clip on aero bars

Clip on aerobars can fit onto a regular road bike handelbar or a bullhorn. your elbows rest on an armpad and your hands go on the extensions.  if you do a google immage search you will see

Not a stupid question at all!  Those questions are the ones you don't ask IMO. 

Clip on aero bars are bike upgrade components basically.  They can be installed on bike handlebars to get into the aero position you mentioned.  After getting installed correctly (bike fit adjustments) and a few practice rides, they are supposed to make you more comfortable and faster overall during a bike segment of a race.  And since they are upgrade components, they can also be used when building bikes from scratch.

Are you thinking of getting them?  =)

No question is a stupid question!

While many triathlon or time trial handlebars have integrated aerobars others are simply composites of "pace bars" and attached aerobars.  Aerobars can also be affixed to the drop bars on road bikes to add the aero position as a option. 

Because I had a decent road bike when I began triathlon, I've been holding off on buying a new tri-specific bike.  In the interim I have added aerobars to my bike to allow me to ride in aero.  I have also had my bike refitted to adjust my position to a more aggressive triathlon position making it a defacto tri-bike.

Hope that helps a bit!

"Clip-on aerobars" are extensions that bolt to the front of existing handlebars to enable the rider to rest their elbows on elbow pads and their hands in a forward position like a downhill ski racer.

While originally seen on the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) bike of Pete Penseyres the original patent was granted to Boone Lennon when he worked for Scott USA in the mid 1980's.

So-called "Clip-ons" don't actually clip on to anything. They attach with a series of bolts and clamps that vary in design from brand to brand and model to model.

A key concept is the understanding that simply bolting on the aerobars to an existing road bike may not make a rider faster. In fact, it often makes them slower.

In 1987 a man named Dan Empfield recognized this problem with "clip-on" aerobars and, with a man named Ralph Ray, designed a special bike intended for use with aerobars. This special bike was called the "Superform" and was effectively the first triathlon bike, "built from the handlebars back" according to Empfield in 1987.

New riders frequently install clip-on (or more correctly, bolt-on) aerobars on their road bike and are disappointed with the results. Instead of going faster they find their bike feels unstable and "too twitchy". They may have difficulty looking up the road comfortably and their steering is changed by the aerobars. For these reasons we frequently see posts on internet forums with subject lines like, "Used aerobars for the first time- WENT SLOWER!"

The key thing to using clip-ons or any aerobars on any bike is bike fit and position and experience. If you bolt them on the Friday before a Sunday race you will almost certainly be disappointed with the outcome. On a properly fitted bike with a position built from the aerobars back it would take a regular rider doing 150-200 miles a week about 6-8 months to gain proficiency riding in the aero position.

One foot note to any discussion of aerobars are aerobars built specifically for road bikes (as opposed to tri bikes). So called "Shortie" aerobars were innovated prior to the first Olympic triathlon and ITU sanctionied triathlons where riders are allowed to draft from each other by riding in close proximity during an event. These Shortie aerobars are not allowed to protrude farther forward than the leading edge of the brake levers. They also must be "joined" using a bridge between the two forward protrusions.

One thing to be aware of is that some say there is a difference (possibly significant) in how well you run off of a road bike+aero vs. a standard tri bike.  This is because of the different geometries and supposedly the different muscles you use on each platform.  I'm personally struggling with my purchase decision right now because I don't know how significant this is.  I'm 80% leaning towards getting a tri bike but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Just how are you defining "proficiency"?   I felt felt comfortable and was faster after about two weeks, having ridden maybe a 100 miles in total.

I can't imagine it would take someone doing that kind of mileage 6-8 months to become "proficient" riding aerobars.

Mark

So, shorties: faster, slower or indifferent?  Assuming no change to optimized road position.

"Just how are you defining 'proficiency'?"

When a rider can ride no-handed on an aerobar equipped bike, retrieve water bottles from their cage and items from their back pocket of their jersey without excessive steering input, negotiate wide radius corners in the aero position without losing speed, ride a straight line at speed in gusty crosswinds in the aero posture and draft in close proximity to other riders at speed in the aero position. Another graduation exercise is being able to ride rollers in the aero position- and I think this is a very important one.

Now- you may huff and puff and say this "elitist baloney" but I'll take you to task on this. Most new athletes in this sport have deficient bike handling skills. That may contribute to a lack of confidence, fear and even a fall.

We see posts on this forum about things like announcing when you are passing a rider- and people wholeheartedly feel that is not only acceptable but safer. Yet, the most proficient riders in the world on aerobars do not do it.

Why?

If we hold ourselves to a high standard of proficiency on the bike then we make everyone safer. Instead of excusing ourselves for being less than optimally proficient we raise the bar and say, "I can ride, but I could be a better, safer, more performance oriented bike handler. It will benefit me and the participants around me".

Taking respnosibility for our own proficieny by establishing high standards rather than lowering the bar makes us better athletes. The stigma associated with being a triathlete and a (perhaps) less than proficient bike handler begins to disappear.

I tried to find a video clip from last year's Tour de France to view from one of the time trial stages. It showed one rider- it may have been one of the Schlecks- Flying along at well over 25 M.P.H., maybe over 30 M.P.H. in the aerobars. a team car passed him on the left and he moved over behind the car to benefit from the momentary draft of the passing vehicle. The driver slammed on his brakes. The rider, still in the aero position, executed an elegant maneuver of combined body language and steering and just barely missed the back of the car without missing a pedal stroke. That is good aerobar bike handling. That is the high bar.  

Here are 2 links to two of the more commonly referenced 'shorter' clip-ons. You will see that there are more than enough styles to boggle your mind

http://www.profile-design.com/profile-design/products/aerobars/aluminum-aerobars/jammer-gt.html

www.visiontechusa.com/products/547/Team-Mini-TT-Clip-On-Bars

I've raced on shorties at a number of events around the world including the Nice Triathlon in Nice, France where the course is incredibly technical- especially the descents in the Maritime Alps.

Shorties on a road bike aren't as easy, fast or comfortable for me to ride on as a triathlon bike with full sized aerobars.

When I did bike fitting for Sheila Taormina prior to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Dallas, Texas for the Sydney Olympics there were no shorties commercially available. We made them by cutting down existing aeorbars for UCI compliance. Shorties and the position surrounding them has always been a compromise, and not a great one.

Here is the bike I used at Nice fitted with a new, commercially available shorty that I really like from Vision on the bottom photo and using a prototype from HED Cycing in the photo in my room in Nice (middle photo) and me at the summit of the Col de Vence in the Nice Triathlon using the HED prototypes in this first photo:

Hmm.   So I challenge a statement you make and all of a sudden I'm huffing and puffing?  And just where did I refer to your comments as "elitist baloney".  All I asked for was your definition of "proficiency". 

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't put words in my mouth or make assumptions about what I'm thinking. 

Mark

I'm glad this thread came up as I was just about to pull the trigger on some aero bars and was looking at the Profile Design T+1 or the T+3.

The plan is to try and get comfortable in the aero position on the trainer this winter.

I recall reading in a thread months ago that the T+1 was a good option as they are specifically designed for a road bike.  I believe it was because they are adjustable(?). 

Can anyone offer any input or advice on aero bars they would recommend for a road bike application?

I'm 6' and have a 58 cm Trek 2.1 if this is a factor.

Scott

No.

Felt AR's supposedly superior aerodynamics aren't due to the frame putting the rider in a more TT-like position, but rather (Felt claims) because the frame itself in terms of tube shape and composition is more TT-bike-like. The aerodynamic advantage of the Felt AR series (about 1 min/hour) is as compared to bikes with round (rather than teardrop or other shape) tubes.

x2 ... that's a very important point about something Tom alluded to earlier.

As to the original poster--since you're new around here--WELCOME! and yes, all questions are fair.

And yes, clip-on aerobars are bars you can add to an existing road bike.

However, adding aerobars to a road bike does not a tri-bike make. Nor does it put you in an optimal riding position.

This an excerpt from an article David Greenfield (Elite Bicycles) wrote; this part is his take on putting full length aerobars on a road bike. (I provide the link to the full article on bike fitting below, and it is SUPER if not REQUIRED reading).

DO NOT ADD FULL SIZED CLIP-ON AERO BAR (cont.)

Because...

1) Variably, adding a full sized aero bar to a road specific frame creates inherent inefficiencies & can greatly reduce the safety of that bicycle and rider both mechanically & physically.

2) One cause of this diminished mechanical functionality is that it changes the distribution of the rider’s weight in regards to the frame’s intended design.

3) Another factor is the added distance to the pads of the clip-ons from the increased top tube length found on most road bikes in comparison to the top tube length of a like sized triathlon bike. If a rider is even slightly stretched out in regards to where the rider’s elbows rest (obtuse shoulder angle), it can adversely affect the stabilizers, supports, & the neurological muscular pattern of the upper neck, back & shoulders (rhomboids, trapezes, scapula, deltoids).

4) Additionally, This unorthodox position can also hinder the back end of the human system by moving the rider’s pelvic cradle out of a neutral spine position. This can lead to an unhealthy & potentially damaging relationship between the force partnerships muscles stabilizing the pelvic cradle. These inefficiencies deny the potential for a complete muscular engagement pattern throughout the entire kinetic system of the lower human body.

5) Once again, DO NOT put full sized clip - on bars on a road specific frame as it will undoubtedly put the rider at an elevated risk of developing injuries & assuredly there will be a loss of control, handling, support, & comfort.

http://www.elitebicycles.com/tutorials/ChooseBike.pdf

I am not asking this question as a wiseguy thing. (Preface this by saying that I am thinking of the elite racing categories. I can understand why a recreational biker/trier would stay away from aero bars)

If riding in the aero position is so much more efficient, why aren't all road bikes equipped with Aerobars?  Why the difference between a "roadie" and a "TT"?  I know that all courses, conditions and riders vary, but it seems to me that the benefits would be useful in all conditions. 

Is the essential difference that the tri athlete must have some energy left to get off and run, while the "roadie" can just blast away.