Leadville, Colorado – It’s been a joke for years now: Is the Leadville 100 a gravel race?
Most riders still ride traditional mountain bike setups, but the course – made up predominantly of dirt road and doubletrack – has prompted some riders to blur the lines between mountain bikes and gravel bikes.
Dylan Johnson rode an Allied Cycle Works BC-40 full-suspension rig with drop bars and even ran road pedals and shoes. Men’s winner Keegan Swenson strapped drop bars to his Santa Cruz Highball hardtail, keeping the choice a secret until the day before the race. So did Trek’s Russell Finsterwald, as did Cory Wallace and a slew of other riders, both pro and amateur.
Discussion has suggested that there may be a tipping point: Once somebody wins on drop bars, everybody will ride drop bars, and Leadville will never be the same. Swenson indeed won the race on curly bars, but riders’ reactions point to a future that still has a mix of handlebar representation in the mountains of Colorado.
“I don’t know if they’re for everyone or not but I was happy with the bike,” Swenson said. “It was really nice on the way out, it was fast on the way home, especially if I was solo you can get nice and small. Just more positions, a little comfier.”
Johnson placed 21st and remains steadfast that Leadville is a drop-bar race. He said if Swenson broke the course record, more people might look to drop bars as a way to eke out more speed. Granted, Swenson did suffer a flat tire and still won by a 15-minute margin, also coming within six minutes of his record from last year. What would have happened if he had a perfect race is unknown, at least for now.
Swenson was trailed by John Gaston and Cole Paton, who both rode flat bars. Gaston, a ski mountaineer who only races a couple of mountain bike races per year, is unsure whether a swap is the best choice for him personally.
“I would never, ever call out Keegan’s bike choice because he is just so phenomenal on so many levels,” Gaston said. “I was behind him on a couple of those descents and he was absolutely shredding on that thing. I think I would have to really spend some proper time on it to really feel comfortable.”
Gaston admitted that most of the course is suitable to drop bars, but he personally rides a full-suspension bike and tries to use that to his advantage on the descents and more rough sections of course. Maybe he’ll consider it next year, he says.
Howard Grotts ran a Specialized Epic World Cup with flat bars, but he did run gravel tires for the rolling resistance. A talented bike handler, Grotts is one rider who can get away with less grip under him.
“It seemed a little scary to me,” Grotts said about drop bars. “Obviously they were handling well but I don’t think I would do that.”
Paton credited his lightweight Giant hardtail with a rigid seatpost and 2.2-in tires for propelling him up the climbs to his fastest-ever Leadville finish. He’s not sold on drop bars, though.
“Nah, I’m a mountain biker, man.”
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