MattyK wrote:
burnthesheep wrote:
Tom_hampton wrote:
$300? What chu talking bout Willis?
PD sonic ergo 35A $144. Done.
Decides he still doesn't like tri? Sell for $100.
Or... Keep them and transfer to tri bike.
He's got factory aero integrated road handlebars/stem. Meaning, there is no round area by the stem for him to toss on normal cheapo clip ons onto. You have to match the aero profile, meaning a more expensive solution.
Then buy a stem and base bar as well. Add some bar end shifters and brake levers.
Even a cheap alloy bar bar will be better than drop bars. But anything used will be fine as long as it puts the aero bar pads in the right spot.
This should be possible for well under $400. Plus way more functional with the bar end shifters.
However I would not recommend that unless you also get a tri saddle that you can rotate forwards on and/or move forwards (not sure what your options are with the Foil seatpost).
Don't forget the new cables and housing you'll need. Plus new bar tape. And possible labor costs if the OP can't do this themselves. Add all of those costs up, and the OP is likely better off shopping for a used tri/TT bike. Lots of 5 year old stuff out there that can be had for less than $1k and has for the most part seen most of it's depreciation. So even though it might be a higher cost, it's easier to dump for nearly what they paid if the OP decides they don't want to stick with tri.
By completely changing out all the parts (bars, shifters, brake levers, seat post, etc) on the foil...the OP would basically be going all in on a tri/TT setup as their Foil is no longer a road bike. Why would anyone do that over just buying a tri/TT bike? If the OP decides that they don't want to stick with tris...now they have a bunch of parts that's harder to sell as a group...because very few people are interested in doing such things. Not to mention they have to take the time/money to put their road bike back together with their original parts.
If the OP can't find a cheap set of clip ons that works with their current bars, then I say just do the race on the road bike as is. If they catch the bug back, then go look for a dedicated tri/TT bike. Don't waste a ton of money making a bike be what it was never designed to be.