Drop bars at Leadville have the keyboard warriors frothing

Every August, Leadville becomes ground zero for weird bike builds. But this year, the drop bar discourse has reached new heights and the comment sections have gone full nuclear.
Canada’s Haley Smith and Andrew L’Espeerance show up on drop bar mountain bikes, and just like that, the internet is broken. Add Kate Courtney’s aero tuck to the mix—hands on the fork stanchions—and you’ve got a full-blown UCI panic attack on your hands.

“Straight to UCI jail.”
“Drop bars? Where we’re going, we don’t need drop bars.”
“Can someone please stop this madness before someone loses their teef?”

Gravel logic, MTB race

Let’s get real: Leadville isn’t a typical mountain bike race. It’s 100 miles of fire road and singletrack at an elevation that would have mere mortals sucking wind. It’s about watts, elevation and endurance.

So it makes sense that some riders are chasing every aero advantage they can get. Drop bars allow for more hand positions and better wind-cheating posture.

Geoff Kabush, chimed in on Instagram, frustrated with the overreaction:
“Jesus Christ, Leadville journalists! Can’t believe I have to post this photo of Travis Brown’s 2009 Leadville bike again. Give the old guy some credit.”

Oh the comments…

The comment sections are pure gold—equal parts comedy and chaos. You’d think someone showed up to Leadville on a Citi bike the way folks are reacting. People are personally offended by a set of curved handlebars. We’ve got amateur aero experts citing wind tunnel data from their garage. Somewhere between the “fork fairing” conspiracy theorists and the “bring back bar ends” crowd, it’s clear: nothing fires people up like someone going fast in a way they don’t understand.

Let the pros be pros

Let’s be clear: Haley Smith isn’t showing up to Leadville with some janky garage conversion. Neither is Lespy. These are race-tuned, purpose-built mountain bikes with drop bars, wireless drivetrains and the best XC tires money can buy.

These aren’t gravel bikes pretending to be mountain bikes. They’re just mountain bikes evolving for the task at hand.

The line between MTB and gravel

Drop bars at Leadville aren’t a gimmick. They’re part of a larger shift, where bikes are tools, not categories. Where riders adapt their setups to the terrain. And where pros are going to keep pushing the envelope, whether the comment section likes it or not.
The future of mountain biking? It might have curves….