Why I Don't Ride Drop Bars

I love drop bars. I love highly swept bars such as Jones H-bars, or On-One Mary bars.

They put your hand and wrist in a great position to power flex the upper arm for single speed climbing. They give you great control while descending or in technical situations. The position is also great for wrist ergonomics, and takes pressure off the thumb base.

I am also done riding them. At least for anything rough, and certainly when riding full rigid without suspension.

As I have spent more time in the drops commuting, especially on rougher paths and dirt roads, I have found the ulnar (pinkie side) of my hand getting more and more sore. It's worse in the drops, but it also happens when riding full rigid with either the H or Mary bars. It is not a problem on smoother roads, or in the alternate hand positions drop allow. Believe me, however, when it gets rough, you need to be in the drops for control.

I also recently have taken care of a hardcore cyclist who rode 5 years full rigid on mustache bars. He now has a chronic ulnar neuropathy at the wrist, and is currently off the bike hoping for recovery.

Since I make my living taking care of people's hands, I took a little time to analyze the position on the bars, and it is clear that the swept back position, despite its many advantages has one clear disadvantage: it puts pressure directly over the Ulnar nerve and artery where they come around the Hook of the Hamate. There is no avoiding this. There is no padding it away. It is unavoidable with the hand position.

I have concluded that the drop/highly swept position is great for a lot of things, but not so great for where the pressure and vibration is distributed on the hands. Less sweep on the bars puts the vibration more distal at the ulnar side of the hand, away from the hook of the hamate.

I am going back to standard bars for a while (at least on the unsuspended bike). I'm sure I can adapt to the control and climbing position of about any bar, but no one can adapt to their nerves getting a beating day in and day out.

Feel free to discuss. I would like to know other folks experiences with this. I personally did not notice it until I started to ride drops regularly in rougher situations.