If you don't already have an aero helmet, get one. Making your cockpit more aero is not going to help very much unless the course is rolling and requires a lot of shifting; otherwise stick with what you have, save up to get a tri bike.

This article will give you a pretty good idea of where your time savings can come out from. Get into a good aerodynamic position on your road bike, aerohelmet and a skinsuit, and you're 70% of the way to being as aero as you can be (vs a road position)
http://www.cyclingnews.com/...res/how-aero-is-aero

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Chewie
Slowtwitch Aeroweenie since '06

Here's an ST discussion from a while ago where a few people in similar situations had tri cockpits on road bikes and said it worked well... http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...dreadnought;#1813922

In terms of being more aero than a regular road bike set up, I have no idea.

For $100 you can buy profile design fast forward seat post. A tri store will tell you that 5-10 years ago, they sold 300 of these per season but now much less as more people own tri bikes. This device approximates tri bike geometry by moving you forward. Benefits are better position which save run muscles while on the bike. You will lose a bit of bike handling but not a great loss in a straight ahead, steady speed situation. Then you have some one fit you properly for each seat post + seat position --- pretty important since you need to be comfortable to ride aero. doctorU

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Such a Bad Runner

My experience trying to run a forward position on a road bike (Kestrel) was that I lost more than a bit of bike handling and it was scary trying to ride in a pace line during my weekly group ride.

I was able to run my Soloist with a forward position and the difference wasn't that bad, but it was noticeable.

Bike geometry has a lot to do with how big of an effect the change makes. A bike with a short rear-center and longer front-center will do better at this. YMMV

This is my current project, an abandoned Triumph lugged road frame (in very good condition, actually) with an improvised aero cockpit, a home-welded seat post, and old GripShifts on the aero extensions. Nearly done now, this photo is from a while ago. Total cost will be around €25.





The fit is remarkably good so I think it will be a fast bike. Should be amusing to overtake the carbon brigade on it.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

I did the same thing with an old Nishiki, too bad my picture from my cellphone sucks... Had a metal works guy bend the seat post. Clipped on some aeros and got some bullhorns. Rides really well...

Nice job Jamma. We need more pictures of improvised, budget tri and TT bikes on this forum, not the exotic CF porn that people are so fond of throwing their money at.....

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

I'm currently building a budget tri bike from a buddy's old road bike. We'll see how it goes, I'll try to get some pictures up when it's done...

One potential downside with a road bike frame is head tube height (too tall). You can buy an inexpensive (less than $30) adjustable stem on ebay. These allow as much as -60 degrees so you could keep your existing roadbars and clip-ons.

Here's one example, for integrated headsets:

http://cgi.ebay.com/...;hash=item439ebc47cc

I have that Ritchey adjustable stem, and it works very well.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX