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.
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As I take my turn at the front coming down the front straight at the local downtown Twilight Criterium I imagine how many people are saying to the person next them "Look at that swank, fat old bastard with his forearms on the tops, wrists/hands hanging limply/casually as he leads the race."
Probably none, but I know Eddy is smiling.
Oh man Frank, the Scott Drop-In bar comment was too funny! I also clammped on some Onza MTB bar-ends to mimic the position unitl my own Scott bars arrived. When they were finally on the bike, I wrapped them in neon green (I think) and put my own Scott decals on the drop-in bit, to look just like the world champ. They were certainly flimsly. if anything Scott gets credit for creating adverstising real estate out of nothing. I I bought into it.
@pink
Any hints on technique ? Climbing on the tops with hands just resting, no grip, is great for engaging your core.
Two fingers on the bar, two fingers on the hoods: I can shift on the right with my ring finger, and on the left, slide my index and middle finger to go up/ down/ trim.
When I'm cooked, or at the limit, I'll use the palms on top of the hoods, wrist support method.
Chatting it up at an easy pace, it's on the tops right near where the tape ends. It's actually a Merckx-send that I have a Garmin that mounts to the stem now, as all the older versions required being mounted to the bars which made this position not work perfectly.
Never miss a detail do you Frank? I've always thought about proper hand position and cycling, tho I probably thought more about hand position when I was a teenager............Awesomeness!
When I ride on the hoods I almost always have to be symmetrical as well. The only exception in as ever so brief moment when I might bring one hand on the bar for an adjustment of some sort. Otherwise it's the ocd symmetrical two-finger split on my bikes.
-Dinan
@wiscot
That's funny you mention that, wiscot. I had to take a minute and imagine how I do position my hands while I ride. It's not something I have spent much time thinking about, just something that settled in naturally. i'll have to try some different hood positions next time I am out....
-Dinan
Hood's, Drop's, Top's, Scott's and crowd favourite - Spinaci's! They just got outlawed when I was about to put some on.
Here's a few positions from Cinelli;
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On average, have the hoods moved higher on the bars in the pro peloton in recent years? Seems like fewer riders these days have them as far forward as Merckx did. The photo of the Schlecks shows hoods that appear to be as high on the bars as mine, and I'm a 44-year-old lardass with three fractured vertebrae. I've managed to work my way down to one 5mm spacer below the stem, but if I pushed my hoods as far forward as Merckx's, or even Frank's, I would look like Marty Feldman after a few weeks. How high constitutes a Rules violation?
Solid article Frank, It really becomes second nature over time and what works well for the conditions. Three under, one over for me, that is on anything remotely flat. Then on the top of the bars when climbing in the saddle, just so that the thumbs touch each other and the sign of Merckx appears on one side and the "V" on the other. Only then do I tuck them under the bars. @ Scaler911 mention a few i use as well.
I always appreciated Cipo's super high hood position - apparently set up that way so he could maintain a very high level of comfort whilst lazing away in the bunch. The only time he would strike a pedal in anger, he would be in the drops, so why adopt anything but the most upright leisurely grip possible at all other times?
Almost like he considered lower hoods to be only required by those peasant domestiques who had to labor on the front for hours.