Life Time has announced a major rule change for the 2026 season: banning the use of drop bars on the (mountain) bikes used at the Leadville Trail 100 and Little Sugar races.
The Leadville Trail 100 is the most iconic mountain bike race in the United States, defined by extreme altitude—9,200 feet at its lowest point and 12,424 feet at the summit of Columbine—and a course that rewards sustained power over technical finesse. Because of its long climbs and exposed dirt roads, drop bars have surfaced periodically throughout the race’s history, though for years they remained a fringe choice rather than a winning one. That changed as aerodynamics gained importance in the 2010s, accelerated by Cory Wallace’s 13th place in 2022 and Dylan Johnson’s top-20 in 2023, before Keegan Swenson won on drop bars in 2024 and again in 2025, pushing the setup firmly into the mainstream.
