Bar angled up or level

What angle is everyone running the tops of their drop bars at? Mine are about 1-2 degrees up with the hoods transitioning in a straight line from the tops. The crook of my hand between the thumb and index finger doesn't feel like it makes much contact with the bar this way though. Most of the contact is with the heel of my hand. Should your hand make even pressure contact along from the crook of your hand to the heel?

You can run your bars at any angle that works for you.  But if you angle them up too much, its makes the drops less usable, but it also depends on the shape of the bars.  I keep my bars with the tops level, with the hoods level as well.  I use SRAM hydraulic levers, which I love because there is a lot of surface area due to the large horns, so the crook of my hand is around the horn while the heel rests on the bar.  

ljsmith wrote:You can run your bars at any angle that works for you.  But if you angle them up too much, its makes the drops less usable, but it also depends on the shape of the bars.  I keep my bars with the tops level, with the hoods level as well.  I use SRAM hydraulic levers, which I love because there is a lot of surface area due to the large horns, so the crook of my hand is around the horn while the heel rests on the bar.  

\n \n I always felt that perfectly level gave me the feeling of having to rotate my wrists down a little bit. So I always wanted them up just a smidge but not very much. Rotating them up quite a bit more makes the drops feel unsafe. But it makes the hoods feel better. But I have a feeling on a longer ride that would be too much pressure on the hands.

I have a compact bar, the bar itself is a tiny tiny bit angled up, and the shifter itself is a tiny bit angled up too, but almost straight with the bar. Works for me.

What I can't stand even for 2 minutes are older style bars with older style shifters (or brake levers). 

cmcalpin wrote:What angle is everyone running the tops of their drop bars at? Mine are about 1-2 degrees up with the hoods transitioning in a straight line from the tops. The crook of my hand between the thumb and index finger doesn't feel like it makes much contact with the bar this way though. Most of the contact is with the heel of my hand. Should your hand make even pressure contact along from the crook of your hand to the heel?

\n \nWhatever feels comfortable to you. \n \nI position my levers much further up on the bars so there’s a flat transition between the bar and the hoods, and then run the bars approximately level.