Why don't the Elite's use aero bars?

Exactly; with a drafting race, the only time an athlete should be in the aerobars is when they are on the front or off the front/back.

Shane

they are also not ALLOWED to use standard aerobars - they cannot extend past the hoods I believe - I got clip ons for my road bike thinking that maybe I would eventually do ITU style but I am not a good enough swimmer...

When the pros are not doing an ITU or draft legal race, they do use them.  See all the posts above as to why they don't in ITU events. ^^^^

Really?

Ummm, hello???  Irrelevant.

Professional cyclists in a Team Time Trial doing 34+ mph average is NOT what the OP asked about.  There is zero correlation between that and ITU tri racing.

Yes; a TTT is totally different than the bike leg of a triathlon.  A group of 9 athletes who have (hopefully) trained together, have cues and know the riding habits of the athletes around them is not comparable to a group of 50+ triathletes in a peloton with athletes that they do not know and regularly train with.

For an example of why this would be a terrible idea, try to find some video of the TdF TTT this year and witness the carnage...

Shane

Or even a few years ago with the person sitting at the front of the Garmin train there in that picture when he was with CSC while wearing the yellow jersey and then crashed - subsequently LOSING the jersey within the last two miles of the TTT.

Obviously I am confused. I thought a team time trial is a drafting race. Isn't this statement about a drafting race? Since it seems aero bars are not legal in draft legal triathlon this statement surely must reference non triathlon races.

It, perhaps, is coming across that maybe you are attempting to be sarcastic and confrontational simply for the fact of being that.  I do not see how Shane's comments about draft legal races in the context of what the OP asked (and got answers for) are referencing anything but triathlon racing in a triathlon forum.

In other words, there is a commonality in the responses that someone has chosen to ignore maybe for the sole purpose of being contrarian.

But who knows what "intent" is online ..........

A team time trial is a draft legal race with very specific rules that involve only being permitted to draft off your teammates and requires that you trained to ride in the aerobars on a full TT setup for most of the race; whether you are pulling or drafting.

A draft legal triathlon (which is what the OP was asking about) involves all athletes being able to draft each other.  In this case, the only time an athlete should be in aero is if they are pulling or solo off the front/back.

Also, aerobars are permitted but they must be bridged and are not allowed to extend past the brake hoods.

Shane

in a TTT, generally every member will at some point in the race be up front.

That said, in ITU it's all about the rulebook mixed with safety.

No maybe. I've come to find that mrbbrad likes to find vaguely connected examples to throw into the mix just for the sake of a confrontation.

Lets see, the pic used is a TTT. Last I checked, the main stage races are also draft legal, why don't they use aerobars there?

Or you can turn it around, "we use TT frames all the time, why can't they use them in ITU racing?"

John

Actually, I find examples where statements taken at face value do not always mean what they may have been intended to mean. I'd rather get cr@p for that than get cr@p for misinterpreting intent. As Rick so eloquently stated, "Who knows what intent is online...."
I let a lot of them go but sometimes I have no power to resist the a-hole urge. Thanks for noticing.

To continue in that vein (and being thread topic literal) - Elites in Nascar races don't use aerobars because they'd look retarded on their hoods.