In the first picture he's holding more proximally on the bar in the region of the bend. His shoulders and back are significantly higher than in the second one in which he shows a more crouched position and is holding the bars more distally on the flat section. Which is one of the advantages some posters have commented on, i.e. fore and aft position variation.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

Geezus Tom...


"Does an "S" bend result in an overall lower drag coefficient and smoother boundry layer with smaller vortices? "

- would you honestly be able to respond to any kind of factual answer to this question, and could you actually explain how boundary layer effects relate to the question of arm/hand position as a component of rider aerodynamics?


"How will an "S" bend be affected as wind yaw angle/vecored wind speed change throughout the riding envelope. This is tough to test for since few wind tunnels have the capability to induce yaw angles beyond 15 degrees."

- Please tell us how often riders will typically encounter these yaw angles; also, please explain the test data commonly available showing drag numbers on bicycle products at these higher angles. Please differentiate between "can't test for" and "don't bother to test for."


"I have a hypothesis on this one: "S" bends will result in higher power numbers per heart rate at lower cadences..."

- What, exactly, is this particular metric expected to be indicative of?

" ...on an indoor trainer only. In the real world I hypothesize that they will not produce better power numbers than ski bends. Additionally, I hypothesize that power numbers will drop off as the duration of the test becomes greater with "S" bends, but will remain more constant with ski bends. "


- Huh? What a load of utter nonsense. There are, what, 20 pictures of riders with "s-bends" on this thread? How many of them are riding in the same position? Which one of those positions are you talking about? What exactly is the magic, intrinsic quality of S-bend bars that sucks wattage out of rider's legs? How is it that despite the wide variation in application and positional variation in application of the S-bend type bar, one can logically expect to see any normative difference in wattage outputs across a population? What does any of this have to do with heart rate? What, exactly, on god's green earth are you talking about?


"Now, those are just three factors that I could brain storm some investigative protocols for. One I just pulled out of my ass..."


You're pulling all of this "out of your ass."

Why can't you just leave it at:

"Now, I will assert that "S" bends are not better for most people. They are not. I think ski bend aerobars are better for most people. By better I mean more comfortable, safer, even faster because of the previous two reasons. "

I can even agree with this.

It's all the ridiculous hocus-pocus, quackery, and totally "pulled out of my ass" tom-foolery I can't stand. It's getting really old...



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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

I don't think he usually rides with that many spacers. He is a local pro and I think that may have been his setup for the worlds toughest half.

My sincere apologies if I missed this, but is it possible Tom just meant that it's not a great position for your anatomy? Faster or not? I can promise your wrists don't like being like that, but whether it will ever make a difference is another question. I guess the ex-Kona lead-packers turned CPAs will tell us when they are 60 years old. ;)

"My sincere apologies if I missed this, but is it possible Tom just meant that it's not a great position for your anatomy? Faster or not? "


That would be a reasonable statement, and, as such, is most definitely not what he wrote.




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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. It's embarrassing to read the above paragraph.

"You clearly don't know what you're talking about. It's embarrassing to read the above paragraph.

-
Paulo Sousa "



... which is what I should have written, rather than the poor attempt at politik I made in my response to the same post.


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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

The idea behind S/R-bend aerobars are improved aerodynamics and improved power transfer, no comfort. The idea is that you can pull up more on an S-bend and generate some more leverage and thus can get more power into the pedals. Looking at what's been done in the wind-tunnels, I'd be inclined to agree with both of these points. Comfort's a personal issue. Tour de France riders don't make their TT position/gear picks based on comfort, since they're riding relatively short distances and not that often on their TT bikes. Someone aiming towards longer course Tris has to be concerned a bit more about comfort, for the longer ride, and the ability to run off the bike. I ride a ski slop style bar, and find it quite uncomfortable, but I think it's the bars more then the style. I'm planning to try both an R bend and a ski slope bar when i pick up my new aerobars and decide which I like better.


Adam

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Adam

Euro-Sports.ca/The Foodery Team member

I just pulled the s bends off......going with Vision j bends..

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I shall never misuse Rex Kwon Do
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice

I would have to agree with you , I absolutely love them.
I have Vision- Tech R-Bends. Having previously swapped out my previous "traditional" extensions for the "R-Bends".

I would immediately support the argument that "they are definitely not for everyone".
Additionally I would even go as far to say that if I was to adjust my , fore/aft position , or have had them on my previous bike , I would probably be uncomfortable and resort back to traditional extensions.

Previously , I was holding my "traditional extensions" , at the curve (where they start the incline) and based on that , took the gamble to give the R-Bends a try , pretty much expecting to revert back to the traditional extensions.

Well , nine months later I am still in the same position....and very comfortable.

I am an average AG'er as well.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn