This week has been all about Life Time’s ban on drop-bar-equipped mountain bikes. The organiser of some of the US’s biggest mountain bike events banned drop handlebars in the interest of safety and ‘course compatibility’. However, in a recent Instagram post, rider Payson EcElveen has shed a little more light on the whole story.
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Last weekend, Life Time announced its ban on drop handlebars in its Leadville 100 and Big Sugar mountain bike races, running into much controversy. So much so that our Matt wondered if the ban actually solved any problems.
That said, there seems to be a problem that few of us have thought about – fairness. In McElveen’s Instagram post, he states that Life Time and its riders had a meeting to address the issue, and banning drop handlebars from these events received ‘unanimous support’ from the riders, states McElveen.
Interestingly, last year’s Leadville 100 winner, Keegan Swenson, who won the event on a drop bar MTB, apparently “brought up the consideration of fairness”, says McElveen. And it’s not about performance gains, rather, equipment accessibility throughout the field of riders.
“Getting a drop bar MTB to work usually requires getting an extra frame and going down a size, a luxury not everyone on the start line has…especially younger up-and-coming riders,” says McElveen, and when we step back and look at the bigger picture, Life Time’s ban not only seems justified and fair, but a positive step for mountain bike racing as a sport entirely.
McElveen continues, “On top of that, most seemed to agree that having a mix of handlebar shapes wasn’t that sweet in a peloton going 40mph into a hole shot, and also might not set the best precedent for age group riders and their own bike setup decisions.”
Adding another touch of spice to the whole story, Keegan Swenson left a comment, “I use drop bars, people hate it. I suggest they ban them, they get banned, and now everyone wants them back ?”.
Let us know what you think. Is Life Time’s drop bar ban a move that encourages fairness? Or one that stifles progression?
