Best riding position for road cycling

For newbies who are just starting to get into road cycling, the lower handlebar riding position may cause some discomfort and uneasiness. The feeling of leaning forward with your face facing down and close to the ground can indeed make people fearful. Moreover, when the upper body exerts force, the instability of the vehicle will also trouble novices.

In this regard, it has rich experience in grassroots cycling education. Riding in the lower position is not a deliberately forced position, but a natural and comfortable state.

If beginners or riders with insufficient core muscle strength are forced to ride in the lower handlebar position, it may cause them pain and even bring certain dangers. Learning to ride in the lower position should be a gradual process that requires gradual adaptation.

Novices often want to imitate athletes and lower their bodies very low at the beginning. However, due to lack of core muscle strength or fear, the whole body becomes stiff, and they lose the advantage of riding in the lower position.

To solve this problem, As shown in the two pictures on the left. One is specially designed for racing, with a lower front and a higher seat; the other is for easy daily riding, with the head tube positioned much higher, almost parallel to the seat. He pointed out that with the same seat height, there is a significant difference in the head tube height settings of the two cars.

 

For novices, you can first practice riding with the lower handlebars on a vehicle with a higher head tube.In this way, they don't need to deliberately lean forward and can easily put their hands on the lower bar to practice.In principle, adjustments such as widening the handlebars, heightening the head tube, moving the seat cushion forward, shortening the cockpit space, etc. can improve the vehicle's control stability, and at the same time make it natural to place the hands easily on the lower handlebars.

As the posture gradually gets used to it, novices can slowly contract and bend the body inward, and gradually train the strength of the upper body.When the center of gravity is moved forward and the body is stabilized, a low wind resistance and stable riding position can naturally be produced.

It is recommended that novices do not need to deliberately press down or bend their arms at the beginning, but should relax their arms in the lower position.This way, riding with the lower handle becomes more comfortable and natural.The reason why the lower handlebar position is more comfortable than the upper handlebar position is that its grip method is more ergonomically designed and allows the rider's upper body to relax better.At the same time, this grip posture is also the most conducive to controlling the vehicle.As shown below in the picture, when holding the lower handlebars, the angle of the arms is more natural, allowing the rider to grip more easily.

Especially when riding at high speeds, downhill, and in multiple corners, the braking effect of the lower handlebar position is particularly significant.Although using the same braking force, the lower handlebar position provides the best braking effect.In terms of speed, due to the greater wind resistance of the upper handlebar position, under the same output power, the speed of the rider in the lower handlebar position will be about 3km/h slower than that of the upper handlebar position.

The holding position of the upper handlebar position is not in line with the ergonomic design, while the lower handlebar position is the core of the road bike design.The lower handlebar riding position not only allows the rider to grip the handlebars more stably, but also maintains good riding output.On flat roads, this position allows the rider to rest; and when going downhill, it can also effectively reduce wind resistance, making the lower handlebar position the best position for road cycling.

If a cyclist is not riding in a lower-handle position, they are actually only using the top half of the handlebar, leaving the bottom half completely unused.This is no different from the riding experience of a flat handlebar bike, and you cannot experience the unique charm of a road bike.For advanced riders, in order to achieve the best effect of reducing wind resistance, they should hold the lower handlebars with both hands, so that the forearms are parallel to the ground, the elbows are at 90 degrees, the shoulders are relaxed without shrinking, and the back is naturally parallel to the ground. At the same time, the entire body is moved to reduce wind resistance and maximize the acceleration effect.

The riding position is designed to meet the needs of the rider.When there is no strong wind resistance, such as when riding uphill, the rider can adopt an upright riding position on the handlebars to breathe more comfortably.Novice cyclists are reminded not to rush to imitate the riding posture of experts, because complete imitation does not mean correctness or standard.The most important thing is to find a method that suits you and improve your riding results through gradual training and adaptation.