Who actually killed the drop bar mountain bike?

When LifeTime quietly announced it was banning drop bar mountain bikes from two of its events, it created exactly the poop-storm of naysaying headlines you’d expect it to. Drop bars on mountain bikes has taken the torch from “the spirit of gravel” as the guaranteed way to generate hype – or controversy – in the world of gravel.

But there is a long history to drop bars in mountain bikes, specifically at Leadville 100. And there is, apparently, more to the story. than just a race organizer clamping down on racer’s fun and creativity.

History vs reality

First off, yes, drop bar mountain bikes have a long history (John Tomac in the 90’s) and a long history at Leadville. Long before Keegan Swenson made drop bars a winning move in Colorado, even before Cory Wallace tried the same, or Travis Brown back in 2009 or, well, there’s been over a decade and a half (at least) of riders testing out drop bars at Leadville.

While drop bars in Leadville have a long history, history isn’t the same as now.

Drop bars at Leadville have the keyboard warriors frothing

Now, it is not just one guy trying it. With more people experimenting (or feeling pressured to) with drop bars at Leadville and an increasingly professionalized peloton crashing Leadville every year since it joined the Life Time Grand Prix, the race is different than it was in the past. More top riders riding at faster speeds. Add in more mixed bars and you have a much riskier reality than 10, or even five years ago.

Some perspective from the riders

After the announcement generated a bunch of internet hype, Payson McElveen decided to weigh in with a bit of insider insight. The veteran U.S. gravel and mountain bike racer shared that the decision to get rid of drop bars at Leadville (and Little Sugar, for what its worth) was driven as much by riders as it was by Life Time.

“Sorry to disappoint, but y’all have it backwards,” McElveen shared. “This rule change was requested by the riders.” The U.S. racer added that “doing away with drop bars at Leadville had near unanimous support.”

There were a couple of motivators driving this request. Safety and fairness are among the top issues.

Safety first

On the safety front, there are two factors. McElveen says most riders “seemed to agree that having a mix of handlebar shapes wasn’t that sweet in a peloton going 40mph into a hole shot.” As mentioned, Life Time bringing Leadville into the Grand Prix series has meant a…