Several people have been experiencing a malfunction with the Zipp Aeropad Wing Extensions.
The bolts connecting the wing to the aerobat are shearing. This seems to be when the pads are connected at the widest setting on the extension, presumably causing too much leverage.
From my own experience this has been when going over a bump and not necessarily a large one. It has happened twice in a couple of weeks to me and another forum member posted that his dad had them fail in a race very recently. Another member had to ride 23 miles on the bars because of this issue too. A couple of others had them fail in training. My arm rests did not fall off, I just heard the bolt pop and then was able to spin the armrest on the remaining bolt.
The second time the bolt had sheared inside the thread so could not be removed. The guy who drilled out the bolt said it seemed extremely soft. I would recommend anyone with these extensions getting some very good quality bolts and consider not using the extensions on the widest setting. For those who are using them on 3T bars, 3T came out with their own more integrated version, which are part of the aerobat extension set up rather than simply bolted on. No bolts, no break.
Hopefully this helps avoid a potential training hiccup or worse. Image of the Zipp and 3T versions are below.
If you are using them with 3T bars I also included some differences between the two (after images) as I just swapped mine out.
https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com
The bolts connecting the wing to the aerobat are shearing. This seems to be when the pads are connected at the widest setting on the extension, presumably causing too much leverage.
From my own experience this has been when going over a bump and not necessarily a large one. It has happened twice in a couple of weeks to me and another forum member posted that his dad had them fail in a race very recently. Another member had to ride 23 miles on the bars because of this issue too. A couple of others had them fail in training. My arm rests did not fall off, I just heard the bolt pop and then was able to spin the armrest on the remaining bolt.
The second time the bolt had sheared inside the thread so could not be removed. The guy who drilled out the bolt said it seemed extremely soft. I would recommend anyone with these extensions getting some very good quality bolts and consider not using the extensions on the widest setting. For those who are using them on 3T bars, 3T came out with their own more integrated version, which are part of the aerobat extension set up rather than simply bolted on. No bolts, no break.
Hopefully this helps avoid a potential training hiccup or worse. Image of the Zipp and 3T versions are below.
If you are using them with 3T bars I also included some differences between the two (after images) as I just swapped mine out.
- The 3T are a one piece aerobar extension holder and also armrest extension holder. No separate bolts to break.
- The Zipps are reversible, bringing the armrests slightly fore or slightly aft depending on which way round you mount them, the 3T are forward only.
- The Zipp armrest extesions angle down from the bolts, effectively reducing stack by 1cm or so, depending on which holes you mount the armrests. The 3T versions are more horizontal.
- The 3T hole pattern is such that you can angle the armrests inwards or have them pointing straight ahead. I am not sure whether this is intentional, the packaging indicates that the armrests will point towards the shifters to make things more comfortable but I noticed that the bolt holes matched up if you angled the armrests straight forwards as well.
https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com