Has anyone seen the VT base bars or have an ETA of arrivai?
Pretty interested in a set for my Merlin.
Thanks,
fal7
Yes! Ordered them on 4/15 and recieved/installed the whole setup (Base Bars/Clip Ons/Brake Levers) on the wifes bike last week! If you are not in the service area for Tom D’s shop and are not averse to using internet/mail order, then Excel Sports has the base bars in both 40 and 42 cm in stock as of last Thursday!
http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=2&vendor=VISION
I was able to finish the installation while it rained Saturday afternoon and the next morning, everyone was oggling Chris’ setup commenting on how light/well designed the Vision Tech stuff was! I am even tempted to get them to replace my Cinelli Angel integrated aero bars on my TT bike but I tell you what, if Vision Tech introduces an integrated version of this - I am going to be all over that!
Incidentally, something to be aware of - I did not have a vernier caliper to measure the actual inner diamters, but it seems to me that the Vision Tech base bars inner diameter at the ends of the bull horns is smaller than other bars (profile air wings in this case). I originally ordered the parts from Colorado Cyclist but the arrival date for the base bars kept getting pushed so I ordered them from Excel. I received the clips ons and base bars followed two days later by the brake levers. While waiting for the brake levers, I decided to mount the base bars/clip ons on the wifes bike but quickly discovered that the inner diameter was too small for the Diacompe BRS aero brake levers she had been using with the Profile Air Wing base bars! Since I expected the brake levers soon - incidentally, those one-finger design brake levers are the coolest thing I have seen in a long, long time - I was not going to mess around trying to make the old brake levers work! The Vision Tech levers use an external clamp making installation that much easier.
Michael
Michael:
You ride/run at Bear Creek Park? I live off Eldrridge and go there often. If so we should meet there and ride. By the way is your wife Kim?
regards,
Mike Viator
You ride/run at Bear Creek Park?
In the past I have done the bike leg for tri relays and I have also raced in the Houston marathon twice - this weekend will be my first shot at doing the whole enchilada having spent the majority of my adult life competing in USCF Cat 1/2 road races. The wife - her name is Chris - will be doing the bike leg for an all woman relay tema as her knees (too much running during her college days) prevent her from doing the whole event - well that and she seems to think she would do a pretty good imitation of a rock on the swim!
As for riding, actually I find the roads at Bear Creek park to be pretty poor so unless pressed for time, I do not ride there very often. Since most of my time is spent riding, runs are conducted either around the neighborhood or more likley on the treadmill at the gym since it is easier to control/repeat intensity/intervals and the scenery is pretty good as well. During the week, you can normally find the two of us at the picnic loop at Memorial park either Tuesday or Wednesday evenings (weather dependent).
Michael
I saw the Vision Tech setup down at WF last weekend.
Absolutely sweet setup. The basebar/clipons setup together look/feel like a one piece, I actually though that it was for a little while till I noticed the clamps. Bueatiful setup. It all really seem like top notch.
We got a bunch of them, sold through them, and got 15 more pairs coming. Right now we have about four pairs of the base bars in stock and a ton of the aerobars.
They are excellent. A viable replacement for Syntace since the guys at Magura haven’t been too good about answering their phone- Magura is the new Syntace distributor and we have yet to be able to actually get them on the phone, so we bought Visiontech instead.
Oh, Cancel that- We just got a HUGE!!! box of the base bars in…
Come and get 'em! All sizes in stock.
Tom;
Is it possible to buy from you via mail order? I live in TX and would like the bars in 42 if at all possible. Also it appear as that only VT levers will fit the bars. Is that correct? If so would need a set of those as well.
Many Thanks,
fal7
P.S. Did you get the Concept D rowing machine?
Give Mike Aderhold a call at (313) 278-1350 and he will get your order out today. Base bars are $79.99 and aerobars are $79.99 now to slowtwitchers (we got a good deal since we bought TONS).
-I didn’t buy a rowing machine yet. I need a new roof, and siding, and a new bathroom and new garage and…
Also it appear as that only VT levers will fit the bars. Is that correct?
Note, when I changed my order with Colorado Cyclist after ordering the base bars from Excel sports, the customer service rep at CC was nice enough to remind me that the Vision Tech brake levers they were about to ship to me were proprietary - would only work with the Vision Tech bars! Here is my take - the clamp on the brake levers is expandable and will probably allow the levers to work with base bars that have a slightly larger outer diameter than the Vision Tech bars. At the time I was installing the stuff, I had the base bars and clip ons in hand but I was kind of in a hurry and did not feel like filing/grinding either my wifes new base bars or the old aero brake levers (Diacompe - same as old style cane creek) in order to make them fit. Others may have a different experience, but it did appear to me that with the right tools (dremel or bench grinder) that it would not take much to make the Diacompe brake levers fit with the Vision Tech base bars. Seeing as we each have separate road and TT bikes and the Vision Tech brake levers were due in the next day or two - that would have been more work than was warranted. I will reiterate that the Vision Tech brake levers are very, very cool (asthetically pleasing) and due to the length of the lever, it truly only takes 1 finger to operate!
Michael
I think you can only use the Visiontech brake levers on Visiontech bars (not sure though…) but I am CERTAIN you can use other brake levers on the Visiontech bars, such as Diacompe 188s, which we have already done.
-Works perfectly!
Hey Tom - I just recently installed a set of Cane Creek 200TT brake levers on a VisionTech aero base bar - it was a little tight, but they installed just fine. It almost seemed that the coating/finish was making the hole just a bit snug - a bit of twistin’, and they went in o.k. You wouldn’t happen to have a set of the VT carbon clip-on’s (250 mm; 26 mm clamp), would’ya?
Tom-
I have the stock Syntace base and clip ons on my P3. Would the VT be considered an upgrade (in regards to aero, fit, etc) or just more of a lateral swap? I would like a one piece but don't want to pay and was wondering if this was a viable option.
Could I email you off line?
Thanks,
Ed
Tom;
Just ordered the bars. Thanks very much for the help and service.
fal7
Houston TX