Tri bars worth the money for time trialling??

Tino4444

Hi all,

I am looking at ways to get faster on my 10 mile TT's that I have started doing. over a 10 mile course with quite a hilly route I managed a time of 29 mins and 4 seconds which is okay but looking at other peoples times of sub 24 mins I wanna get faster!!

I am thinking of getting some tri bars to fix onto my spesh allez 09 road bike, but are these bars that much better than using normal drops and could they contribute to knocking some considerable time from my TT's?

Are there any other upgrades that I could make to my bike that would potentially give me more of an edge without spending a fortune?

Thanks,

Tino.

Mettan

For a flat-ish TT , yes use clip-on Tri bars and a fast forward seatpost - postion, and training in that position is vital for TT'ing. It's the position that the bars and steep seat-angle allow you to get into that gives you significant aero-savings when going at ~ 25-30 mph or whatever.

Personally, I'd get:

Clip on Tri bars - ~ £40-50
Fast forward seatpost - ~ On Ebay 2nd ~ £20-30
Pointy hat - On Ebay 2nd ~ £30

And then 3-6 months regular training in that position, will see you good.

andrewgturnbull

Mettan wrote:

For a flat-ish TT , yes use clip-on Tri bars and a fast forward seatpost - postion, and training in that position is vital for TT'ing. It's the position that the bars and steep seat-angle allow you to get into that gives you significant aero-savings when going at ~ 25-30 mph or whatever.

Personally, I'd get:

Clip on Tri bars - ~ £40-50
Fast forward seatpost - ~ On Ebay 2nd ~ £20-30
Pointy hat - On Ebay 2nd ~ £30

And then 3-6 months regular training in that position, will see you good.

Agreed!

One caveat - fitting a forward seat post and tri bars to a road bike will move your weight distribution significantly forward. I can recall losing the back wheel around fast corners on two occasions before I bought my TT bike.

<- The TT bike (Cervelo) in the picture here had the back wheel tucked forward right under the saddle, so that when my body is further forward the handling is still neutral.

Cheers, Andy

Ps I'd advocate tri bars for hilly TTs too.

Tino4444

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Mettan wrote:

For a flat-ish TT , yes use clip-on Tri bars and a fast forward seatpost - postion, and training in that position is vital for TT'ing. It's the position that the bars and steep seat-angle allow you to get into that gives you significant aero-savings when going at ~ 25-30 mph or whatever.Personally, I'd get:Clip on Tri bars - ~ £40-50Fast forward seatpost - ~ On Ebay 2nd ~ £20-30Pointy hat - On Ebay 2nd ~ £30And then 3-6 months regular training in that position, will see you good.

Agreed!One caveat - fitting a forward seat post and tri bars to a road bike will move your weight distribution significantly forward. I can recall losing the back wheel around fast corners on two occasions before I bought my TT bike.<- The TT bike (Cervelo) in the picture here had the back wheel tucked forward right under the saddle, so that when my body is further forward the handling is still neutral.Cheers, AndyPs I'd advocate tri bars for hilly TTs too.

Cheers for your input I will purchase a set soon.Tino.