Here’s my new front end:
Looks great right? Compared to my old set up:
But it just isn’t working out right. The pads are at the same height and I used to feel like I could lay there all day. I didn’t even have to hold on. Now I feel like I’m falling off the front of the bicycle and I have to grip the bars to keep from going over.
What’s wrong here? Is this the way these bars should feel?
Are you sure they’re at the same height, hard to tell from the picture? It certainly looks like they’ve ended up a LOT further back so your weight distribution will have changed.
THe end of the extensions will not only put your wrists at an angle that may rotate your forearms downward, but they are also lower relative to the pads. So it would appear that you would be opening up the angle at your elbow. That may make it feel like you’re sliding forward.
I hate to be the one to ask, but if you liked your old bars so much then why did you change them? Aero bars should be comfortable, and it’s not easy to find ones you like, but it sounds like you had them. Why mess with success?
“Are you sure they’re at the same height, hard to tell from the picture? It certainly looks like they’ve ended up a LOT further back so your weight distribution will have changed.”
I shortened them up by one inch because I felt stretched out with my hands lower and I thought that maybe that was what was pulling me forward, but I still feel like I have to grip the extensions or I’ll go right off the seat and over the front. It’s fine when I’m just sitting there but pedelling seems to pull me forward. Never felt that before?
GearGrinder, right now I’m asking myself the same question, but it’s winter and it’s a good time to tinker and see if you can come up with something better. I loved the feel of the CarbonX since I first got it but the set up it clunky. Also those wings for the pads break off about every other year. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll probably use the T2 hardware with the CarbonX extensions, but I want to try this since the experts are saying that “S” bend are at least a few seconds faster over 1000 miles 
Could it just be the lack of bar tape?
I had Vision Pros…j Bend…I just added Profile T2 Carbons…I rode 40 today…first ride with them…the are going to take a bit of getting used to…but I am liking them…yep, a little uncomfortable at the wrist…but not too…
1 - look at the pads, they look like they’re right over your stem now, before they were a lot farther forward
2 - the new pads look like they sit a lot lower than the old ones.
That’s just what I see from the pics…
I had a pair of profiles, and what they did was put the arm pads on the other side of the clamp. That might help you get the pads in the same spot that they were in before but shorten up the amount that you are extended. Just an idea because it looks like the pads came the whole length of the stem back towards the saddle.
Matt
The pads are deffinately further back and they are each about 1cm closer to center than before, but I don’t see that causing he problem. I always krept up onto the nose of teh saddle under hard riding but now I want to go right off the front.
My guess is that the lower extension height (at, say, the shifters, where your hands normally rest) is much much lower now. There’s your culprit. Maybe try tilting the T2s a tiny bit up.
It’s a no brainer. Forget about fashion and go back to what you were using before. I was OK when switching to T2’s from my Syntace C2’s, but if I hadn’t adapted then would have swapped back immediately.
You might feel like you’re slipping forward because the actual hand contact point is lower now. Perhaps mount the bars so that the rests are below the base bar (as some people here on ST have done), and then you won’t have such a negative drop. It might feel better, and at least it’s worth a shot.
what VanCityJ said…judging by those pics the pad position is hugely different, you shouldn’t ignore this.
if you use the pair of risers from the stock T2+ kit you should be able to replicate your previous pad height. if you move the mounting bracket closer to the basebar (like jammed up against) and attach the pads to the bracket using the rearmost holes you should just about be able to replicate your previous cockpit length - not quite, but close.
in doing this however you’ve dropped your hands even further in relation to you elbow so it likely wont alleviate your “falling off the front of the bicycle” feel - but at least your upper body (from elbow up) will be in it’s familiar position. now if you’re not comfortable at this point you need to assess if s-bends are really the right extension type for you…
Looks like the armrest pad position changed on the new set-up. Looks like your positioned further behind the basebar now. I tried out the T2s last year and never could get used to them. They’re just not for everyone out there. They do have that “cool” look factor going for them though. I’d say go back to what works for you.
No, doing that would put the bars at an even lower horizontal plane with respect to the pads.
I suspect your issues lie with a lack of proper weight distribution on the bike, that could have been masked when you were using your old bars.
really, you should be able to ride by resting your elbows on the pads without holding the aerobars at all, if you feel like you’re slipping forward it could be because e.g. your saddle is not horizontal, making you slip forward, or that you are using something like a forward seatpost that would destabilize the weight distribution from what it’s geometry is designed for. It’s hard to say without looking at the whole set-up, and preferably with you on it.
I would say yes it might be as simple as that. Huge difference in the grip and feel between tape and no tape.
Ric
Here’s the latest set up. Up until this morning I was riding it on the trainer. As soon as I took it outside I realized that pulling everything back was a mistake. I pushed the extensions back out to 78 cm from the seat tip. Felt much better. I didn’t have as much “falling over he front” problem outside and after about a half hour I didn’t notice it at all. I like having my base bar higher, 1 cm, and I don’t notice the pads being 1 cm closer to the center at all. It most definitely looks much cleaner than my old standard CarbonX set up. Feels good and with a few adjustments I think I’ll have it.