Should i consider aero bars for my road bike?

I'll take the other point of view and say you don't need the aero bars.  I don't think you have time to get the bars and get used to riding in them before the race.  It took me almost a year before I felt totally comfortable and could hold the proper aero position for 24 miles.  Here's an excerpt of an interview with Brett Sutton, Chrissie Wellington's coach and coach of a lot of other top ranked triathletes:

"But when it comes to gear. Chrissie is riding the gear I believe she rides fastest on. I think she'd be closer on a P2. I've told (Cervelo's) Gerard Vroomen she's on the right bike when they wanted to change her out. I've sent the aerobars back when everybody's sending me aerobars to make her go faster. The only place you use aerobars is Hawaii. Hawaii suit someone who's got no great bike skill. Chrissie doesn't get downhills really well, and we're re-aligned her with drop bars for Germany so she can go down a hill, around a corner, and do it with confidence. But in Hawaii, she'll be on time trial bars.

I don't care what they want to tell me about what happens in a wind tunnel. I think there are maybe three girls that are faster with aerobars, full stop, in the pro ranks. And the rest are wasting three or four seconds every turn, every gear change. "

Here's a link to the whole interview: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Brett_Sutton_Interview_Part_2_459.html

I agree with him.  I don't think aerobars give most people the boost they think they do.  If you can't hold the aero position, they won't do much good.  However, the do look cool.

Ernie

here is my other question....more to do with an aero position and not the aero bars.

will getting me in a more aero position help me with my runs?   i realize the geometry isn't the same for aero position for a road as it is with a tri bike.   but does adjusting a road bike to a more aero position help the legs for running as it does a tri bike?

well my logs aren't really up to date and real accurate.    but ya i'm a beginner, should that really be a reason to not change?

what if i had bought a tri bike from the start and not a road bike?

I'm a beginner too but just added aero bars to my older model road bike.

Right or wrong, one of the main reasons I added them was for comfort. My palms would get numb on longer rides (as I liked to ride in the 'low bar position') and the aero bars helped very much. I'm glad I did.

I'd also wait until after your Sprint to make a change.  

I put aero bars on my road bike shortly after getting the bike.  I'm still getting used to them, but I definitely get an overall benefit from them, and expect more as I'm able to stay in the aero position for longer and longer.

One surprising benefit to me was that except for the steepest hills, I climb faster in that position.

Yeah, you'll get more out of just putting more miles in, but why can't you do both?  I don't see any reason why.  On my longer rides, I can't stay aero the whole time, but I'm able to stay aero more and more as I work on it.  And I'm still getting time in the saddle...

I think adding aero bars 1 week before your first race is a mistake.  After the race if you feel compelled to get aero bars why not but I would focus more on building a good base and figuring out what type of riding you intend on doing the most.  If you already know that you will not do much group riding then go for it.  I found that I enjoy group riding more than I ever thought I would so aero bars don't give me much in that area.  That's not to say that you couldn't do group rides with aero bars on.

Bottom line is that putting the bars should do no harm as long  as it is not the night before a race so if you have the $ why not put them on.  Can't quanitify a gain in speed and they probably won't help your run since you aren't changing geometry but your bike will be faster.

As far as the aerobars; if you have the money and take the time to ensure they are setup well on your road bike, there is no reason not to get them.  I had aerobars on my road bike from the time I decided to get into the sport.

As to running better, the research that says you run better off a tri-bike is spurious at best.  IMO the reason people think they run better off a tri-bike is because they are able put forth less effort to go the same speed (or faster) than they do on a road bike.  As a result, the run feels easier as they have paced the bike easier.

Shane

I think your wife's experience is why the base matters.  Being comfortable on the bike takes longer for some people.  I lent my old road bike to a coworker and took her on a short and slow 10-11 mile ride the other day.  She pretty much never took her hand off the drops to ride the hoods, and I don't think she shifted at all. She also felt nervous on the mild downhills that tried to take her mph into the 20's.  My road bikes both have aerobars, and I didn't take them off for her, but I wouldn't have put them on for her if they were not there already until she is more comfortable on the bike.  And I think that will come more with riding more, aka building a base.

Fair enough.  Although I think that the more one rides (which will of course build the fitness/aerobic base), the more comfortable one will get with their bike handing overall.  And you are right - the issue of a learning curve is absolutely going to apply to everything - I think of getting the rhythym of distance swimming, or more universally, driving a car and getting the comfort/skills set down. So I suppose it's possible to have the fitness/endurance down, but still get spooked by downhills, or aerobars, or whatever.