....Lets Talk Hoods.

I’ve been looking at many vintage road bikes and I’m wondering if one area of poor ergonomic development in the past is the brake lever housing/hood.

A proviso is that I have not previously rode many road bikes with drops, and have never ridden a modern-era road bike.

I’m currently riding a friend’s loaner, an old (but in very nice condition) Motobecane Grand Tour (steel) probably from the mid eighties, with a 25” frame and a sprung Brooks seat. My measured inseam (ground to crotch) is about 36.5”but the bike is too long…. I’m really stretched out reaching the bars and the top tube is too close for comfort. I have a herniated disc in the lower back and this stretching out isn’t helping matters. I tend to want the bars to be located about 4-5 inches closer to me. Nevertheless, until I buy a bike, this is it.

I am very conscious of trying to get my hands comfortably seated on the hoods so I can have ready brake access. However with this bike, regardless of my being stretched out, I notice there’s poor ergonomics with regards to the brake levers and hoods. A good clear pic of a Motobecane’s brake lever/hood setup is found here (not my pic):

https://www.duke.edu/~jhe3/images/83MotoGT_barwrap.jpg

Compared with many modern handlebar setups I see, notice that the Motobecane’s brake hoods appear to be located sort of far down on the drops .... it’s awkward with my hands resting there…it’s not a natural position. Also, the hoods do not appear to be designed with too much input as to the ergonomic needs of the human hand.

On the contrary, I see many road modern bikes where the brake lever housing/hood rises up to meet the hand and are almost like tilted joysticks (either that, and/or are mounted higher on the handlebar…not so far down on the drops) yet still providing plenty of brake lever access when riding the drops. If I move the brake lever housing/hood higher up on the Motobecane’s bars it will make the brake levers inaccessible when in the drops.

This is leading me to conclude that the cockpit ergonomics on many bikes of 20-30 years ago is a dire ergonomic shortcoming. I’m shopping for an older 1980’s/early 90’s road bike, and I’m starting to get hints that this may be a deal breaker

Thoughts?

A switch to modern brake levers, and maybe a handlebar, would fix it. Parts is parts, as they used to say.

Yes.




Seriously though, just replace with modern hoods. $25 for a pair of comfortable aero levers will make all the difference.