I just did the swtich solely based on comfort. I only did one 50+ mile ride so far, but I liked them a crapton more than my old Felt "f-bend" extensions.

more comfortable... YES!
I'm a fan of j-bend and the new Zipp Vuka 70/110m bars. Both are comfortable and well worth the try.

more aerodynamic... for some people, YES! Others, NO!
...It seems to be kind of individual (like helmets and BTA bottles). The effect is really in context with all the other elements of body position.

timely question as I just spent a couple weeks fiddling with this after getting my first 'real' bike fit. I originally had ski bends on my bike (and always have on this bike and past ones), but the fit bike had Felt F bends on it, and they were so freaking comfortable that I had to go buy some. I then made the mistake of not paying attention to the saddle-to-extension drop measurement, thereby ordering Zipp S bends (slight rise on the ends, not perfectly flat). They felt better, but after a few trainer rides something still felt off. It was really bugging me, so I took another look at the measurements and realized that they were ending about 2-3cm too high. After some quick research, Profile T2+ bends looked to be the exact height I needed, so I ordered those, and presto-changeo, success.

I'm still fiddling with them a bit, but they are light years more comfortable than the ski bends. For me, it's a much more relaxing position where I can rest my hands on top of the extensions, rather than bending my wrists up and 'hanging on' to the ski bends. I'm even toying with trying straight bars just to see if it's even better.

It's probably a lot of personal preference, and also dependent on you bar setup, i.e. if your extensions are mounted lower relative to the pads then perhaps a higher 'rise' extension is more comfy. I've done everything from sprint to half-distance on the old ski bends, and can't imagine going back.

Sidebar: I've got brand new alloy Vision ski bends, darn-near-new carbon Zipp s-bends, and almost-new carbon Vision ski bends that I'd be willing to part with, or if anyone wants to try them we could work something out.

Exactly the extensions I have. My felt is perfect for me, but not sure if I want to move to ski bend!

Wow, thanks so much! I really like that you are comfortable with other setups rather than the ski. The f bend I use is so comfortable, or is it that I'm just used to it? I'll probably just stay with that setup and mess with stack etc.

I comment on the aero-ness of the J-bend to S-bend extensions. However, I can comment on the comfort end of it. Eye wind tunnel test says though that the S-bends have to be at least a couple of watts faster. Again, that is just eyeball test and I have been wrong many times before.

My old rig (2012 P2) had S-bend extensions on it. With the bend they cam up just above the pads and were perfect for my hand position keeping everything in line like I wanted it to be.

I now have a 2015 SC 7.5 with J-bends. At first I didn't like them at all. The shifter where in a totally different angel, I had a lot of getting use to putting my hands in a different spot and it wasn't comfortable to me. It almost felt like I was holding on to them to keep me from sliding off my saddle even though I wasn't sliding anywhere.My forearms sit funny (at least to my feeling) in the pads because of the angel I hold onto the end of the extensions. Now after 2 1/2 months training with them, they aren't bad, I still prefer the S-dends but the J-bends are at least tolerable until I am able to get my hands on the S-bends.

Much prefer mine fitted in reverse, comfort-wise. Needed to do that anyway to get the hand position I liked, but in reverse the slope of the hand grips is really nice, and for me it is the perfect angle to simply rest my hands on. Also, by fitting in reverse you place the turn closer to the base bar, which means more rise overall (if that is what you need) for the same bar.

Makes no sense without a picture. Apologies the bottom one is so shit.

That's amazing! I never thought of flipping them around! That could totally change this into a super comfy position! I'm guessing you are rock solid in that position?

I bought a Felt B12 and did not like the stock f-bend extensions. Was used to Ski/J-Bends previously and for me the "f's" put my wrists in an angle position that put pressure on them. Even on the trainer it hurt but I could get by but my first ride outside with the bike my wrists were aching after only 20 minutes.

Bought a pair of ski-bends and haven't looked back. Maybe I could've got the f-bends to work if I could've lowered the arm rest pads but my LBS didn't give me any of the additional arm rest spacers that is supposed to come with the bike (didn't know they were supposed to at the time). Eventually I bought a few more when I switched the pads to Cee Gees and needed to lower them though.

Gotta admit the f bends looked cooler in pictures compared to the J's.

About 8 out of 10x ski tip bends will test faster than any other type of bend in the wind tunnel.

Unless you're in the M45-49 then use anything but ski tips.

of course your results could be out of the norm

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Thanks DD. I'm making the switch and seem to remember you saying that. I appreciate your input.