My 11 year old son does road cycling and wants aero bars. The intention is to practice with the bars occasionally and then use them once or twice a year for TT’s. He has a youth road bike now (26inch wheels) but will upgrade to an XS adult bike next year or the year after.
Any thoughts on what to buy? Looks like some bars come in different sizes, some have regular vs “miniâ€. It’s not easy figuring out what might work best. And them cost. $23 on Amazon vs $200? Big difference?
Thanks in advance.
I had some short clip on tri bars which were good if you didn’t change seat position, but I’ve seen plenty of youth riders use full size longer tri bars on road and track bikes, usually they just push the seat forwards for tri bars.
Give it a year and he’ll want a tt bike!
I’d recommend some highly adjustable bars like the Profile Ergo, since he’ll be both dialing in a position and growing. I’ve seen the Ergos for $109 on Amazon. The $30 bars are “ok” but are generally flimsier and of lower quality design/construction. A good option if he wants to try out the concept cheap, but if he likes to use them you’ll want to upgrade.
As mentioned, there are the “shorty” bar options for road bikes that ITU racers used to use. They are designed as a more areo position on a road bike, rather than for a true TT position.
Full clipon bars on a roadie:
Shorty bars:
