Why are their levers so high up?

Barbarian · Dec 20, 2001

Looking through the magazines, I've noticed over the past several years that most of the top pro's keep their clutch and brake levers up very high. Often they are level with the ground and frequently even higher. This seems counter to the whole concept of riding foward with your elbows up. In fact, having your levers that high should push your elbows down and make you ride with your wrist's all ****ed back. Plus you have to lift your fingers further up every time you need to get them back on the levers.
A girl who rides 4-wheelers (don't laugh, she's good) says that doing this helps her & her brother with arm pump.
What are the advantages of riding with the levers set up this way?

Jeff Gilbert · Dec 20, 2001

I ride with my levers about even with the bars (in a parallel kind of fasion). Most of my friends think mine are too high but I find it helps with keeping elbows out and wrist not bent as much. If you experiment with how you grip the bars you'll find that gripping toward the end in a mannor similar to reaching for a door knob will help you understand why it works to have the levers up higher.

MRKRacing125 · Dec 20, 2001

Most of the levers are so high up is because 90% of the time they are standing up while jumping and what not.

Anssi · Dec 21, 2001

Originally posted by MRKRacing125
Most of the levers are so high up is because 90% of the time they are standing up while jumping and what not.

If you think about it, you'll see why this statement doesn't hold water. When you stand up, your arms will be coming in at an even steeper angle than when sitting.

wardy · Dec 21, 2001

Anssi

good observation,

i think its like a monkey see monkey do thing.......oh boy the pro's do it I need to also.!@

Riders I have talked to say its more about keeping the levers out of the way so when they rail a berm their legs don't hit the levers. This could be true, but I have seen WAY to many broken wrists over the years and think man his wrist is already bent back no room to give..........I am old no question, but in the times past, levers high meant a total different meaning.............and it most diffently wasn't PRO LOL.

wardy

bud · Dec 21, 2001

The guys I ride with have a lot of variation in lever height, and it seems to have no relationship to how fast they are. Mine are the lowest at about 45 degrees. Having them low stopped me getting wrist pump. Made no difference to arm pump though.

Coincidentally, I also like the highest rear brake lever, at around 2" higher than most others.

Jeff Gilbert · Dec 21, 2001

Look at it this way. Sure if you stand straight up your arms will higher but you shouldn't be standing straight up. Your back will be arched forward (slumping) and your knees bent so the angle of your fore arms shouldn't be any higher than when sitting on the bike unless you're really tall. That's my take on it.

Saratoga · Dec 21, 2001

There is a advanced technique used mostly for rough sections while accelerating where you stretch your body back and your butt is hovering over the rear fender. This allows the front tire to stay up and not drop down. Effectively the tire floats similiar to the BMX technique used while going through whoops. When your arms are stretched back, you cannot reach the lever unless they are high. It will be hard to picture until you see someone actually doing this. Look through tapes of outdoor Nationals and you will see all the Pros doing this over whoops and chop.

Also, when you grip the bars properly, your fingers do not point down. They actually point to the crossbar or to the inside. Again, this is hard to visualize until you see someone else doing it.

For years this was a mystery to me. I have taken several lessons from Pro MXers and now ride with levers high, elbows up, and all that other stuff. These techniques really work. The proof is just as someone said prevciously when they asked why all the pros do it.

moto242 · Dec 22, 2001

i used to ride with low levers, then i started using the front brake more effectively and found that when you're hard on the brakes, your wrists want to buckle forward.

Also, try this--
1. bend your wrist backward and use your clutch finger a few times
2. bend your wrist forward, do the same

you should notice that you use less energy bent backward

I have broken my wrists before, so that might be why also

bud · Dec 22, 2001

Saratoga, you're right, I can't picture from your description how really high levers have any useful effect, at least for woods riding. I often lean way back, with arms practically parrallel with the seat (eg for steep downhills) and have no trouble reaching the levers. Then again I cut my levers off at about 2/3 length and maybe I have big hands/ long fingers... If your fingers are pointing toward the crossbar, how can you possibly hold the grips, let alone use the clutch and brake?? I will try to have a look at some high lever fast guys in action though.

moto242, you may be right, but I as far as I can tell I never have my hands forward of straight in line with my forearm. Unless I'm riding with sagging elbows.

MXP1MP · Dec 22, 2001

I run my levers pretty parallel to the bars maybe just a touch higher on the clutch side. I run them this way cause I have short fingers, it takes more time/energy for me to reach down at the lever and pull it in. Vs how I run them now when all I have to do in stick my fingers straight out and and just pull it in I do it now without really thinking about it. I can't really say it lessen's arm pump though. I still think its more of a perference thing.

KYHU · Dec 22, 2001

Can't answer the original question, but to set up my levers I stand up on the bike and put them in a way that when my finger is resting on them, it is on the same angle as my arm. For me it's the posiiton that is the most comfortable (I ride standing up 90% of the time) and which gives me the best feel.

david

Monkey Butt · Dec 22, 2001

I ride with my levers angled down also. I don't see any advantage to riding with the levers up. I set my levers where they feel comfortable. When I am up on the tank or standing it is natural to reach down slightly, not up. Reaching up puts my wrists in a very awkward position. I very rarely get arm pump, so I think I'll stick with what I am doing. Granted I'm not a pro, but it works for me.

Neal

Jeff Gilbert · Dec 22, 2001

After reading the posts'.

When I began riding I stood in the attack position and adjusted my levers to where my wrists were the straightest and my fingers sort of rested on top the levers. The more I rode I noticed that in the (real) attack position, when actually racing my body was lower on the bike and with my elbows bent and up along with gripping more toward the end of the bars using the door knob gripping technique that my levers were actually too low. I'm a pretty short guy at 5'7" so when in the attack position hitting braking bumps I find my levers are more in reach when my body is in a low attack position.

Dang, did that make any sence? When I started posting I knew what I was trying to say but now I'm not really sure what the hell I'm talking about.

At any rate I suggest adjusting your levers to where they are the most comfortable to you while keeping your wrists the straightest.

01HondaCR · Dec 22, 2001

OK, I am going to have to go with the levers down theory. I have my levers a little straighter than 45 degrees. If you keep your wrist straight than if your levers are low your elbows will be high. If your levers are high than your elbows will be low. Aren't you supposed to keep your elbows high? It probably is just a personal preference thing.

Saratoga · Dec 22, 2001

This is harder to communicate with words vs visualization but here it goes. If you are holding the bars like you hold a doorknob then the bars run across your palms at an angle. That is they run from your pointer knuckle to your wrist. You grip the bars with your pointer finger pointed towards the crossbar. When you do this the natural position for your elbows are up not down. You do not even have to think about keeping the elbows up because their natural position is up when you hold the bars like a doorknob.

Ok if you get that part then you can see why your fingers would grab at the levers level with the bars.

Monkey Butt · Dec 22, 2001

Saratoga,

I can buy what you are saying and it makes since for a MXer. I just race harescrambles, which means I run aluminum hand guards. It's a little more difficult to hold the handle bars like you mentioned with hand guards. I still try to grip them like a door knob when I am tunrning in the open or on a track, but forget it in the woods. You are usually just weaving back and forth in the woods without too many fast open or banked turns. So I guess the moral of the story is ride with them in the most comfortable position relative to the terrain you will be riding in and your style.

Neal

Saratoga · Dec 23, 2001

Monkey Butt,
You are right about the hand guards. I had to take mine off when I started racing MX. Later.

roostinbe · Dec 24, 2001

having the levers high allows you to activate them without interference by your knuckles, according to some people´s body position. I run my clutch almost above my handle bars, so that when i use the clutch (with my index finger) it won't hit/stop at my middle finger knuckle. the lever goes above it. also having it up, makes the space between the bar, and the lever shorter, so that you can pull it in, even if your hand is directly perpendicular. basically, it is more important to have good/comfortable clutch use in corners where you are more often sitting then standing, than it is to have perfect use in the air, or most other places that you would stand. although, generally you would set them it a little further for supercross, due to the rhythem sections, and bike swallowing whoops. front brake levers should be set down a bit lower though, allowing you to have your finger on it comfortably, while over gripping the throttle.

moto242 · Dec 25, 2001

bud,

if you are braking and leaning as FAR back as you should, then your wrists WOULD be bending farward if your levers were considered "low"

Why are their levers so high up?

Barbarian

Jeff Gilbert

MRKRacing125

Anssi

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner

bud

Jeff Gilbert

Saratoga

moto242

bud

MXP1MP

KYHU

Monkey Butt

Jeff Gilbert

01HondaCR

Saratoga

Monkey Butt

Saratoga

roostinbe

moto242

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Why are their levers so high up?

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