I got one of these new FSA Visiontech shorty clip ons. First, off, hats off to FSA Visiontech for actually having this product. The Profile one is only so-so and few other companies have a retail-ready product for this niche market of shorty aerobars for road bikes.
My second impression: Yeah, these are short. FSA Vsiontech says they are 170mm in the instructions but I measure a total length of 200mm to the rear of the aerobar extension. I don’t have any road miles on these yet, but I have a suspicion I might want them 1.5 cm longer for my taste… That said, these have got to be ITU legal and won’t protrude past your STI or ERgopower levers.
FSA Visiontech did an excellent job of getting the pads low. They are absolutely bottomed out. In my opinion, that is what you want in shorty aerobars for a road bike. The elbow pads are the FSA Visiontech “Micro” style pad which is small but very, very sturdy and very comfortable. We were using this pad frm older Visiontechs to make our own versions of FSA Visiontech shorty aerobars- now you can buy it in a retail store.
The cool little bell and whistle is a weird little airfoil shaped thingy that goes between the aerobars at the tip. You can rest your thumbs on it. This makes up for the shortish length of the aerobars since you have somewhere to put your thumbs and rest your hands as opposed to using your entire mitt to grab the aerobar extension.
The bars are shiped in 31.8 clamp diameter with some pretty nice shims to bring them down to 26.0. Now, mind you, “pretty nice shims” is an oximoron in my book. I don’t like shims. The rest of FSA’s aerobars are currrently sold in either 26.0 or 31.8 dedicated bar mounting diameter- no need for shims. I like that much better. Shims smack of a half assed attempt to make everything work for everybody- and that doesn;t work for anyone. That said, these are the nicest machined shims I have seen.
So, in general, these are the best hing going in shorty aerobars right now until Hed and the others get the elbow pad issue sorted out once and for all. I like the Hed “S” bend much better than the feel of the FSA Visiontech and I have a feeling the Hed’s are lighter too, but you have to do some improvisational engineering with your elbow pad configuration. I don’t mind that on the Hed bars until I have to re-wrap my handlebar tape. On the FSA Visiontechs it is more streamlined and production/retail ready at this point.
bike shop owner, traveling semi-pro triathlete, internet message board guru, indie rock legend, and uncanny richard m. nixon impersonater, it is truly unbelievable! sooooo many talents … my jealousy grows.
Tom, Is this the new pad design from Hed? This design looks different then the round pads on Hed’s website. I’m looking for some clip-ons with low pads for a road bike but the fsa shorty looks too short and uncomfortable for long distances.
That is what we were doing also. I guess the benfit here for retailers is that it is ready to go, fits both handlebar diameters (which is frankly lost on me) and has the admittedly very cool little “wing” spoiler at the front.
If I get time I will shoot a photo and get it up on the forum. No promises.
Tom, have you had a chance to check out the new aero bars from pedalsoft? They seem like a great option, and a well thought out integrated design, for those of us on road bikes needing a shorter aerobar set-up. Price seems super steep though.
Ok, I think the Visiontechs shorties are pretty sweet, but the Heds will probably be useful over a larger spectrum. What I can’t understand is why Hed can’t finally clear up the confusion about their pads. Everywhere you look you find different pics of Hed cliplites or aerobars with different pad assemblies, they should really do a better job of keeping their website updated with that kind of technical info.
I made my own midsize bars by cutting down my Syntace SL so that just the straight section was left and then attaching their new Microlink. http://www.syntace.com/02_produkte/detail.cfm?artid=785 That thing is pretty sweet, although I did have some issues getting it to fit on my bars. Nonetheless, it feels nice when riding in the aero position. And of course with this custom setup I get to enjoy the comfy Syntace pads, hmmm!
I would love to see a low profile version of the Syntace bars, with the pads almost even with the bar tops. With the existing design either the aerobars are in the right location and the drop bars are too low, or the drop bars are in the right location but the clip-ons are too high. I guess a design like the Heds are my best bet right now.
I don’t like the sound of the Pedal Soft setup… some warming on the trisports.com said something like “not for everyday training use…” If I can’t train everyday on them, why the hell would I want to race on them?
Anyways, have you (or anyone else out there) gotten a chance to try out the new Syntace XXS shorties?
