position be used when descending or going fast on the flats where you might anticipate the need for rapid breaking.

The hoods position may be unsafe if your set-up and positioning on the bike is not good and reaching for the hoods causes you to extend the body, become unbalanced, unstable or compromised because of bad bike fit.

Many amateur and professional riders use the hoods precisely because of comfort, safety, responsiveness and ability to control all aspects of the bike (speed and direction).

Wishing you safe and happy riding!

Answer 8

I do find that when I am riding in wet conditions, I don't get as much leverage when riding on the hoods, compared to riding in the drops. Other than that, I don't have any issues with stopping while on the hoods.

Answer 9

Is having your hands “on the hoods” of drop handlebars safe for braking?

No one's yet mentioned that you do get finer control of braking from the drops. Your index and maybe middle fingers pulling on the ends of the brake levers will be able to more precisely control the exact amount of braking applied than your ring and pinkie fingers pulling on the upper ends of the levers.

You also get better steering control in the drops than you do on the hoods.

In both positions, you probably have enough braking power to lock up your rear wheel and/or endo yourself over the front wheel, so it's not about power.

But when you need control - like a fast, technical descent - the drops will be much safer.

Just try doing a 50 mph/80 kph descent from the hoods...

Answer 10

"On the hoods" positions has slightly reduced braking from "on the drops" position for two reasons.

Firstly, you cannot grip the brake levers as low as you can from "on the drops" position. Thus, your leverage suffers and the braking force is reduced.

However, this is not the only problem. Even if you could grip the levers as much as you can from the drops, the hoods do not provide adequate support for your hands. You can push your body back using your hands at the typical levels of braking you do from "on the hoods" position. But if you could due to some form of magic brake as quickly as you could from "on the drops" position, you can't necessarily keep your hands in place while pushing your upper body back so that not only the bicycle stops but also that you, the rider, stops.

For someone who weighs far less than me (I weigh over 110 kg without the bicycle, me and my electric bike weigh over 130 kg total), neither of these issues applies. For example if you weigh 70 kg, and have 15 kg non-electric bicycle, you need only 65% of the braking force that I need to stop both you and the bicycle, and you also need only 64% of the support for your hands at the hoods. Both of these are doable.

So, in summary:

• For lightweight persons, not an issue to brake from the hoods
• For heavyweight persons, you find braking from the drops is more effective

I don't consider the reduced braking from the hoods to be a show-stopper. I like drop bar bicycles far more than I do like flat bar bicycles. I would never ever switch back to a flat bar bicycle for road riding.

Try it, you'll like it!

Also, all three most commonly used hand positions (on the drops, on the hoods, on the corners) allow very quickly accessing the brakes. On the tops does not allow, but then again you won't use it much.