If my forearms are sweaty, they tend to slide around when going faux-aero on the top of my Zipp SL-70 aero road handlebars. I've considered putting some skateboard tape on the tops to add some grip for this position. I wonder if, for some riders, taping the tops and taking the 0.7W penalty pays for itself when they can more effectively go faux-aero.

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Just the other day I was reading the thread on oversize rear derailleurs and waxed chains and thinking that, as a joke, I should post about the aero benefits / penalties of bar tape.

April Fools comes early.



If Lionel didn't have a mustache, he'd have won Kona.

And then thanked his fiancee.

I think you can "back of the envelope" this one. Suppose you are going 25 mph,most 150 seconds per mile or 15 seconds per 0.1 mile. Let's say your virtual/faux aero is .5 mph faster (you probably wouldn't notice much of difference less than 0.3-0.5 mph, so if it wasn't this large nobody would use the position). So you would save about 75 seconds using the faux aero. Using the guesstimated 4 seconds saved over 40k per watt puts you around 19 watts.

I never did the math before, but you can see why my Zipp Vuka road bars are taped past where I rest my forearms, and I agree with you that a little sweat would make it way more dangerous to ride without something providing some grip.

Try a thin wrap of silicone rescue tape on the part of the tops you rest your forearms on. It’s super thin and grippy.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

All you guys need to get a life. :)