The Bikes of Leadville

With courses that range from full XC to full gravel (whatever that really means) to a mix of elements we’d typically associate with both, the Life Time Grand Prix can excite some creativity when it comes to spec’ing a bike for each event. Coming off Leadville, Dylan Johnson’s drop bars may be the most visible of those curiosities, but he’s not alone in tweaking his kit with deviations from what we’d typically see on an XC machine.

We chatted up three of our factory team athletes to get the details of their Leadville BC40 builds, including the bike Payson McElveen rode to a top five, the bike Taylor Lideen rode to 11th, and the bike Dylan Johnson put drop bars on for his finish just outside the top-20.

Payson McElveen isn’t in the drop bar gang. With just a few exceptions – he also didn’t go too far astray from standard mountain bike spec. Doesn’t mean he didn’t hear that siren call.

“I’ll admit that I was enticed by pursuing some creative bike setup for this year,” he said, going so far as to test a gravel bike on Pipeline and calculate a stem length for drop bars (30mm – indecent for drops). Ultimately, he eschewed iconoclasm and decided on “what has comfortably delivered me to six Leadville finishes.” Fair enough, Payson.

That’s not to say he was running a typical MTB setup. The two most obvious deviations are the rigid seatpost and a wrap of bar tape stretching from stem to levers, giving his forearms a soft, stable perch. Less obvious changes include knocking his fork down from 110 to 100mm to dial the front end for aggression on climbs – and an aero boost.

He also opted for 2.4in Maxis Aspen STs, which are simultaneously plumper, faster on climbs, and more reliable on sharp choss than the 2.25s he ran at Sea Otter, and which he’s also run in previous Leadvilles. In terms of speed and course conditions, he credits the 2.4s with better suitability for Leadville; since he took second, we’re not prepared to question his choice.

Maybe the most “pro” touch on Payson’s rig? His pedals. “Road pedals,” he unnecessarily pointed out of his Time XPRO pedals. (Previously, he’s ridden Time mountain pedals.) “They save a little weight and they’re a bit more aero as well.” It’s also a sign that he wasn’t planning on putting a foot down for 100 miles – support stations and all.

Despite being snubbed (strong word, sure, but we’ll say it) by the LTGP, Taylor finished just outside the top-10 in 11th at the US’s crown-jewel mountain bike race, proving that he definitely belongs in the Grand Prix. But we’re here for a bike check, not a grievance airing, so here are a couple of highlights.

Like Payson, Taylor ran a 38T chainring, telling us that he likes it for 95% of the course and was “willing to suffer on the other 5%.”

For suspension, he upped the compression for the sake of efficiency on Leadville’s fast course. He did add some pneumatic suspension in the form of 2.4in Peyotes, telling us that the generous volume helped erase bad lines while following wheels.

“I like a little more volume on this course,” he said, “because there tends to be a lot of pace lines and that little extra volume comes in handy when you’re behind someone and you can’t see every inch of the dirt road in front of you.” Forgiving volume paired with the tire’s rolling efficiency recommend it for going full gas when you can’t pick your own line.

He also opted for a dropper, but not necessarily for Leadville – after his 11th place showing, he transitioned straight to the Breck Epic, and including the dropper was a way to simplify bike prep between the two events.

Adding the dropper’s not really a hardship for him, though – he’s pro-dropper in general. “I will take any weight penalty a dropper adds, because I also think it can make the long dirt road descents a bit more comfy and fun,” he continued, “and a little bit safer.”

“I couldn’t care less about tradition or what looks ‘right’ – just give me what’s fast.”

Spoken like a true (and self-described) aero weenie. The kind of guy who’s not afraid to put road kit – including drop bars – on a full-suspension mountain bike and line up at the US’s premier flat bar event. His reasoning was sound, though.

“My calculations put drop bars six minutes ahead of flat bars by the time you hit the finish line at Leadville,” he explained. “Six minutes for me last year would have cost me six places. Yeah, it’s not a hard decision.”

He did make a sacrifice to stability, bumping up to 42cm from the 40s he ran on an MTB last year and the ultra-narrow, so-pro 35cm bar that he runs on his gravel rig. (We should also note that the stem confirmed Payson’s calculations – we don’t have an exact length, but it’s… not the length we expect to see anchoring a drop bar.

Aero comes with a price – namely, he couldn’t take a remote lockout. “It’s hard to rig to drop bars,” he admitted, before finding the silver lining: “and cables add aero drag and weight.” More drag and more weight? Not on this weenie’s bike.

Other roadie bits on Dylan’s BC40 included SRAM Red levers and Shimano Dura-Ace pedals. Lower weight, better aerodynamics, happier Dylan.

Dylan’s tires were more conventional, if a little bigger than he’d typically run. His drop-bar machine was grounded with 2.35 Schwalbe Thunderburts at around 16-17 PSI with inserts to buttress-up the sidewalls, a more-and-more common inclusion for top riders looking for volume with low PSI. Dylan prefers the sharper handling of a smaller tire – and 2.35 isn’t as big as what Payson and Taylor (and many others we noticed) ran – but he opted for a larger-than-usual diameter for the improved rolling resistance.

It’s only fitting to end on a mountain bike note, so here you go: Dylan opted for a dropper post – though true to form, he did lament that it’d add 250g and bring the total build up to 22.6lb.

“According to best bike split, that would cost me 40 seconds over the entire Leadville course,” he said of the added weight before justifying the choice. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that I can make that up on the descents with a dropper” – and anyway, that 22.6lb mark is still comically light for a full suspension bike, and it’s lighter than the hardtail he raced at Leadville in 2023, even with a wider drop bar, heavier road levers, and bigger tires.