Does aero matter on mountain bikes? 
https://youtu.be/M6rZBNY90Fo
Wow would not have thought you could possibly save 23 mins
.
Any rules against using a drop bar and clip-ons for Leadville? Iâm thinking that might be a better setup than a typical XC bar setupâŚ
Right?! And thatââŹâ˘s not that sketchy of a position when youââŹâ˘re on whatââŹâ˘s basically a fire road. It should also be noted that the areas you can use those positions see much higher average speeds thus the wattage savings would be larger⌠but for less time. 23 minutes might be optimistic but I think 10 minutes is certainly in the realm of possibility.
Any rules against using a drop bar and clip-ons for Leadville? Iâm thinking that might be a better setup than a typical XC bar setupâŚ
Drop bar IââŹâ˘m not sure about. Clip ones are allowed and a lot of guys run them.
Edit: personally IââŹâ˘d want a conventional bar going down Powerline.
Any rules against using a drop bar and clip-ons for Leadville? Iâm thinking that might be a better setup than a typical XC bar setupâŚ
I donât think so? USAC rules, and nothing in the USAC rules explicitly outlaws either drop bars or clip-ons for MTB. The anti-clip-on rule for mass start races explicitly defines âmass startâ as road or track.
Below is Travis Brownâs 2009 Leadville bike. I donât think he tried the drop bar experiment again after that.
Clip-ons are popular by many at the pointy end. Not so much drop bars. Itâs been tried. But those whoâve tried donât seem to repeat the experiment.
Any rules against using a drop bar and clip-ons for Leadville? Iâm thinking that might be a better setup than a typical XC bar setupâŚ
I donât think so? USAC rules, and nothing in the USAC rules explicitly outlaws either drop bars or clip-ons for MTB. The anti-clip-on rule for mass start races explicitly defines âmass startâ as road or track.
Below is Travis Brownâs 2009 Leadville bike. I donât think he tried the drop bar experiment again after that.
Clip-ons are popular by many at the pointy end. Not so much drop bars. Itâs been tried. But those whoâve tried donât seem to repeat the experiment.
That bar doesnât look like it has any âflareâ to the drops thoughâŚIME, drop bars with decent amount of flare (e.g. Salsa Cowchipper) work REALLY well in more technical dirt, mostly because the flare causes the hand position when in the drops to be rotated outwards to a position more similar to a straight bar. Best of both worlds 
leadville winner did 25-26 mph on a MTB? holy s***⌠how much fireroad and/or flat riding is on that course?
on my nearest trail, aero would be a moot point for all but 0.5 miles of a 4 mile loop, with elevation loss coming mainly from gnarly switchbacks where one canât pick up that much speed. as much as i am into all things aero, doubtful it would have a significant effect.
otoh, whatever position that would allow me to navigate the turns faster would make me faster
you folks who have wide fireroads and flats are lucky
If aero matters on a mountain bike than youââŹâ˘re riding it in the wrong place lol. Just use a cross bike instead with some 40s on it.
leadville winner did 25-26 mph on a MTB? holy s***⌠how much fireroad and/or flat riding is on that course?
on my nearest trail, aero would be a moot point for all but 0.5 miles of a 4 mile loop, with elevation loss coming mainly from gnarly switchbacks where one canât pick up that much speed. as much as i am into all things aero, doubtful it would have a significant effect.
otoh, whatever position that would allow me to navigate the turns faster would make me faster
you folks who have wide fireroads and flats are lucky
Leadville has a lot of fire roads and double track. Iâd say they make up >50% of the course. Thereâs nothing terribly technical at Leadville but the altitude⌠the altitude will get to you.
If aero matters on a mountain bike than youââŹâ˘re riding it in the wrong place lol. Just use a cross bike instead with some 40s on it.
iâm gonna go stump the Schuylkill River Trails on my MTB this fall and winter, and i think aero does matter there ;). though as you said, CX is more than capable on the SRT
but thereâd be no way that i could buy a CX bike, after having 3 fully functional bikes and 2 frames in my possession
WhatââŹâ˘s one more bike ? 
I have 6
A cross bike is really useful, I ride mine all the time
leadville winner did 25-26 mph on a MTB? holy s***⌠how much fireroad and/or flat riding is on that course?
on my nearest trail, aero would be a moot point for all but 0.5 miles of a 4 mile loop, with elevation loss coming mainly from gnarly switchbacks where one canât pick up that much speed. as much as i am into all things aero, doubtful it would have a significant effect.
otoh, whatever position that would allow me to navigate the turns faster would make me faster
you folks who have wide fireroads and flats are lucky
26kmph = 16mph
leadville winner did 25-26 mph on a MTB?
kph, not mph.
Still incredible though.
If aero matters on a mountain bike than youââŹâ˘re riding it in the wrong place lol. Just use a cross bike instead with some 40s on it.
The problem with that, in my opinion, is that there are certain section of the course where you need a mountain bike and the sections are simply too long to hike-a-bike. Powerline is one such section. This is Jensenâs inequality in action. âDo not cross a river simply because it is on average four feet deep.â
Get a nice XC hard tail with 80-100mm travel fork, Soma Junebug handlebars, with clip on aero bars, Shimani hydro di2 road levers, di2 shifter on the aero bars, then run 1x XTR di2 rear derailleur.
If aero matters on a mountain bike than youââŹâ˘re riding it in the wrong place lol. Just use a cross bike instead with some 40s on it.
The problem with that, in my opinion, is that there are certain section of the course where you need a mountain bike and the sections are simply too long to hike-a-bike. Powerline is one such section. This is Jensenâs inequality in action. âDo not cross a river simply because it is on average four feet deep.â
Just watched a vid of the Powerline descentâŚCowchipper bars on a hardtail MTB would work just fine on there IMHO.
Iâd almost say that a rigid gravel bike with 650B MTB tires would be fine too, except for the video showing a crap-ton of folks going really SLOW in the smooth line
Exploro with the new Lefty Ocho fork would be ideal IMO based on some of the sections IââŹâ˘ve ridden. Tire selection would be an interesting exercise as would be gearing.