ride it every other day for a while, and if you don't start getting used to it within 3 or 4 days, adjust the position to be less low, or adjust the angle or width of the aerobars to see if you can find relief.

---

---

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

+1 ride it every other day. when I changed to the much more aggressive position I'm in now, I rode every other day, albeit slightly abbreviated distances, but pushed the speed as much as possible.
I found then as I do now that a 3rd brake lever on the extensions allows you to scrub off a little speed when needed, and stops you from having to sit up and draw your hands back to the base bar. For me, it was a great way to keep myself in the extensions as much as possible during the adjustment period and sure enough, 2 weeks later, I was acclimating nicely and never looked back.

---

........................
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org

Cycle related blog entries, including a few 5 minute reviews:
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org/category/cycling/

Have you been properly fit to your new bike in a proper forward position? If not, this would help to answer why you are feeling discomfort. A good fitter will get you comfortable and get you in a position you will not mind staying in for extended periods of time. Coming off of a road bike and into a proper tri bike could be part of it also.

Plus one on the fit. I made the switch from a road bike w/ clip-ons to a tri bike last year and was surprised by the difference a good fit made. There is also an adaptation process, but I suspect once you're fit properly to it, you'll be amazed at how much longer you can stay in the aero position.

---

------------------------------------------------------------
The beatings will continue until morale improves

Good ideas. Will plan on it. If I have a long ride planned at the end of the week would you split the time between the 2 bikes or try to do all on the new one?

---

COtrimom

3rd brake lever? How do you set that up?

There are 3rd brake levers made for just such a purpose, like this one (forgive the crap picture quality)


and you use a splitter, which allows either brake lever to actuate the rear brake, albeit with the brake lever on the extension having slightly less leverage than a standard one,
like the one pictured here:


The setup adds relatively little weight, but does add a nice measure of control, and works well to reduce the number of times I need to come back to the basebars...

---

........................
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org

Cycle related blog entries, including a few 5 minute reviews:
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org/category/cycling/

See if you can race a local 30K or 40K TT to get used to racing on the new bike.

---

Park City Condo Rentals
http://www.traverseridge.com

You need a good fit and time in the saddle. Try to make your head/neck as relaxed as possible and only use your eyes to look up, don't continuously lift your head. It depends on the person as to how long this will take, some people feel great instantly but others may take a few months to get accustomed. You should be able to spend the whole ride in the aero bars without issues (aside from steep climbs).

---

_________________________
I got nothing.

If you're neck and shoulders are sore, your aero bars are probably too far out in front. Check that your elbows
have close to a 90' bend. With a 90' elbow (and your biceps roughly perpendicular to the ground) - you will be supporting
your upper body with your skeleton.

If you are 'chasing the bars' with your elbows in front of your shoulders, you are supporting your upper body with your shoulder muscles
and will have tightness exactly where you are describing.

.

---

" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

Just been through the same process, I too thought 'oh, crap'. The lack of control, the less 'throwable' front end, back of your neck feels like you have bricks on your head. I thought I was going to be Cancellara aboard my new ride but quickly discovered that would not be the case.

It didn't take long to settle in, I also found that not 'fighting' the aero position helped. By that I mean relax your body into it. Regular 'look ups' with your eyes rather than raising your whole head helps avoid some neck issues. I also adjusted the aerobar width, which made a big difference.

I was 'fit' prior and after my bike purchase but found that an hour + out on the road was different from the odd 2 minute stint on the fit bike. To that end I raised my front end a bit more than I was fit to, that got me used to the position and as I become more flexible I can start to drop it down again. That was probably the biggest difference that mede me go from panic to enjoy mode with the new purchase.

Worth the time and effort though and I found i had some meaty gains over my road bike / aerobar combo.

---

https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

How busy was the area in which you were riding? I find that if I'm in a highly trafficked area I tend to crane my neck to see up the road and fatigue a lot faster.

Also, buy some sunglasses that don't have a frame across the top and you can look further forward with less head lift because you're not trying to see under the frame.

Wow good point on the area yes it was a busy two lane highway. My husban bought me the same Oakley's Crissy Wellington wears but your right I found the top bar of them was in my way as well.

On the other posts, I'll check my elbow angle as my arms and forearms were shakey afterwards which tells me I am probably not 90 degrees. The fitter told me to ride a couple of times so I'll take tomorrow off and go again tuesday and see how it feels. I'll keep an every other day schedule. If it isn't better I'll likely have them raise me up a bit.

One last question...does it make sense that they didn't want to wrap the handle bars until I had ridden it a few times to be sure the fit was good? It was really strange not having any tape on the bars which probably also had me tensing up.

---

COtrimom

Everyone else's advice is really good. I would also add that if you have an indoor trainer, try putting in some time on that as well, so that you can develop the muscles you need without stressing about traffic and stuff...

---

-------------------------------

“He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances” David Hume

Personally, I never use tape on the aero extensions (there's no weight on your hands, and you're not doing any cornering/braking); I just wrap the basebar extensions.

Unless you're going to swap out bars there's no reason no to wrap them; extensions are typically cut down (if needed) from the back, not the front. Any non-adhesive tape could easily be reused as well.

---

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

Also try to use frameless glasses such as the Oakley Zeros - saved me a lot of neck and shoulder pain.