Is it me, or totally retarded that aero bars can cost so much? Bars are close to a grand or more. I am shocked at how much they run, and wonder if any age grouper would seriously buy them. I worked at a store to buy my bike and equipement. I would never pay retail for anything, so I wonder how many of you also think it is crazy high.
the vision bars are arguably the best and can be hand for under $200
bars are only expensive if you want them to be
Is it me, or totally retarded that aero bars can cost so much? Bars are close to a grand or more. I am shocked at how much they run, and wonder if any age grouper would seriously buy them. I worked at a store to buy my bike and equipement. I would never pay retail for anything, so I wonder how many of you also think it is crazy high.
What’s left to gouge?
It was bound to happen…and in many ways, deserved.
The next step would be an integrated front end (i.e. Cheetah, Giant). It will happen…hang tight a year or so.
I just went through this same thinking. I was going to buy one of the Hed bars, but $1000 for aero bars is really ridiculous. I couldn’t convinince myself (having had expensive carbon cockpits before) that it was money well spent. I bought my Vision Tech base bar, and aero bars for $180 new off of ebay. Tektro carbon levers for $25. I am sure that set up is like a 1/10 of a second slower than the Zipp or Hed bars over 40k or something though… :).
I mean 1k for aero bars? Sometimes I think it’s like we invent stuff to waste our money on. SIGH
if you coughed up another $60 for the vision brake levers
it might be faster than the hed setup
=)
I just went through this same thinking. I was going to buy one of the Hed bars, but $1000 for aero bars is really ridiculous. I couldn’t convinince myself (having had expensive carbon cockpits before) that it was money well spent. I bought my Vision Tech base bar, and aero bars for $180 new off of ebay. Tektro carbon levers for $25. I am sure that set up is like a 1/10 of a second slower than the Zipp or Hed bars over 40k or something though… :).
I mean 1k for aero bars? Sometimes I think it’s like we invent stuff to waste our money on. SIGH
Probably. Couldn’t do it though. I had the VT brake levers before and couldn’t deal with the rattling. Yeah, I know how to fix it, but I just don’t like the idea. Nothing worse than a 5-6 hour ride with two rattling levers! I had the Bonty’s last year and loved the return spring. Great levers as well, but $25 I figured the Tektro’s were worth a try. I am building my new bike on the cheap :).
Definitely like the looks of the VT’s better though. Now if they could/ would just update the darn things to include a return spring to help with the rattle!
well if you can get over having some tube over the vision levers you are all set!
you could also take a grinder to the tektro levers to reduce their frontal area…haha
Recommendation #2 is a bad idea. It’s been tried.
Chris
Good for you! I mentioned earlier that I worked at a bike store to provide the discount and funds to pay for my addiction. I wish now, that I had rethought some of my stupid purchases. One of the reasons I stopped working was so I could train, and live my life. I worked all week, then on saturday wasted 8+ hours working for $8 an hour to save money on a tribike. When I could have bought the same crap from here and saved even more money. I bought vision carbon bars for roughly $300, and I love them, but would never do it again. I would just go with the alloy versions.
I agree that I think people just think of ways for us to blow our money. I am starting to think more carefully about what is media and what is worthwile. Training smart and hard will always outtrump the expensive aero stuff in my book. I just hope I don’t see anyone with this crap on their bike in a race as I pass them.
Fastest bars =
Deda Parabolica Uno ($85) clip-ons
Profile Design T2+ Wing ($40)
Trip to the A2 wind tunnel (flight, rental car, etc) + 1 hour in the tunnel - $800
= $950
Faster than any $1200 set of bars. Why do people pay $700-$1200 for bars that handicap your ability to be aero by having little adjustability??
Shhhhhh…
Agreed…I almost popped for the pricey Zipp bars…opted for Vision…
.
Is it me, or totally retarded that aero bars can cost so much? Bars are close to a grand or more. I am shocked at how much they run, and wonder if any age grouper would seriously buy them. I worked at a store to buy my bike and equipement. I would never pay retail for anything, so I wonder how many of you also think it is crazy high.
The development costs and molding costs for carbon handlebars are no different than 1 size of a carbon frame or fork. Sure you can shortcut development costs and save money, but the article isn’t showing the budget bars, it’s showing the bling.
FSA/Vision and Felt among others have taken steps to produce affordable aluiminum versions of their bars. In the case where the shape is the same, the wind will have no idea what material it is passing over.
People pay huge upcharges for aluminum spokes over stainless steel ones. Why do you suppose this is?
Your argument can be applied to nearly every consumable product in the world’s capitalistic market.
-SD
Vision tech base bar $25 NEW
Hed Flip Lite aerobars $100 USED
Tektro Carbon levers $25 NEW
I was able to get these at the prices listed used or new and was able to get a pair of the 3T straight extensions for about $30 USED
I was also sent a pair of the Easton Attach TT armrests for free. I can mount them directly to the flat area on the basebar and have a very low and aero set up.
I think this is one of the most aero set ups that you can get and it did not cost much.
Dave, your aluminum bar is quite rounded and thicker than say Vision’s aluminum base bar or other basebars I’ve seen. I know Zipp said they made the Vuka more rounded to allow for slight tilting without effecting FA/aerodynamics. Is this the case with the new Felt aluminum bar or was the more rounded and slightly thicker basebar a matter of balance between other factors like strength/ease of manufacturing/ease of use/adjustability?
Also, the carbon bar on the Felt website looks a bit trimmer, is that the case?
Thanks for any insight you can give. The new aluminum bar is definitely an easy system to setup and comfortable as well.
I have similar rattling problem with my new VT brake levers. Annoying as heck. Can you provide a bit more detail on how to solve that?
Sure, just use the search button at the top of the page. This has been covered quite a bit.
Dave, your aluminum bar is quite rounded and thicker than say Vision’s aluminum base bar or other basebars I’ve seen. I know Zipp said they made the Vuka more rounded to allow for slight tilting without effecting FA/aerodynamics. Is this the case with the new Felt aluminum bar or was the more rounded and slightly thicker basebar a matter of balance between other factors like strength/ease of manufacturing/ease of use/adjustability?
Also, the carbon bar on the Felt website looks a bit trimmer, is that the case?
Thanks for any insight you can give. The new aluminum bar is definitely an easy system to setup and comfortable as well.
The alloy and carbon bars are pretty much dimensionally the same. They are designed with a higher stall angle so that they can be tilted upwards, but also designed so that the extenions can fit a great number of other manufacturers so if a hand position other than STRAIGHT, Ski, or “f” bend is desired, if can be had. The caveat is that these handlebars will need to be trimmed to fit 97% of the people that buy them. Just like a new fork needs to be cut to fit the frame.
We leave the extensions extra long because they contain all 3 of the currently favored hand positions used by most consumers. To get these hand positions correctly sized, the material used for the other 2 options not selected need to be trimmed off.
So:
Pick One.
Cut Two.
Viola!
-SD
Probably. Couldn’t do it though. I had the VT brake levers before and couldn’t deal with the rattling. Yeah, I know how to fix it, but I just don’t like the idea.
Jeez. Take a dab of bearing grease and squish it into the bushing while squeezing the brake lever. Repeat once a year. No rattles. Takes 2 minutes. It isn’t that damn difficult!
I agree on the aerobars…I have a VT basebar, VT levers and Fliplites. Basically the same weight as the $1000 setups and cost me about 1/4 as much. I can’t figure out why you would want something with an integrated stem that prevents you from adjusting your position.
I can’t figure out why you would want something with an integrated stem that prevents you from adjusting your position.
because it should be lighter and more aero
except the ones on the market aren’t
and usually you have a water bottle or something up there in the way of the stem anyway
.