Originally Posted by
DaveSSS
Sometimes you have to be smart enough to ignore poor instructions. There's a lot of misinformation out there and manufacturers are not immune to dispensing it. Setting up new bars can be straight-forward and take little time. The right technique can also reveal when a bar just isn't going to work, before you've taped the bar and used it.
Certainly if you install the levers as per the (almost universally accepted) starting point, and they don't feel good, people can put the goddamn levers wherever they want. But Most shops and most bike manufacturers set bikes up very closely to this and most people like it.
Also, this standard makes perfect logical sense, regardless of what type of levers are used. If the tip of th elever is in line with the flat, then the middle of the lever will be lined up with the middle or middle-bottom portion of the drop, and this will put your hand in the right place for maximum braking power when in the drops.