While often overlooked, hood positioning on drop bar bikes (e.g.road, gravel, touring, etc) is one of the most important aspects of bike fit. Many riders will spend hours perfecting their cleat position, saddle height, and stem length but not give they handlebar rotation and hood position a second thought.
Very often, stock hood position on a new bike is essentially an afterthought. Keeping all else constant, just changing hood position can change the overall reach to where your hands contact the shifter hoods by almost 20mm (which has a similar effect to switching between a 100mm to an 80mm stem). In addition to overall reach, hood position has a huge effect on your general posture through the shoulders and neck. If poorly positioned, this can lead to hand and wrist issues, such as cyclist’s palsy which is a numbness in the fingers that can persist long after you’ve finished riding your bike. Left unchecked this can lead to permanent damage.
Internal/Neutral/External rotation of the hoods:
Personally I like to set my handlebars so the bottom of the drops are horizontal to the ground. This is a handlebar position that works for many riders, though depending on how you like to hold the drops, you may find that having them pointed very slightly downward (or upward) may feel better for you.
Once you have the bar where you want, take a look at the angle of your wrists. Is your wrist rotated down (relative to your arm) towards the ground, pulling your shoulders forward? This can often lead to a tight neck/shoulders and/or numbness in your ring and little fingers.
Or is your wrist angled up too far upwards, potentially causing an excessive bend to your elbows? This can cause excessive triceps fatigue and/or numbness in the thumb, or index finger.
Lastly you’ll want to adjust for internal or external rotation of your hoods – generally if you have the correct width handlebars (handlebar width roughly equal to shoulder width) a neutral/straight hood position should work well. Take some time to make small adjustments to suit what feels comfortable can also go a long way to improving your overall experience.
If you experience very rounded shoulders while riding, rotating the hoods slightly inwards can help alleviate this. Similarly, riders with narrower shoulders (often women) may be more likely to have bikes that came with handlebars that are too wide. Though narrower handlebars is the best solution, you can often improve you comfort bit by angling your hoods inwards a few degrees.
We never recommend having the hoods rotated outward.
Jesse's cycling journey was destined to end in bike fitting after first being sold a bike that was two sizes too big. The resulting chronic discomfort and related injuries transformed into a passion for finding the right riding position. The improvement he experienced after his first professional bike fit inspired a career change from economics to bikes, fuelling a quest to help others unlock the joy of cycling.
Athletes from around the world use MyVeloFit to improve their cycling position.
Whether you are a veteran or new to the sport, MyVeloFit can help you improve your position.