Clip on aero bars

dave milne

Hi,

am going to get some this year for a bit of tting. I have never ridden in a TT position before, is there anything I should consider before buying a pair?

Cheers

dave milne

Anyone? Last bump I promise

marcusjb

Just going through the process myself, so I am no expert - but here's what I found so far with a couple of months on them.

Getting the width, fore/aft and angle of the actual bars has been fairly straight-forwards. I have gone for ski-bend extensions for various comfort reasons (I can't imagine holding the position on a flat or S-bend extension for as long I will need to).

I dropped my whole handlebar setup by 15mm already - I may try lower.

Getting the saddle height and position has not been so straight forward. I am aiming for the 24hr TT, so whilst my experiences are probably on the extreme end of things, I am sure they are not uncommon. I suffered some pretty bad chafing on a 200km ride where I got to use the bars for some good long sessions.

So far, the saddle is around 3mm higher than it was before, and 5-6mm further forward.

I might try an in-line seatpost to get the saddle further forwards.

Other than the comfort issues, clearly your body takes some adapting to the new position - I've not had much pain in my back or anything, but the quads have felt a little ripped up with the slightly rotated hip position.

Takes some getting used to for sure. But the speed gains are there, even in miserable winter conditions.

supermurph09

dave milne wrote:

Hi,

am going to get some this year for a bit of tting. I have never ridden in a TT position before, is there anything I should consider before buying a pair?

Cheers

Dave fwiw, if you are doing "a bit of TT'ing" I'd just use your normal bike without the bars. Most advice I have had is that you can often find that the clipons will put you in a terrible position that may mean you are faster just on your normal setup. Do you really want to be messing around changing things around? I did a few 10 mile TT's last year just on my normal road bike and concentrated on getting quicker. Then if you really get into them a dedicated TT bike will most likely be the option. At the end of the day, its you against the clock.

dave milne

Thanks - so you think the bars themselves are relatively unimportant, it will be the tinkering with the bike position that takes time.

@Supermurph09, I thought 10% was used by some as the ballpark improvement you gain from position alone? I cannot afford a TT bike so this seemed the best gain/money ratio available

thanks, Dave

pitchshifter

Get as low as possible, its uncomfortable but the gains are massive. On the straights and assuming its safe, hold the top of handlebar near the stem and get down as low as possible.

Its much more fun beating full TT rigs on a standard road bike.

supermurph09

dave milne wrote:

Thanks - so you think the bars themselves are relatively unimportant, it will be the tinkering with the bike position that takes time.

@Supermurph09, I thought 10% was used by some as the ballpark improvement you gain from position alone? I cannot afford a TT bike so this seemed the best gain/money ratio available

thanks, Dave

I'd imagine if you can generate the same amount of power in your new position then maybe. My point is, the actually taking part in the TT and pushing yourself harder and getting faster each week will probably be as enjoyable. Remember with clip on's you'll still have to change gear like you normal would so moving around might actually lose you time. (same can be said for braking, although less of an issue).