Shoes are coming out with all kinds of great foams, but cups still come with neoprene or other foams that go flat after a few months. When will we see TPU (Boost) or PEBAX (ZoomX) for arm cups? Surprised we aren’t seeing this application yet.
Zoom X foam on cups should yield a $200 price for pads if keeping up with Nike pricing, but will be 4% faster.
Will they be 4% comfier ?
Silca has it in bar tape. Maybe he’s working on it already. Biggest issue is so much variation in pads I would guess
Silca has it in bar tape. Maybe he’s working on it already. Biggest issue is so much variation in pads I would guess
If it’s easy to trim, they could just provide sheets of it.
I would welcome the comfort and longevity of these new foams.
Silca has it in bar tape. Maybe he’s working on it already. Biggest issue is so much variation in pads I would guess
If it’s easy to trim, they could just provide sheets of it.
I would welcome the comfort and longevity of these new foams.
I’ve been wondering the same thing and would definitely buy some sheets of Nastro Cuscino to try out. Has Josh ever weighed in on this possibility?
That would be great. Just needs to be a bit thicker and have a velcro layer on the bottom. Regardless of compound, 3.75mm probably won’t be enough
That would be great. Just needs to be a bit thicker and have a velcro layer on the bottom. Regardless of compound, 3.75mm probably won’t be enough
Profile Design makes 10 mm and 5 mm pads for their ergo and race cups. I have the 10 (which come standard) but have been planning to order some 5 mm to get a bit lower (I’m slammed up front). From all I hear about the magic of PEBAX maybe 3.75 mm would be plenty.
I had the 5mm pad on the race cups. It’s plenty for that because of the tight arm wrap. Not sure if I would find it comfortable on cups that aren’t as curved. 3.75 might be enough for some cups, but maybe not others. 5-8mm would be a pretty safe range across the board.
PEBAX probably wouldn’t make a very good material for arm cups. You don’t really want energy return (a high damping coefficient is preferable).
The complaints about existing armrest foams (beyond stack height) seem to center around the open cell foams taking on compression set. That’s primarily because cheap, open cell, foam is being used in most cases. There are a lot of better foams out there that could solve this (basically any running shoe foam in a soft enough durameter), so solutions have been readily available for years but the aerobar industry probably figures the extra cost isn’t worth it. There have been some aftermarket attempts (CeeGees, Fizik Gel), but they haven’t gotten a lot of traction.
Good points. I would say CeeGees have some traction, but their 15mm pads dont lend themselves to modern ergo cups. They are working on a new 7mm formula, which I look forward to. The Fizik gels were dangerously slippery, so those didn’t deserve attention.
I know energy return isn’t something you need for pads, nor is that the goal (or a negative since they’re under continuous compression anyway). Pebax foam seems soft enough for pads and should last longer than EVA based foams, no?
We’re living in the land of $15k bikes but still get crappy pads
Good points. I would say CeeGees have some traction, but their 15mm pads dont lend themselves to modern ergo cups. They are working on a new 7mm formula, which I look forward to. The Fizik gels were dangerously slippery, so those didn’t deserve attention.
I know energy return isn’t something you need for pads, nor is that the goal (or a negative since they’re under continuous compression anyway). Pebax foam seems soft enough for pads and should last longer than EVA based foams, no?
We’re living in the land of $15k bikes but still get crappy pads
Love my Ceegees but if I could get similar comfort with 10mm less pad stack I would take it in a jiffy.
Rich.
You’re in luck! They should have something soon.
I asked Josh at Silca about Nastro for arm pads and this was his response (which he said I could share):
“Thanks for the note and yes, we’ve thought about making arm pads, but the tooling costs are just way too high to make it realistically work… the downside of this foam is that it’s really expensive to tool up for, and it’s also very poor in abrasion/wear if it’s not coated with something else, so there isn’t an easy way to just get or make sheets of it. Anyway, I’d love to hear how it works if you try to use the tape in this application… The Cuscino at 3.75mm thick is remarkably shock absorbing and probably would work rather well in this application if you can get it fully stuck down… the 3M adhesive we use is super aggressive, but only covers a 6mm strip in the middle, so probably will have to use a sheet of adhesive on the armrest to get it fully stuck down.
Thanks so much for thinking of us, and let me know how it works for you.
Best
Josh”
I’m likely to get some new tape for my base bar before the start of the season anyway, and that’s a pretty small area which would leave me lots left over to play with. I’m tempted to give it a shot and see if I can DIY something that’s comfortable and low profile. Now if only they made it in fluro yellow…
cups still come with neoprene or other foams that go flat after a few months.
I’ve never experienced this, certainly not after a few months. Your foam pads are depressing that much after a few months? What pads have you been using?
I’ve had that experience with PD, the flat TriRig pads, and 3T. Of those three, the 3T lasted the longest but still started getting flat spots. “Few months” is an exaggeration, but if I angle my arms slightly (less than 5 deg), then most of the weight goes on a reduced area on the pad. I do all of my training in aero and usually weigh around 200 lbs, so that might exacerbate it too. I’m now trying some D2Z pads to see if neoprene will be any better.
Gotcha, well I agree that flat Tririgs pads are terrible. I found the 10mm Ergo PD pads or 15mm Cee Gee pads to last quite well and I’m within 5-10 pounds of your weight. Just something to consider!
Gotcha, well I agree that flat Tririgs pads are terrible. I found the 10mm Ergo PD pads or 15mm Cee Gee pads to last quite well and I’m within 5-10 pounds of your weight. Just something to consider!
Note that our “flat pads” from the old Alpha Classic have been discontinued for a couple years. Everything we sell now for both Scoops and our Ergo Cups, features our textured neoprene pad, which is much improved in durability, grip, and overall comfort. I just want to be sure that any readers of this thread don’t confuse what you’re comparing (a years-old discontinued product) to what we actually sell now. Thanks!
Correct. I was referring to the older pads. Worst cup/pad I’ve ever used. The new ones are a significant improvement.
I like the flat race pads of my Alpha X! The flat carbon plate is another layer of road vibration absorption. I thought it was a fine design. Hopefully I will be able to find replacement pads on Amazon or something…