Drop bars. Drop bars will accommodate your varioius personal wrist angles because they are round on the tops.

 

Thanks! Decided to go with drop bars.

Both of your pictures are drop bars.
One is a round profile. The other is an aero profile.
It's all personal preference. If you ride the tops a lot, you might find the aero shape more comfortable.
I prefer drop bars with an oval profile.

Ah, okay. Got it. Thanks!

One thing to keep in mind. You're really limited with aero drop bars with what you can mount on them. Computer, lights, etc don't fit.

A point that didn't cross my mind, but one that no doubt would have been annoying to find out at some later point in time. Despite having decided to go with drop bars, thank you for bringing that point up. I appreciate it. It's definitely good information to have on hand.

Curiously, why do we use "drop bars" (plural) when referring to 1 handlebar? (We don't use "flat bars" to refer to 1 mtb handlebar). Anyway, my opinion is go "aero" bar if you ride the tops a lot, it will feel much more comfy than round tops, especially going over bumps. Aero bars with flat tops are also more compliant because they flex more.
The only downside to aero bars is already mentioned above, it's not easy to mount accessories. But they do make specific mounts where you can screw into the stem and these mounts would allow you to mount a garmin and a light.

I'm no English major, but I'm pretty sure it's grammatically correct to use it the way I did, because I wasn't referring to one bar the first time I mentioned it, but to all bars. The second time I used it was kind of like the royal "we." One person, referring to themselves in a plural sense. Likewise, if you see a handlebar laying in the street and someone asks you, "what is that?", would it be grammatically incorrect of you to say, "Those are handlebars", even though it's a single drop bar?

That said, people seem to be almost evenly split on this topic, so I think it's probably super subjective, as some have said. I wondered if it would lean more towards one side than another, which is why I asked, but apparently that doesn't seem to be the case. Either way, I decided to go with what I'm use to (i.e. drop bars) and call it a day.

Thanks to you and to everyone for the help. Have a great weekend!

 

Both of your pictures are drop bars.
One is a round profile. The other is an aero profile.
It's all personal preference. If you ride the tops a lot, you might find the aero shape more comfortable.
I prefer drop bars with an oval profile.

One thing to keep in mind. You're really limited with aero drop bars with what you can mount on them. Computer, lights, etc don't fit.

 

Curiously, why do we use "drop bars" (plural) when referring to 1 handlebar? (We don't use "flat bars" to refer to 1 mtb handlebar). Anyway, my opinion is go "aero" bar if you ride the tops a lot, it will feel much more comfy than round tops, especially going over bumps. Aero bars with flat tops are also more compliant because they flex more.
The only downside to aero bars is already mentioned above, it's not easy to mount accessories. But they do make specific mounts where you can screw into the stem and these mounts would allow you to mount a garmin and a light.

 

Curiously, why do we use "drop bars" (plural) when referring to 1 handlebar?

Why do we use "pants" when referring to one article of clothing that covers our lower regions?

Semantics aside, I have both of those types of bars and I find little advantage to the flat top over long distances. I still need to change hand positions to avoid discomfort regardless.

 

Yes it is!

 

I will not put a pair of round drop bars on my bike again, ever. You want some?
I have aero drop bars and aero bars on my bike right now.

 

Drop bars all the way mate

 

I have the top grips on my bike - super comfortable. They’re a nice add to a standard round-tube drop bar.

Cruise Control Drop Bar Grips

Tired of numb, painful hands? The Cruise Control Drop Bar Grip System gives you the ultimate in control and comfort on your road or gravel bike. Instead of riding all day holding a round metal tube, you'll have multiple ergonomic positions designed to eliminate the high pressure zones that have...

redshiftsports.com

 

I have the top grips on my bike - super comfortable. They’re a nice add to a standard round-tube drop bar.

Cruise Control Drop Bar Grips

Tired of numb, painful hands? The Cruise Control Drop Bar Grip System gives you the ultimate in control and comfort on your road or gravel bike. Instead of riding all day holding a round metal tube, you'll have multiple ergonomic positions designed to eliminate the high pressure zones that have...

redshiftsports.com

Cool! More aerodynamic and ergonomic than double wrap tape, the method used by more than a few long distance riders.

 

I start my bar tape at the stem and go to the ends, leaving 2" clear at the stem.

 

Are you serious or are you hosing us? What happens if you don't reach the plugs?

 

I'm serious, all my bikes that I wrap single ply are stem to plugs. If you don't reach the plugs, just rewrap from the shifter down, don't spend much time there and don't need much padding there either. And I usually add padding on top of the bar under the wrap (about 3/32") with a oval drop bar.
On my main bike, when I rewrap, i do the weave. I don't wrap around the shifters, I go straight around them and keep going, I use spare scraps to fill in around the shifters as required.

 

Never tried it, but have seen several very together examples. Does the wrap loosen on the tops if hands are on the tops all the time? It might stay better in place than counter clockwise from the drops. I have to rewrap mine once in a while from hoods to center.

videolife, you made the right choice returning those expensive bars. Handlebars bend up in a crash. I've had to replace them several times on two bikes. Then again, some riders don't crash.

 

This is exactly why I wrap from stem to drops, with the tape going over the top of the bars away from the seat.

 

Yep, I've observed that. My hands gripping the tops at the bends behind the hoods always seems to rotate counter clockwise over bumps and such, and the bar wrap slips sideways away from the bend. Wrapping counter clockwise, towards the seat, hands on the tops next to the stem tends to wrap the tape tighter. Then again, I hate gunking up the bars with sticky tape, so rely on press fit only.

Lombard, I guess you've got a good point. I shy away from wrapping cork tape very tight for fear of breaking it at the edges. I've stretched it a little too far in the past. Never too late to make mid course corrections!

 

One may want to reconsider the direction counterclockwise. .... so you tape your bars opposite directions? ...almost as clear as mud.