My girlfriend has a Felt S22 and hates the one piece Profile tri bar for climbing and descending. She also is uncomfortable at speed on these bars. Would putting regular road drops on it improve handling and confidence? What would the disadvantages be other than aerodynamics? I heard that some ITU guys do this…Sounds a little funky though…
Thanks
Spindogg
“The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare” - Juma Ikangaa
Dan has a good article on the why and how of handlebar selection on steep angled bikes.
I’m going to assume that your wife has a 650c wheeled Felt S22 which has a 78 degree seat angle. The Profile bars have a pretty substantial drop and may have her feeling too low. This can be an issue on the climbs and she may benefit from a more upright posture in the base bar. I think practice and a good fit will get her more confident on the aerobars.
ITU Triathletes have to use drop bars per ITU rules. Some IM riders use drop bars as well, but for the most part, steep seat tube riders are on cowhorn/aerobars as they suit the frames design.
-SD
"Would putting regular road drops on it improve handling and confidence? "
Yes. And joining a roadie group and learning bike skills wouldn’t hurt either.
Sounds like your girlfriend should be on a road bike. They handle, climb and decend better than a tri bike. Plus the drop handle bars give more options of where to place your hands doing these things. Tri bikes are specialized for limited purposes and should only be a second bike IMO. Get rid of the Felt and get something like a Giant TCR or Cervelo Soloist as a suggestion.
Here’s the article that SuperDave mentions. It explains why drop bars on a tri bike won’t work.
Tri bikes are twitchier and even Dan has noted that it’s best to start of with a road bike until you learn the handling skills. In fact, a tri bike isn’t always the best. Consider Lessing’s win at IMLP this year on a Soloist in a road position. Tri bikes work their magic on flatter courses. The equation changes on hillier and more technical courses. For road racing, group riding or draft legal tri, forget them altogether.
I’m going to assume that your wife has a 650c wheeled Felt S22 which has a 78 degree seat angle.
The real issue is how your wife feels about you spending $ upgrading your girlfriend’s bike!
Hi,
I am a novice cyclist and complete two – three ½ IMs per yr. I average about 18 miles / hr during the bike section. I’m interested in buying Zipp 404s for my bike but have been told that I may not get a lot of additional speed from the Zipps given my mph is low and Zipps tend to benefit more in the above 22 mph range. Someone suggested perhaps trying the zipp 303 or HED Alps which are better suited for slower riders (17-19 mph). Is this correct or would Zipp 404s still be a good investment. I’ve also heard to stay away from Zipp 303 due to quality control issues?Thanks.
The best thing about regular drop bars is that you can put those multicolored streamers in the ends…really looks cool at speeds over 3-4 mph! 
As someone said, it depends upon the headtube length as to whether this is doable or not.
According to Dan, putting drop bars on a tri bike is a Mortal Sin. But Dan has had a couple of those himself. The handling of my old Kilo should get him at least a few years in purgatory. Those old Kilo's over 60cm with 650 wheels; burn, baby, burn!
Of course you can put drops on your girlfriends S22. If the head tube is too short don’t stack up a bunch of spacers, get a +/- 10 degree stem. That should give plenty of height if she needs it.
My wife used to ride a Cannondale road bike with drops and a Syntace with bar ends and a Thompson setback seatpost flipped around to put her at about 77 degrees. Last year she got a Kestrel Talon that was built by Kestrel. It has the same seat position but came with a base bar and Profile Carbon Strike. We do a lot of steep climbing around Woodstock NY and she could never get comfortable on it. I just finished installing drops with Syntace. Now she should be comfortable again. For you doubters, this is the setup that got her to Kona.
I ride with guy around here who trains on a old ti QR from Dan’s era with drops, STI and a Syntace. He races on and old Private Reserve with a base bar and bar end shifters. He goes to Kona almost every year.
It really shouldn’t be a problem. Aerodinamicly, Vision Teck used to show on their websight that it makes almost on difference. Have a good time doing the conversion. Take the CarbonX and put it on your bike. I have one and love it. Don’t listen to these guys. The worst advice is to tell her to suck it up. She’d probable suck it up right over to a new boyfriend.
Now Tibbs. Don't go laughing at someone else's set up. We saw the way you have your seat and bars.
Good, let’s see
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Yes Tibbs…let’s bite the hand that feeds us and pick on thise riding in tris with drop bars on, say, their Softride Powerwing. Let’s do that style man. And even though a month ago I swapped out that set up to try a pair of Cinelli Angels I’d still change back to the old style and have you and your shiny new Style bike a go at any race of your choosing. No Tibbs we should not pick on people who like different…if we did we would have to pick on Greg LeMond for using clip on aero bars in a Tour TT when everyone else was not. In the words of Carlito…dats not cool.