The shifters were on the downtube of course. In the pics you linked, the shifters and cables have been removed. You can see the mounting boss in this photo:
http://bp3.blogger.com/_iXRUDfp0-C0/...-h/lemond2.jpg
http://bp3.blogger.com/_iXRUDfp0-C0/...-h/lemond2.jpg

Thanks; that is what I thought. With the brakes on the ends of the bars, his shifters on the downtube, and his normal riding position on the bullhorns; you would think he would be all over the place. But, he wasn't; not only was his 1989 ride fast, but masterfully done. A great performance.

Oh, and I have very mixed feelings about aero. I loved it and embraced it when it first came out, and marvel at the results on a modern TT bike. But, I am less than excited about the look of most cars today and brifters; though I must confess I have yet to try brifters out. But no doubt about aero being a neccessity if you are going faster than about 20 MPH, and are racing in competition. For most ordinary folks; aero on a bike is streamlining your riding lawn mower.... :rolleyes:

And I still love the look of the Vector and other HPVs; but I am not sure I would enjoy a long term relationship with one as a commuter vehicle. Of course, that is the subject of another forum.

Great for me reading all the reminiscences since I didn't follow biking at all in the 80's or since until recently, so this thread is a nice catchup on much of what I missed. I got into biking in my mid-to-late teens which coincided with the mid to late '70's; after that I started university and didn't ride much or follow biking. Count me as another Rip Van Winkle I guess. FWIW my current stable consists of my 1978 Motobecane Grand Jubilé that I bought new from my LBS and a 1989 Peugeut Versailles I acquired last fall to share wear & tear with the Moto (I'm currently building up a beater as well to take the brunt of wear & tear during the winter months). Speaking of LBS, I got my Motobecane at a little hole in the wall shop in Winnipeg on Notre Dame called Cyclocentre Sportif. The shop was about 15' by 60' in size, but was filled with exotic European bikes that I didn't have the knowledge to identify or properly appreciate. The Moto was about the cheapest bike in the shop, and was certainly the best deal in a slightly above entry level touring bike I was able to find in my size at the time. The major bike shop in town at the time (and still is, I believe) is Gooch's. Gooch's was a much bigger store located downtown and they had a lot of nice stuff too but nothing at all in my price range. Well, sorry for hijacking the thread into the late 70's, but a point I wanted to make is that my Versailles has better ergonomics in terms of shifters (RD indexed) and brakes (less effort) but other than that the ride is very similar to the Moto. I'm comfortable with the Pug as the techology is very evolutionary from the 70's and earlier; once you get to the 90's the many of technological changes (as applied to low-mid level bikes that the likes of me can aspire to) are more revolutionary.
Well, the main reason I was going to post in the first place was to point out that that the first really successful and long lived non-exotic aerodynamic car design, which hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread, was the Citroen DS of 1955 with a Cd of 0.36.

Yes, it is Estes Park. This was one of my most abosolute favorite vacations when two friends of mine and I went to Colorado to follow the Coors classic. We ended up following it pretty loosely and put on about 300 miles of riding ourselves through the Rocky Mountain National Park, Winter Park area with a highlight of riding up Mt. Evans. I ride I'll never forget.

BTW: I just noticed the Paris Hilton style sun glasses hanging around Nelson Vails neck. Funny, fashionable before his time.

Yeah - I would guess so! Certainly if there's anyone else out there they are nowhere near as successful. She's the reigning French TT champ (her 8th national TT title).