If I spent half a summer riding with one hand on the tops and one on the hoods, I spent the other half riding with each hand deliberately gripping the hoods differently. As any young Cyclist growing up in the United States in the late 80s, I had a major thing for Greg LeMond.
I imagined Greg to be the perfect Cyclist, as youth often does of their heroes. I modelled my position on his; when Scott Drop-Ins became available, I hastened to save up for a set and mounted them on my bike. In the interim, I mounted some mountain bike bar-ends on the drops of my regular Cinelli bars. (If I could ask Greg one question, it would be whether he ever actually used his Drop-Ins in any race situation. I’ve never seen a picture of him riding in them, and after having owned a set, I can tell you those babies were the flexiest bars I’ve ever had on a bike.)
But I digress. Back to me and my BFF, Greg LeMond. However much I idolized him, one personality trait I knew we didn’t share was an obsessive/compulsive need to have things be symmetrical. I am all about symmetry; my hoods have to be mounted at exactly the same height, the cables have to emerge from the bar tape at exactly opposite the other side, the gap between the tape and the stem has to be exactly the same on both sides of the bars. LeMond did not share this compulsion, a fact most readily demonstrated by how he gripped his hoods with each hand usually sharing a different number of fingers in front and behind the brake levers.
I could understand that people might differ on precisely how many fingers should be in front of the levers and how many behind, but the idea that one could grip their bars with an uneven distribution across hands completely blew my adolescent mind. If I was going to win the Tour some day, this was obviously a skill I needed to have.
So I set about practicing holding the hoods the way he did; one hand with no fingers in front of the brake lever, the other with all but the littlest hand-piggie in front of the brakes or two fingers in front, two in back on one hand, one finger in front on the other – the quantities were irrelevant so long as they were not the same on both sides.
But I couldn’t do it. It drove me crazy – it twisted my guts up inside. And that was when I realized I would never become a Pro Cyclist, if I lacked such a basic skill.
But every cloud has a silver lining, and with my failure came an interest in the various ways one could grip the bars. The first obvious point to make is that the classic “three-position bar” actually offers about a trillion positions, although I admit I lack both the skill and the fortitude to count them all, and am therefore unable to confirm that figure.
I find the hoods offer the most interesting position variations; depending on how you grip them, you can stretch your back or shoulders, settle in for a relaxing spin, or go low and aero for some Passista hammering. Most importantly, if you add a scowl or a grimace and a little bend to the elbow, you can instantly look the Flandrian Hardman.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Hood Position/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@frank
Prior to the late unpleasantness with Germany the brake levers had no hoods that I can discern.
Looking at pictures riders seem to use the bends and drops and have the brakes set much further round the radius of the bars - certainly until the late 1930's. It's only with the Anquetil/Poulidor era that everyone's hoods start to move up the radius of the bar, gain bar tape and be used for traction as far as I can see.
My dad's 1950's era brakes had bare metal distinctly non-anatomical surfaces.
Maybe the rotation of bars and larger hoods has been a slow evolutionary thing that we can only see clearly now looking back over a decent chunk of time.
@lordmoos3
If I am not mistaken, his wife had just delivered a baby a few days before the race.
But, I agree with Frahnk, he's still a tosser. Almost can make out the bruising from his last transfusion in the photo a la Roid Landis.
@frank
Yeah, what is going on right now? Between MSR & Dwars today I'm seeing
-leg warmers over bibs
- more & more of the awful aero helmets (Specialized just released an extra-ugly one)
- black jackets & jerseys? These really confuse me. Do they sponsors not get annoyed the racers are covering up their names? Do teams not have enough sponsor money for a decorated rain jacket? I'm seeing more & more of these plain black deals, which makes an already monotone peloton very hard to follow. What is up with the black rain jackets & what seems to be black thermal jerseys.
@frank
I'm sure I read that the Lion King had his stem so long and slammed that he could barely reach the drops. Cipo was of course Italian so having his bike look pro and awesome was much more important than comfort.
@Ron
I change hand position constantly; its a great way to keep hands from getting hot spots, and to keep the shoulders nice and loose.
@Ron - black jackets & jerseys? These really confuse me. Do they sponsors not get annoyed the racers are covering up their names? Do teams not have enough sponsor money for a decorated rain jacket? I'm seeing more & more of these plain black deals, which makes an already monotone peloton very hard to follow. What is up with the black rain jackets & what seems to be black thermal jerseys.
I was just wondering the same thing. Apart from rain jackets, I thought the UCI were pretty strict on non-regulation gear - especially jerseys.
I find myself assuming all manner of positions (that's what she said), but the drops with an index finger on the shift is where I land most of the time.
@frank
Super V Fignon!
@Chris @G'rilla Here is a set of cranks...
110mm to suit all your chainring needs!
@Dinan
I wanted to follow up on this. I had my wife watch the last couple road rides I've been on and have her pay attention to hand position if they were on the hoods. What she found was that I was only half right with my original statement.
Apparently I split the hood positions between a two-finger split and a one-finger on the brake (three finger behind) setup. Either way, stays symmetrical in either position.
-Dinan
@Dan_R
seems to be missing something's !!