+1 In my day, the vets coached us on how to protect our handlebars. Anytime in riding in company, elbows out and arm muscles firm but not tight. Beside someone? Constantly adjust your speed so that the tops of your handlebars line up. Then, if your bar heights are relatively close, bumps cannot lock your neighbor's bars. (If they are not close and you bars might go over or under that neighbor's, consider this a dangerous place to be and stay on full alert. My coaches would tell me to pick a better neighbor.) Best part of the even handlebars positioning - there will be times when you need to get around an obstacle and the best way is to have that neighbor move and give you the space. Well, with even handlebars, you can lean on that neighbor and he/she will move over every time as long as neither of you panic. We were taught bumping and moving people. And most of our local competition got the same lessons. Made for very safe racing. Thank you, John Allis, guru of Boston racing in the 1970s.