My clip-on tri bar dilemma

griff99

Hello

Having bought a lovely new P-X SL Pro Carbon, I'm now contemplating replacing my old Profile Century aero bars. I have two criteria:

Firstly, the arm rests must be adjustable backwards. I have had my bike set up and in a natural aero tuck, I land with the middle of my forearms on the handlebars. So any bar which places the arm rests on the clamps is no good, as they need to be closer the elbows.

Secondly, I need a low position. I've found that most clip-ons give too high a position. Of course I could lower the handlebars, but this would render the drops unusably low. Ideally it would have the clip-on extensions themselves underneath the handlebars, like the Oval A710s (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Oval_A710_Aero_Clip_On_Extension/5360027746/).

It seems that there are no products that can fulfil both these criteria! The Oval A710s are nice and low, but the pads are fixed to the clamps. The Profile T2+ (http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=5814)has great backward adjustability, but looks too high. The Oval A911 modular system looks cool, but requires a special stem.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Chris

Bhima

If you lower the bars, the drops might not be usable, but the top part of the handlebars would probably be where the drops used to be, no? Then you can just grab onto the ends of the levers to be in the same drops position you have now:



As you can see, my drops go way below the top of the front wheel, yet they're still very usable for me. You'll be able to get lower with increased core strength (more low riding) and flexibility (from stretching) eventually, although lower is not always better.

griff99

Good point about the flexibility. But if I was able to "go lower", I'd probably want the clip-ons lower too, and so the cycle continues...

With the armrests for the tri bars just above the handlebars, I think the balance would be perfect.

rake

Bhima wrote:

If you lower the bars, the drops might not be usable, but the top part of the handlebars would probably be where the drops used to be, no? Then you can just grab onto the ends of the levers to be in the same drops position you have now:



As you can see, my drops go way below the top of the front wheel, yet they're still very usable for me. You'll be able to get lower with increased core strength (more low riding) and flexibility (from stretching) eventually, although lower is not always better.

they idea of aero bars is to tuck the arms inwards to make them less wide than the body so they dont create drag. your picture is pointless.

Bhima

Yeah, I know Rake. What i'm saying is that the position there is just as aero as the drops (if not better), so the OP can lower the bars and keep the same position when NOT on the tri bars.

TheStone

I find the T2+ nicer than the Century. I don't need the pads (plastic arm rests
are comfortable), but might still be too high.

Bhima, how can I get a signature/footer like that? Could help my aims for next year.

rake

Bhima wrote:

Yeah, I know Rake. What i'm saying is that the position there is just as aero as the drops (if not better), so the OP can lower the bars and keep the same position when NOT on the tri bars.

i undestand now.

griff99

I had a bit of an idea on this actually....

The "Oval A710 SCCS Under Only Clip On" (http://www.freeflowbikes.com/oval-a710-sccs-uncer-only-clip-on-3705-p.asp) is perfect, except that is uses the SCCS stem system rather than a conventional clip on.

But I reckon I could replace the stem bracket with the clip on bracket from the profile t2, and turn it upside down to put the extensions underneath the handlebars. Both Oval and Profile use 22.2 mm extensions.

Does that sound feasible?