For the previous a number of years, the hole between gravel and XC mountain bikes has been ever narrowing. Taking it a step additional, we’ve seen many riders creating their very own drop bar mountain bike setups for endurance races just like the Leadville Path 100. Combining the aerodynamic and luxury advantages of drop bars with the suspension and geometry of an XC mountain bike actually is smart on some programs. Nevertheless it appears Life Time didn’t see it that means, and so they introduced a ban on drop bar setups at Leadville transferring ahead.
With a reputation impressed by the notorious Leadville race, 5DEV’s new Shredville Flatbar XC Hood Mounts are a workaround for Life Time’s drop bar ban. These new mounts slide onto your flat handlebar, offering a means mount drop bar hoods, levers, and shifters in your flat handlebar. In line with 5DEV, this permits “seamless integration of drop bar hoods that offers you brake entry from each positions.”
The brand new Shredville Hood Mounts are undoubtedly a novel strategy to getting a best-of-both-worlds cockpit setup. Whereas the hoods look like mounted at a comparatively excessive angle, it appears prefer it makes it pretty simple to get a extra aero place with the arms prolonged in entrance of the flat handlebar. On the identical time, the rider nonetheless has the choice to make use of the usual grips and flat bar hand positions for management and dealing with in additional technical terrain.
Or as 5DEV places it, “Optimize your place on the highway, then hold flooring it via the chunky stuff with out lacking a beat. The clock isn’t slowing down, so you possibly can’t afford to both.” With drop bars banned at Leadville, it’ll be fascinating to see if the Shredville mounts catch on, and what different aero hacks riders provide you with this yr. We’ll undoubtedly be watching.
Weight, Pricing, and Availability
The claimed weight of the Shredville mounts is 135 grams for the pair, and they’re suitable with handlebars with a normal 22.2mm grip diameter. They retail for $199.99 and can be found now via the 5DEV web site.
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