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Road Bike Aero Questions
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I just bought a 2017 Cervelo S2 (as a replacement for my tri bike which was stolen). i have two questions for those who know about road bikes:

1. How much time would I save over a 40k TT by upgrading wheels to something like this:
https://www.probikekit.ca/bicycle-wheels/reynolds-strike-clincher-disc-wheelset/11409299.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=CAD&shippingcountry=CA&variation=11409300&thg_ppc_campaign=0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_4yG_trv2wIVXTpPCh1flwjSEAEYASABEgLqRvD_BwE
2. It's been discussed at length that tri bars on a tri bike are only useful if actually used. When i had my old bike i was always trying to stay in the tri position as much as possible to take advantage. Does the same hold true for drop handle bars on a road bike? How come most people i see on road bikes are on top of the hoods instead of in the drops?

cheers. B.
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Re: Road Bike Aero Questions [blueQuintana] [ In reply to ]
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blueQuintana wrote:
I just bought a 2017 Cervelo S2 (as a replacement for my tri bike which was stolen). i have two questions for those who know about road bikes:

1. How much time would I save over a 40k TT by upgrading wheels to something like this:
https://www.probikekit.ca/bicycle-wheels/reynolds-strike-clincher-disc-wheelset/11409299.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=CAD&shippingcountry=CA&variation=11409300&thg_ppc_campaign=0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_4yG_trv2wIVXTpPCh1flwjSEAEYASABEgLqRvD_BwE

Vague rough sketchy order-of-magnitude ballpark neighborhood approximate guess, a minute or so.
It depends on course and conditions and tire setup and rider and probably some other things. Maybe.

The even bigger benefit of deep carbon rims is that they make your road hum much louder than shallow aluminum.

Quote:
2. It's been discussed at length that tri bars on a tri bike are only useful if actually used. When i had my old bike i was always trying to stay in the tri position as much as possible to take advantage. Does the same hold true for drop handle bars on a road bike? How come most people i see on road bikes are on top of the hoods instead of in the drops?

Tri bars are generally the primary position on a tri bike. "Not using them" usually means being much more upright on the base bars, which is obviously much less aero.

How road handlebars are used is a more complicated matter. There are a lot of geometries to the bars, a lot of designs for the hoods, and a lot of ways to configure and use them that can all make sense.

1-How upright you are at a given moment depends on a lot more than just hand position. What are your arms doing? If my hands are in the hoods and my forearms are parallel to the ground with my elbows bent, I'm MUCH lower than if my hands are in the hoods with my arms outstretched.
This also depends on how aggressively a bike is fit, which depends not only on the bike itself but also on the rider's physiology. People usually think that a road bike fit looks relaxed if the handlebars are at nearly saddle height, but if the rider has short arms, it may actually be a fairly aggressive fit. Especially if that rider likes to posture their arms with a lot of elbow bend or whatever.

2-Depending on the location of the bars, the shape of the bars, and the position of the hoods on the bars... the drops might not actually be a significantly more aggressive position than the hoods. The drops are always lower, but they're also closer, which can counteract much of the lowness.

3-Modern brake hoods make for excellent handrests, and shifting is usually easiest to accomplish from a hoods hand position. So modern road bikes are often fit in such a way that the hoods are somewhere that it makes sense to spend a lot of time in.

4-Some people fit their handlebars excessively low, either in an attempt to look cool or because they think it'll make them more aero. The practical outcome is that, instead of being more aero, they just spend all of their time in the least-aggressive positions on the handlebar. Ironically, there's a good chance that some of these folks could be more aero if they raised their bars, since it would be easier to do things like ride with level forearms when the circumstances call for it.
Last edited by: HTupolev: Jun 25, 18 16:11
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Re: Road Bike Aero Questions [blueQuintana] [ In reply to ]
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In a typical road race you're spending most of the time either in a group and/or climbing, when aero isn't really important because of the draft effect or low climbing speed. The hoods position or tops position is best for this kind of riding as it's comfortable, powerful, stable, and it's easy to take a drink or look around. The only time you'll really be in the drops position is when you have your nose into the wind (leading the pack or on a break away) or sprinting. Most people train like they race, so you'll see a lot of riders on the hoods most of the time. If you want to race road bikes then it's important to train a fair amount of time in the drops as well, but quite a few roadies don't really race anyway, they ride for social/fitness reasons.

That's probably the biggest difference between people on road and tri bikes - pretty much everybody you see out on a tri bike is training for a race, whereas plenty of people out on road bikes don't race at all, or just do gran fondo type participation type events.
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Re: Road Bike Aero Questions [blueQuintana] [ In reply to ]
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Drops are mostly for sprinting and sometimes descending, as it gives a low position with ideal grip of the bars and good access to gears and brakes so it allows for very high power efforts and good control. Some also use them as an aero position but other positions are likely quicker. The forearms on the tops "Cancellara" position is fast but not stable. I usually ride with hands on the top of the hoods and arms pretty horizontal which gets me as low as a comfortable drops position with my arms a bit straighter (my setup has me too low to maintain with horizontal forearms in the drops. I do use them on fast descents and sprints but not for prolonged efforts).
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Re: Road Bike Aero Questions [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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I have the same experience. I can get my best position with hands on hoods arms parallel. But it takes more core muscle strength to hold compared to getting in the drops and using the arms to support the weight more. I can also get more grip in the drops in a low position, although shifting from the drops is "better" for me. So a lot goes into it.

In tri, having to use a road bike, it would all depend on a race. Sprints I might try to hold my best hands on hood position for 12 to 15 miles. Olys are probably too long for me and I'd be locking out arms in the drops. Anything more and I'd just be riding relaxed and realizing I'm taking a huge aero hit.
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Re: Road Bike Aero Questions [KG6] [ In reply to ]
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Of course if speed is important (you're trying to clock a decent time) the best solution is to get some clip-on extensions. There are some cheap one's available if it's for infrequent use.
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