Kris, my other hero (sorry for the use of the picture John but it’s just so darn sexy) has his brake lever mounted half-way-up rather than way out on the end in the T-bar position like mine (2nd picture). Granted I’m talking about Distance riding with a slightly different (Shadow) HandleBar but the concept is the same. My left “braking” hand never leaves the handle. I use my right hand to recover my balance (when it gets too bumpy to hold on with both) so I want my lever handy (pardon the pun). Most of the 36er pictures I see have the lever mounted half-way-up (like John’s) presumably to simulate braking from the saddle handle. I would be interested to hear from both you and John on this subject as I could not imagine mine any other way.