Calling TT'ers: Clip-On Aero Bar Question

Duncanandthemachine

Hi folks,

I did (and enjoyed!) a few tt's last year am am planning quite a number more across this year. Ultimately (assuming I make sufficient progress) I'd like a dedicated TT bike, however the first stage in this is to buy a pair of clip-on aero bars from my road bike.

My question is, what is the main reason for the different shape of bar extensions - Most manufactures seen to do S Bend, Straight, and Ski bend, along with various other combinations, is this simply personal preference (in which case I'll get down to the LBS and try out a few) or are the other reasons for these variations?

Cheers

markos1963

In a nutshell yes.

fleshtuxedo

Getting your position right is very important for maximising your TT performance (as well as boring hard things like training of course). The different bar shapes help you do this. I'm switching from straight ones to ski bends this year to get more of a praying mantis position. High hopes, but it's trial and error really....

NickHu

I read somewhere about aero advantages of one type over another but it all sounded a little tenuous to me when you're clipping them on to a road bike.

I did a similar thing a couple of years ago and I think the most important thing is to make sure you buy some that keep you fairly low at the front. Some of those clip ons raise you up quite a lot. I went for some Pro S bend ones where the extensions run under the bar and the pads are on top to reduce the height. Problem with them is though that the height is fixed so they aren't that comfortable as the bar to pad height is just a bit to great and not adjustable. However I was just doing 10's so I just put up with it. Worth considering though when you purchase.

Also make sure your bars are going to be ok with clip ons - some carbon bars aren't recommended for clip ons.

dawebbo

It may be worthwhile looking into getting an adjustable stem as well to get the right drop when on the aerobars. That way it's easy to swap between tt and road set up.

markos1963

dawebbo wrote:

It may be worthwhile looking into getting an adjustable stem as well to get the right drop when on the aerobars. That way it's easy to swap between tt and road set up.

+1 made a big difference to setting up the bike. BBB do one for about £30

Monty Dog

Fitting a shorter, adjustable stem will help a lot in getting the right position on a road bike IME - try 1-2cm less than your regular road stem

Duncanandthemachine

Cheers for the advise guys, I've already got a shorter stem on my good road bike than on the training bike, so I'll try and borrow my mates turbo again and spend a bit of time working on my position. I seem to remember seeing a good guide on here a few months ago.

I'm also sure there'll be a bit of a second hand trade in different shape extension bars too!