I entered my first event at the weekend. I had no idea my body could do the things it could and apart from throwing up just a little, I managed to finish it and have my first medal. Hard work, but fantastic and now I am hooked.
Anyway, during the event, I noticed a lot of people with standard road bikes with clip-on aero bars and I am keen to get a set of these for a number of reasons. I recently had a bike fit done and this made a massive difference to my comfort and power on the bike, but I am a little concerned that adding these bars would change the metrics and would mean I need to start tweaking. I have no big problem doing this, but being new to the world of road bikes, I am concerned I may f**k things up without realising.
Are there are guidelines going from standard bars to aero (clip-ons) or any suggestions as to what I should be adjusting?
The short answer is that you won’t know until you try it!
The vast majority of triathletes over, oh, let’s say, 30 years old all started out on road bikes with clip-ons. And most of us just put them on the bars and started riding. As you get used to them, you’ll naturally start tweaking things for aero/comfort/power as issues come up. Personally, when I first put clip-ons (Profile Aero II!) on my road bike, I went around the block a few times, swapped them to mount under the tops, tilted my saddle ever so slightly down from where it was, and I was done.
That said, here is a Slowtwitch flashback to a more professional take on how to set it up.
Do not put clip-ons on your bike. A road bike set up as a road bike is not compatible - position-wise - with full-length clip on aerobars. If you want aerobars on your road bike, you need shorty bars - http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Are_we_ready_to_Get_Shorty__435.html
You can do it, but as Rappstar mentioned you need to do it with the right kind of bars.
I like the Profile Design T1/T2/T3 a lot for doing this, they position the arm rests behind the handlebar and also fairly high above it. This can complement your road position well.
They are also super adjustable which is both a blessing and a curse.
Great, I am going to purchase a set of these http://www.wiggle.co.uk/profile-t2-plus-aerobars/ and see how I get on. I have just booked another event for 6 weeks, so should be able to get them installed and some time in the saddle for getting used to them.
Another suggestion: Vision Mini TT. I’ve tried several models and have been very happy with these on my road bike (only kind I have). A bit more expensive it seems, but worth mentioning in case you’re looking at different options. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vision-mini-clip-on-aero-bars/
To answer your question. No, in my experience don’t go messing up a good road bike fit to optimize use of aerobars. As Rapp said, use shorter bars and they should jive well.
And building off this. I think that the Profile Design are a good choice, but I would opt for running the extension under your handlebar and with the pads on top of the bar. Jon argues that the added height is a good thing, whereas in my experience, the added height is unnecessary and puts me too high when using a road bike with shorties. I only ride about 6cm of drop on my road bike, so your experience may vary.
I entered my first event at the weekend. I had no idea my body could do the things it could and apart from throwing up just a little, I managed to finish it and have my first medal. Hard work, but fantastic and now I am hooked.
Anyway, during the event, I noticed a lot of people with standard road bikes with clip-on aero bars and I am keen to get a set of these for a number of reasons. I recently had a bike fit done and this made a massive difference to my comfort and power on the bike, but I am a little concerned that adding these bars would change the metrics and would mean I need to start tweaking. I have no big problem doing this, but being new to the world of road bikes, I am concerned I may f**k things up without realising.
Are there are guidelines going from standard bars to aero (clip-ons) or any suggestions as to what I should be adjusting?
Thanks in advance.
Chris
I did that with my 1st roadbike after I got hooked on this sport; I eventually ended up installing a forward-set seat tube to move me up\forward & open up my hip angle.
Others have mentioned getting “shorty” bars to maintain your bit fit, also a good plan
And building off this. I think that the Profile Design are a good choice, but I would opt for running the extension under your handlebar and with the pads on top of the bar. Jon argues that the added height is a good thing, whereas in my experience, the added height is unnecessary and puts me too high when using a road bike with shorties. I only ride about 6cm of drop on my road bike, so your experience may vary.
I like the high stack of the pads on the profile bars for road fits because it tends to keep the minimum hip angle/back angle more or less the same as riding in the drops. If you aren’t running much drop in the first place, then lower pads might be no problem for you. You can’t really make a general statement about this, it’s going to vary depending on each persons fit and particular set up.
