I am having a heck of a time finding the perfect aerobar combo for my bike(s). Here is my deal. Essentially I train back and forth to work (25 miles each way) on a daily basis -weather permiting. (2 kids + wife = only training time available) I live in the city (Washington, DC) and thus require the following from my aerobars:
Has to be compatible with STI. Too many of those darn cars on the road. Bar ends are just not practical. When I race this summer - I will switch but the vast majority of time it will be STI.
I like the comfort of a traditional bull horn type base bar.
There must be room to put my hands on the “tops” or under the aerobar pads. I have several decent climbs on my courses and this is very helpful from a leverage perspective.
There must be sufficent room on the end of the basebar for steering. (ie the HED type bar is not an option.)
I like to teak the angles of the bar when possible. My aerobar pads must lay flat or slightly angled forward for me to be comfortable. It can have an integrated stem as I currently have my stems angled in a similar fashion.
Weight and the cool factor are somewhat important.
I would like to put them on a Cervelo P3 and my impending Kestrel Airfoil Pro.
I am 6’1.5" and have a longer torso.
With all of those factors in mind I have come up with 4 possible alternatives:
Hey there…I can’t comment on many of the combo’s/options that you listed, but I can offer some input on the Carbon Stryke’s. First of all…sorry, but they’re not compatible with the flip-up ZB armrests (a la the Air Stryke, which I used to use). They come standard with the F-19 fixed armrests. I have them mounted onto a regular drop bar (42 cm width) - they do allow me to stick my hands up on the flats, although near the outer curve. Of course, you do have a wide range of adjustability in the position of the elbow pads, and if you can find a set-up that works for you, it may grant you better access to the top of the bar. Also - I’m not currently using the (included) riser blocks on my elbow pads - they’re about 3/4" high, and would surely give you some additional wiggle room underneath. I can tell you that I do like them - they’re really solid feeling, and give you alot of options for tweaking your position. As for the base bar, my only suggestion would be to find one that has as much upward curve at the ends as possible - as long as the reach isn’t too long, you might be able to approximate a regular drop bar STI lever position, whereby the curve at the end of the base bar would take the place of the brake hood as far as hand position goes. Good luck, and happy and safe commuting!
I can’t comment on the VT’s but I use the Carbon-X’s (love them) on my tri bike and on my road bike I use a Kestrel carbon drop bar with the new Ironman edition Profile carbon strykes (Kestrel is one of the carbon bars that you can use aerobars with) with a flip-up armrest kit, thye are super adjustable and relatively light, the flip-up armrest kit makes a big difference and allows access to the drop bars. Plus they are cool
I have a similar commute/training plan and also live in DC area so I understand your concerns. On my bike I use a Syntace base bar and a Profile Airstryke with the flip up brackets. Having tops of the bars free for going up hill is a wonderfull option and I wouldn’t trade it away for other bars. It is also much a much more comfortable/stable hand position to use when you need to deal with traffic zooming past. Since you are using the bike to commute I think that being able to use the tops of the is a must have option and would lean towards the Profile bars.
I would recommend going with the Airwing and the CarbonStryke with flip up pads. Or if you want to spend just a little more than the cost of the Carbon X. Get an an Alumin X (its lighter than the Carbon X) for racing and an Airwing/AirStrike combination for commuting.
Deda Aeroblue works well with STI shifters, and is fairly light. I have one and run STI on the right side and a bar-end on the left. Two down sides to these bars are 1) they look strange and 2) you can’t use an aero water bottle up front.
