Again, how did Coppi, Bartali, Bobet, Gaul, and Merckx win so many races from 1947 to 1985 when photos show that the back of their hands were often positioned on the bars nearly as high as the nose on their saddles? You claim that it is "impossible" to ride a road bike with the bars as high as the saddle, yet these guys dominated the Tour de France while doing exactly that.

I am not interested in bikes in a museum. Nor am I interested in track bikes, world record attempts, time trials, or crits. This discussion began with YOUR allegation that the handling of ONE particular road bike, designed to be used for long distance road riding, would be "destroyed" by putting the bars as high as the saddle. So, let us talk about what the best riders in history actually DID when riding 150 miles on the road.

Lazell's book shows these riders in the heat of battle, with their hands positioned exactly where they wished them to be. The photo of Coppi on pg. 42 shows him on a level area, but about to head up a mountain. The back of his hands are almost level with the nose of his saddle. Are you suggesting that at the bottom of the hill, Coppi stopped and raised his bars two inches? And, at the top of the hill, he stopped, and lowered his stem two inches.? Absurd.

Further, the photos show the "best" riders MORE often than not, were riding with their backs at close to a 45 degree angle relative to the top bar of their bikes. That angle is very difficult to maintain for long periods of time if the bars are set two or three inches below the level of the saddle. When the riders had their backs were much lower than 45 degrees, they are usually shown as being in a finishing sprint, a contested attack, or in a time trial. Riding an entire stage with the back significantly lower than 45 degrees did not become "popular" until after Greg LeMond used a lower position in the 1989 Tour.

Reginald Shaw was one of the foremost voices for road cyclists in the UK in the 20th century. His book "Cycling" was a basic "primer" for British riders from the '50's to the 70's. Then, as now, there were folks who confused the setup that Pros use for sprints, track racing, time trials, and crits, with the MUCH different setup that is superior for long distance riding on a road bike.

About those people, Mr. Shaw wrote: "it is regrettable that many young riders adopt an absurdly exaggerated racing position for normal riding. They do harm to themselves and harm to the good name of cycling".

You are suggesting that this particular Vitus frame can ONLY be set up as a track bike, or as a time trials bike. However, if the Vitus is a road bike, designed for riding long road stages, a "track" set up would be silly. Road bikes of that era were generally ridden with the bars two or three inches higher than the position being used by Pros today. And, if I had that Vitus, I would happily ride it with the bars up as high as the saddle.