Road Cycling - whoa! Check out Lance's STI levers

Does he usually ride with them this far up on the bar? Seems a little aggressive.

-mark


http://www.uspsprocycling.com/02news/03photos/18/18lance2.jpg

This is more a guess/hunch than anything, but that might be a mountain stage and has less aggressive geometry to help him up the cols. I would think that having the hoods higher up in the bars would not be "aggressive" since you'd be presenting more frontal area and the hoods are meant to acheive a smaller profile, right?

You're right ... "aggressive" perhaps wasn't the best term to use there. You get the idea. In any case, I've been looking through a bunch of the TdF '03 pics on the USPS web site and it appears that this was a pretty standard setup for him this year. Here's another;

http://www.uspsprocycling.com/02news/03photos/16/16armstrong3.jpg


I love that pic!

-mark

I noticed some time back that in every picture of a LA bike the hoods are up high. I figured that you get to set up a little more while drafting. The bars can be lower, so when you need the drops you still get out of the wind. I started setting mine up just like this and have fallen in love with these high up shifter posistion. I think you get the best of both worlds with them up high.

the reason why alot of the pro peloton does this is because many of the pros ride frames that are a tad on the small side (for weight savings?? who knows...)... this puts the bars down low relative to saddle height. the hoods are angled up to partially compensate for the height difference.

I ride a frame that is currently a tad too small, and putting the levers higher up on the bar helps immensely with comfort.

I would say maybe more for comfort than anything.

Well, that first pic obviously isn't a mountain stage. Look at the left lever. It's STI.

Say, that give me an idea. Let's play "name that stage" with those pics. Which stage does everyone think those pics were taken on?

Well, since they are 2 different bikes, I'm assuming that they were taken on 2 different stages.....

I see he is not using Ergo handlebars either.

Why does Lance use the down tube shifter for the front der?

Why does Lance use the down tube shifter for the front der?

On the mountain stages, I guess for more percise shifting... I cant remember exactly what he said. He said something about there being less of a worry of a problem with a bad adjustment (of the chainstay, or whatever it is called) for the mountains, because of the gearing used for the mountains.

On the mountain stages, I guess for more percise shifting... I cant remember exactly what he said. He said something about there being less of a worry of a problem with a bad adjustment (of the chainstay, or whatever it is called) for the mountains, because of the gearing used for the mountains.

My friends used to do the samething with the lever shifter for the front der. In their case it was for weight savings (I know, 1 gram). After all, once your set in your large chainring and in your pace, how often do you downshift into the small chainring vs. just shifting the rear gears??

My friends used to do the samething with the lever shifter for the front der. In their case it was for weight savings (I know, 1 gram). After all, once your set in your large chainring and in your pace, how often do you downshift into the small chainring vs. just shifting the rear gears??

Weight is the main reason. I believe the example would be once you're set in the small chainring climbing, how often do you need to shift to the large chainring.

If you were paying attention to the pelton, just about everyone has their shifter/brake lever up high. It is for comfort and racers always try to ride the smallest frame possible. If they want to be in an aggressive position, they get into the drops and to lower the frontal area, put your hands together on the tops and lower your head. Smaller frames do tend to be a little lighter and a little stiffer. Also, samller frames have more clearence while rocking the bike in a sprint (this is not an issue with compact frames).

Raising the brake hoods provides a more comfortable resting place for your hands. This is the same setup recomended by Rivendell Bicycles.

The old-school says to have the lever tips even with the bottom of your handlebar. Rivendell says raise them an inch.

Poor Lance. He gets stuck using those ugly ShimaNO levers. I bet he is longing for Campy...