HED aerobar mods

I just bought the HED aerobar and wanted to pass on some info on the modification to the extensions that I made. Right when I opened up the box, I realized that the extensions are WAY too curved upward. I have heard of others who have the bars and are disappointed with the extensions and looking for solutions. The extensions have two angled sections. I first cut the second angle off with the appropriate diamond hacksaw blade and smoothed and prepped the cut with fine sand paper. This cut removed the black anodized aluminum plug for the bar end shifter from the extension. This plug fits perfectly into a 7/8" collet. I then chucked the plug and collet into a lathe and turned the carbon down until all of the carbon and epoxy was removed. When finished I could still see some of the anodizing. Next I used CE211 two part epoxy and attached the plug back into the shortened (and more importantly) less angled upward extension. Let the epoxy cure, then measure and cut the straight part of the extension to length and voila! Nice and low HED aerobar extensions. Total time (not including epoxy curing) 1 hr.

I think that I did the same mod to my Oval bars (which are a cheaper version of your HEDs). Did it look like this? BTW, the steertube was shortened before the bike hit the road.

http://www.applepics.com/4/userfiles/4138b16468461.jpg

I like my bars short so I cut the long straight piece completely off and put the first part of the curve into the slot. This worked perfectly with only a slight up curve. I love the bar.

Interesting. Can you post a photo of the competed project?

swmrdrn

That seat angle looks painful!

What bars are those?

It looks ugly but it works. It is a result of the 73 degree seat tube and large drop from the saddle to the bars. My 36" sleeve length makes for some odd adjustments. Overall the rig works out fine… I had a 2:31 ride at 1/2 Vineman last month and nothing hurt.

The bars are Oval A800’s. I’m not sure if they are still in production. Basically they are Alu versions of the HED’s.

Where can I get some new replacement bars for my HED bars so I can do the modification?

Dan

I would contact HED directly. Their customer service has always been good to me.

Hed are doing replacement bars now…there was a 4 week waiting list about a week ago.