Sheldon and others,
A personal example that might have general implications:
I ride my bikes with traditional non-aero levers, Superbes and Triomphes. I reach them from the drops, I can squeeze them easily from above just stretching a couple of fingers over them. No problem.
But my wife is a lot shorter than I am. She is well trained, but her hands are nonetheless smaller and weaker. The NRs on her beloved Colnago Super didn´t suit her. Not from the tops, nor from the drops. But she is a strong rider, uses frequently all positions of her drop bars,she wouldn´t be well served by a "hybrid" with straight bars and high position, she wants and takes advantage of a first class road bike.
We have - shame - installed Shimano death grips. They are cheap and I have looked upon such paraphernalia with a very lifted nose, but they function well and are quite easy to install with full braking power (using NR calipers). Comfortable to use and her position braking is still more balanced than on the usual utility bike when braking hard.
Having found this: are they really so bad? Properly made and installed? What is a rider in her position to do? (Granted, we have got smaller aero Dia-Compes from fellow list member Mark Koepke, are yet to try these, but the question still remains).
BTW Sheldon, you´ve got me, I will order a fixed hub and try.
Olof Stroh
Uppsala Sweden