Position Adjustment for Aerobars

cgfw201
cgfw201 Posts: 674
edited January 2016 in Road general
Hi,
Bought some TT bars for my road bike a year ago in the lead up to my first triathlon last year. Really enjoy riding on them, both for comfort and speed benefits. I now keep them on all year round.

I’ve shaved over a minute off my Richmond Park best to 17.30 on the bars and seen a number of other Strava PBs tumble thanks to the enhanced aero benefits.

However, riding on them on the turbo I notice that my power actually falls quite a bit when I switch to them from the hoods/drops, so I must be making aero gains that outweigh the power drops to see my times improve.

I find it more comfortable perching right on the front of the saddle when on the bars which puts a bit of stress on the nether regions. I know TT saddles are designed for this position, and I’m on my standard Romin road saddle, and I know a lot of aero bikes now come with swappable seat posts which allow you to ride further forward when on the bars for comfort reasons.

Was mainly wondering what other people do who have aero bars to optimise comfort and performance on them whilst avoiding any losses to standard riding position benefits. My bike was retul fitted when I got it and it’s super comfy and dialled in for riding in the drops in particular.

Tempted to shift my saddle to the front of the rails (its as far back as poss currently) to see how that goes for a lap or two.

Comments

  • The reach on a road bike is very often simply too long for a TT position on tri bars. You could try one of those seatposts, but it isn't going to turn your bike into something it isn't. Unless you want a pretend TT bike, you're likely to end up with an awkward compromise.