The trek guy that got 2nd also had aerobars

Nope, not trying to be funny. He is serious.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

He needs to get fired :-)

Personally, I think the safety complaint is overblown...it's really about "looks" IMO.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Having ridden DK 3x, I don't think the safety concern is overblown at all. I'd like to see them banned but the rules are quite clear that they're currently allowed at DK.

Can't argue with first-hand experience. What safety issues have you observed? Are people riding them even when not at the front of a group?

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

In my opinion, if there's a guy in the race that is stupid enough to cause a crash because he's using his aerobars in a dangerous situation, that guy is stupid enough to cause crashes in 100 different ways. It's not the aerobars that makes him dangerous.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

THIS.

Much like "you should never use a TT bike at a LBS group ride"

- it really, REALLY matters HOW and WHEN (if at all) you use them, and your ability to do so safely.

My LBS has a Wednesday Night Worlds sorta ride, and all the regulars have zero issues when I show up on my P5.
Because they know (or "new to me" riders soon find out) that I only use them when safe to do so - which, frankly, is pretty rarely in a group ride, but still.

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float , hammer , and jog

I'm going to go with lets allow the aero bars in the race. If a guy can solo off the front, after tting for 20+ miles to catch up after a flat, isn't most the race a time trial for him anyway? And I would bet that a lot of folks end up on their own in this race, so probably more than half time trial, more than half the race. Like the swim/run races allowing paddles and buoys, I think it is part of this type of race to have as few rules as possible.

I really hate when rules are made for just a couple people out of the 1000's that participate. I would imagine there is a ton of crashing happening at this race, probably most of it while on the road bars. I don't want swims cancelled or shortened because a few might not make it, or be comfortable, and I would not want aero bars eliminated for the same reason at most of these gravel races...Safety can be taken too far sometimes, and suck the fun right out of these extreme events..(and disc wheels in Kona too..(-;

the guy that won the 350, jay petervary, he's been racing gravel longer than most here knew that gravel racing was a thing. he represents the vibe better than anyone (of any talent level) who moved from road to gravel last year or the year before. i would abide by whatever jay says. whatever that might be. (i don't know.)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Jay uses aero bars on his Salsa.

I’ve seen many more people crash in the lead pack on slick tires than on aerobars. In fact, I’ve never seen a crash in a race that I would attribute to aerobars. Should we ban slicks too?

What about riding on tops if you don’t have brake levers there? Ban that?

Edited to add that I think most people are against aerobars because they don’t like how it looks. The truth is, the vast majority of the population thinks we all look like the cycling in the Liberty Mutual commercial. Aero bars are a tough call because they can be a huge comfort benefit for MOP and BOP riders who are by themselves all day. Banning them is a bad thing for the race because it makes for a harder day for the people just trying to finish. Those are the people that I think race directors need to be catering to the most.

They are also a huge benefit to the FOP riders that use them, and a deficit to those who don’t. In this way, banning them is actually a good thing to keep things as equal as possible for the riders trying to win. I wonder if some races should make aerobars like wetsuits at Ironman races where water temps are high. At Ironman, you can wear a wetsuit but you aren’t eligible for a kona slot or podium. Maybe at DK you can use aerobars, but aren’t able to podium if you do? Just a thought

Some body mentioned the aero penalty of the flat number plate mounting. The race staff said that a 30 minute penalty or DQ would be given to any riders who modified, folded, or wrapped the race number around the head tube.

Just because van der Poel cleans the barriers doesn't mean it'd be a good idea for me to try. There are lot of guys like Guitar Ted and Dan Hughes who have been at it a long time. Aerobars are allowed at DK is because it was inspired by Trans Iowa, which wasn't so much a race. The DK promotors don't want to start putting a lot of rules in place beyond basically <sic> don't be a jerk. But what you have now are many more people on the course from the early days, and with mixed skills and approach.

While I agree with "if a guy is stupid enough to crash in his aerobars..." it's also a fact that if riding in them in a pack or near other people then he IS a risk to those around him. It happens, so leaving the choice up to the individual and expecting they'll make the right choice doesn't always work out. I won't go so far as to say aerobars are dangerous but whether it'd be safer without them is a no-brainer, IMO.

Here's another little nugget that'll make people lose their sh*t: at CP2 apparently the Trek guys pulled out a "gravel disc wheel" and tried to put it on Stetina's bike (he waved them off).

A gravel disc-disc? That actually kind of funny considering the width of the tires...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

This was my first DK. I ran aero bars, but would like to see a rule in place that doesn't allow them. I got to see the back of pack use them first hand.....ugh....

I started at the front and dropped my chain the instant we hit the gravel. And a 2nd time 2 miles later. Needless to say I was DFL out of 1300, chased back all the way to the front at about mile 25, then proceeded to crash ruining a kit, helmet, and ribs in the vehicle ruts in the first nasty section. Everyone remembers that...and I drove it the day before so should have been more careful. 6 flats later I pulled the plug at mile 133. Still physically strong, but sick of begging equipment off others.

How many times I saw folks using aero bars when they shouldn't have been doing that? A lot. In the middle of groups, odd rough spots. Didn't matter. It's of course not ideal, but maybe not the end of the world either. I rarely used mine because the dang course is so rough....ha!

Also my first real big race with 1x. Wow.....how sweet it is. I don't know if my bike got kicked around at the start or what caused my drops, but I run RX with 11-40 and a 50T "drop stop" Wolf Tooth ring up front. Never had a lick of issue until Saturday....of course. In the physical shape of my life and unable to use it...darn.

The one super rocky decent and climb....I'm not sure I've ever ridden any sort of terrain like that ever. And I did it on a skinny tire bike. Pretty proud of myself :) Not proud of the result, but still an epic day.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

I’m invoking your post here as my answer to your post just above (to me). Nobody riding DK on a team should get a vote on aerobars.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Well then... I guess he chose for us 🚴🏻‍♀️

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Yeah, but they're a danger amplifier.

Aero bars as comfort *benefit*? I could see a really practiced, dialed in aerobar position as being comfort neutral. But if it's more comfortable than a road position, I'd think something is wrong with the road position. Maybe I could see it has a comfort benefit to give you one more position to cycle through, take some of the vibration out of the hands for a while.

At that time of day, it was a quartering tailwind for nearly all of the way from CP2 to the finish, so I think the aero gurus were thinking of the added "push" rather than frontal drag savings.

Aerobars have been a part of off-road, endurance riding/racing for as long as I can remember. Look at the DKXL, (the old) Trans-Iowa and Tour Divide - aerobars are a staple among those riders. Not necessarily for aero, but for comfort in LONG events. It seems the "controversy" started when a few pro road, MTB and Cross riders showed up and bitched about them. Well if they don't like it, they can go back to their artificially controlled race courses and sit in a peloton for 99.99% of the race (btw- road races are becoming boring as crap).

I'm 64 years old, and aerobars are more about comfort for off-road events that are over 5 hours. I have done two DK 200's and numerous 100 mile gravel events. Sure there are times when I use them for aero purposes, such as leg 3 of the 2018 DK 200, but most of the time they offer relief to hands, arms and back toward the end of a long day. During the first few hours of DK I never use them, as I'm being sucked along in a massive draft pack. However, after 4 or 5 hours, it thins out quite a bit, and there are plenty of opportunities to use them safely.

Interesting that he has (or what looks like) a Stages power meter installed, yet on the Allied website for the bike it states "Some power meters with pods on the insides of the crank arm (think STAGES) will not fit"

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

The best fit in the world doesn't do much to the pounding the hands, arm and back take when riding 200 miles of gravel, low maintenance, B roads, washed out roads and jeep trails. 40mm tires don't give too much relief to the pounding. I have been fitted, and I can ride my gravel forever on pavement. Take it off-road, and the aerobars are about comfort - especially after 10 hours of rough roads.

Yes. The primary purpose of aerobars is to allow the rider to support weight at the back of the forearm, which allows weight over the upper body to be supported without bracing the arms and chest. In TT/Tri this is primarily used to make a very forward posture practical, but it can be leveraged for comfort as well, as it allows you to loosen up the upper body. It also removes weight from the hands... I had a friend who threw aerobars onto his bikepacking MTB last year after suffering serious ulnar nerve damage in a multi-day ride.