Recently I have seen some Pro level triathletes using drops with a clip on aerobar. What is the advantage of this over the traditional bullhorns? I’d imagine that aerodynamics and weight would be a drawback to this.
Helreigel comes to mind. According to the Vision tech site there is no real large significant aero advantage of basic bullhorn/clip ons over drop bars/clip ons. Wieght between the two would be not that much different. It’s only the expensive one piece bars that offer an aero advantage.
It would be my assumption though that the pros would and could use the more expensive one piece. Given the option between the one piece aerobars and the drops with a clip on bar what would the advantage of using drops be?
The only real advantage I see to drop bars are the high-low positions for hilly, wet, and/or technical courses. They give you the high-on-the-hoods position for climbing and the low-in-the-drops position for tight turns and technical descents. Cowhorns and integrated bars only give you one “outboard” position.
Setup like this is what people are using in ITU (draft legal) events.
A lot of top racers use a road setup with clipons for a hillier venue. On a flat course, you’ll see 99.9% one-piece aeros.
I think as Dan pointed out in a previous article last year on the bikes at Kona that alot of Europeans tend to ride more traditonal geometry road bike/drop bar setups with shorty aero bars. I noticed this alot when watching IM Germany recently even with the Euro pros.