aerobars

[Blott's Mate]

Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the racing section. 2 people today advised me to get tri bars for the time trials starting in April. Wasn't going to bother on the basis that it's legs & lungs that matter but if they do make a difference it won't do any harm to find out whether you can add them to existing handlebars & if so which ones?

 

[RedBike]

They do make a difference if they are set up correctly. It's all about being as areodynamic (yet comfortable) as possible.

You can get sets than 'clip-on' to standard bars. However, you have to make sure they're not too high or they wont be effective.

Also make sure you tighten the clip-on tri-bars up TIGHT. They have a habbit of twsting around when you hit pot holes.

 

[palinurus]

Legs and lungs for sure, but anything you can do to improve aerodynamics is an advantage since you'll use less effort to travel at a given speed. Tribars make a difference in this respect. You can get clip-on bars which can be fitted to round section handlebars- measure the diameter of your bars and get some that will fit them.

 

[RedBike]

I would try the first few time trials without tri-bars then if you like time trialling you can start buying yourself quicker times by adding tri-bars, deep sectioned wheels, areo helmets. blar blar.

 

[Blott's Mate]

Sounds like a plan RedBike.

 

[jay clock]

I have a pair of Profile Carbon Stryke - http://www.parker-international.co....oogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid3838 just put on and lighter and lower than my cheaper old ones. My guess is they do help a bit and I actually find them quite comfy. Handling can be hairy when you do the "aerobar to hoods" shuffle!

 

[jiggerypokery]

Aerobars help you get into a more aerodynamic position so as to reduce aerodynamic drag. Aerodynamic drag is proportional to velocity squared: If you double your speed, you quadruple your aero drag. What this means is that at low speed, there is little aero-drag, and at high speed there is lots. Aerobars are most effective at the highest speeds - so if you don't have the initial speed to improve on the improvement is going to be so minimal as to not be worth the effort.

One of the benefits of aero bars is that they make it easier to close the scoop created by the opening between your arms in the typical down position using drops.
They also force you to get the ideal flat back position unless your handlebars are too high. This allows air to pass over instead of hitting you in the chest.

So far all good stuff but you have to get your positioned dialled in 100% or it's all a wasted effort and a painfull effort at that.

There are other easy ways of reducing your drag such as skin suit, deep section wheels, aero-lid etc that can have an impact on your speed too but from experience I would go for legs and lungs first as I doubt (I may be wrong ) that you're achieving concistent speeds over the whole TT course at which the impact of an aero position will be beneficial...in time however things will change for you and the addition of aerobars and consequentially the benefits of the position will be evident.

 

[andy_wrx]

Don't do the usual thing of getting too-long aerobars which fit above the normal handlebars, putting yourself into a position that's both uncomfortable and not aerodynamic.

Many aerobars have their elbow pads upto 2 inches above the bars - not exactly aero !
A set of aerobars which clamp underneath the normal bars and have the elbow pads just on top of them is better.

You also want a position where the angles of your shoulders and elbows are about 90-degrees, with the elbow pads under your forearms just before the elbows.
If you fit too-long aerobars onto a normal roadbike, you won't get this, you'll be way to stretched-out and your hips cramped-up.
So rather than something too long, some of the 'shortie' triathlon draft-legal tribars are better - e.g. Profile Jammer (although look how high the pads are...!)

A 'real' TT or tri bike has a much shorter headtube so the whole front end is lower.
It also has a much shorter toptub/crossbar so it's shorter back-to-front, and has a steeper seattube putting you further forward and opening-up your hip angle.
- some people make a TT bike out of a roadbike a size or two smaller than their roadbike.

You could fit a downward-sloping stem and a forward seatpost to try to replicate this a bit, but that won't be good for general riding, so if you're going to have a go at TT'ing on your standard bike, I'm afraid you'll have to compromise a bit.

Get the real TT bug and you get a specific TT bike...
- £££ !

 

[ajb]

I've got a set of these:-

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/5187/Profile-Century-ZB-Tri-Bars.html

Our weekly 10's start next month and it will be the 1st time with these, only ever done it on drops before.

Alan.