Probably the next best bet is the Zipp Vukasprint, with whatever stem. It is comfy to hold up top, has internal cable routing, very aero shape. Seems very strong and light too. My bike got lighter switching from a carbon 3T round bar.




Just try them out first, and be sure that the bend you choose, doesn't cause your wrist to hit the back of the bar when sprinting. That will happen for some people, and it sucks.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Maybe if you say why the Giant bar/stem does work it could help.

In my experience, bar/stem combos is one area where a good shop can be really helpful. Good bike or tri shops sometimes have fitting areas where they have a full wall of all stems and bars. It's the best way to test out all the possible combos. As the other writer noted, the shape of the drops can vary widely. Zipp makes nice bars -- I second that rec.

I can understand not using the Giant bar - its reach and drop vary by bar size. The drop on the 44 is too deep for me.

You're pretty much locked into a Giant stem, though. Giant uses a 1.25 - 1.5 tapered steerer. I think only one other company makes a stem that can be used. I can't remember it at the moment. I'm pretty sure I read about it last fall on cyclingnews.com, bikeradar.com, or bikerumor.com.

ENVE:

and folks say zipp stuff is expensive...................

Ritchy makes the 4 Axis 44 in a 1.25 clamp size. 80 - 130mm. Only one I know of besides the Giant options.

Yup, that's the only other stem I know of as well. It's what I have on my Giant. Its a fine stem, nothing fancy, holds the bars and my chicken arms can't flex it. I tend to like matchey-poo stuff so I'd match some Ritchey bars with it. I ride the Ritchey Evo Curve bars which I love, but they have a nice fat and un-aero top section which sweeps back a bit… super comfy bar.

Sorry, but I'm useless with aero road bar recommendations. For me they're the equivalent of this:

While I agree with Jack that the VukaSprint is indeed a nice bar, I have found that the Bontrager xXx Aero is more to my liking. The shape works better for me and the little more compact drop also works in my favor. I have the weight for the 38 bar at 218g and while I didn't record the weight of the VS bars, I think they came in around the 225 mark. Lastly, the VS have one major drawback and that is the minimal clamping area, which I wasn't even able to use my fliploc garmin mount. However, the k-edge style works just fine as that is what my mate who bought the bar is currently using. Here is where the Bontrager bar is really nice if you want a single purpose rig as it is clip on compatible.

You can't lose with either bar and I think the VS definitely has the sexy on the Bonty, even if the latter is a better fit for me.[/url][/img]

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My YouTubes

Yeah the lack of clamp area is a feature/problem, depending on if you need it =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Specialized makes an aero road bar as well, the Aerofly.

http://www.specialized.com/...fly-carbon-handlebar

Jack,

I have a quick question about the stem on your bike. While a vast majority of people use this type of stem (including me), couldn't the shape of the end of the stem be improved for aerodynamics? I would also believe that covering of the 4 bolt holes will improve aerodynamics as well.

What do you think? Are my suggestions in the .1 watt category (i.e. not worth doing)?!

---Francis

Agree here... I barely had room to put my K-Edge Garmin Mount... 3t stem.

Love my Zipp bar tho!

Nice garage, but that pink and purple bike doesn't look very aero. What kind of tool box/workbench is that?

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

Yeah, they could. If you can use a 90mm stem you could use the tririg sigma. It is very heavy though. There just aren't many options on the market for aero shaped stems.

There are some integrated bar/stem setups that look pretty aero. The one Giant makes looks excellent. You lose a lot of adjust-ability with that though. Plus for some reason many of them end up quite a bit heavier than the regular setup.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

  
It's a Snap-on Tool Box; form their Master Series line.

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i put on the aluminum version of the bontrager aero road bars today. I'm relatively pleased so far. They have plenty of room for me to clamp on some lights and my garmin mount. They look nice, and the internal cable routing is clean. One of my main reasons for wanting an aero road bar was so that I can rest my fore-arms on the tops a bit moy comfortably than I would be able to on round bars. So far, it seems like these work well for that. For $99 retail, it was a no-brainer.

Honestly, I think the Vuka SS is a better bar, but it's much more expensive. I had a zipp service course sl bar on my last bike, and I really liked the shape of the drops. The bontragers have a slightly different shape, and it will take a few rides to get used to. The other poster with the XXX Aero bars seems to have his pretty flat on the top. I had to angle mine down (and keep my hoods up high) in order for them to feel right to me. When the tops are slightly angled down, I don't know if the aero benefit is as big when they are pointed slightly down.

Just learned the FSA K-Force is available in 1.25 steerer, too.

I just saw this in my facebook feed: http://zipp.com/bars/sl-70-aero/#

Looks like Zipp just launched the SL-70 Aero road bars to replace (?) the Vulka Sprint. Not sure what the differences are. I don't see a quantifiable advantage listed on the Zipp site for the Vulka Sprint, but they say it saves 6.4 watts over a round bar at 30mph.

Guessing they saw others coming out with "aero" road bars and needed to actually do some math rather than saying - "Look! Flat top, so it must be aero."

$350 vs $400 for the ENVE bars. Not sure if ENVE bars make any claims about watts saved.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

It may just be compatible with some of the new 11 speed cable routing. Some of the newer shifters are hard/impossible to route internally on the zipp vukasprint

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

or be made to be compatible with their own sram hydraulic stuff

That bar is gorgeous. But the stem won't work on the Giant.

What about the TriRig stem? Will that work with the Giant?

The SL70 Aero has much improved cable routing over the Vuka Sprint. It also sports a new airfoil shape we found to be faster than the Vuka Sprint and comes with the 70mm drop reach which helps with forearm clearance while up and sprinting.

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