Clip on Aero Bars for HIM

yes lots of people do this.

I did this early on as well, and liked the setup. Although I will say its a compromise, because the geometry of the road frame isn't that of a TT bike.

I used the Profile Design T2+ and they worked nicely.

you can approximate it with moving the seat forward, possibly getting a seat post called "fast Forward" by Profile Design. This will help get a better aero position.

You will be better off getting a fitting on this, but that's up to you.

As for Adamo, I'm riding with the Prologue now and like it. Had the Road version before.

The "fork" is a bit narrower on the Prologue, but I still pulled it in with the zip ties a bit.

I also plan on clip ons for my first half.

I have ridden in the foax aero position some (elbows on the handlebars) so I hope this will help a bit in my adaptation to the clip ons.

Can I leave the seat in the current position? My thought is I would have a contact point on the clip on pad closer to my wrist and shorter extension forward of the crossbar on the clip on.

Will this work or??? Someone spoke of "legal" clip ons???

All this  ^^^^^^ is excellent information IMO.

I chose the Adamo Breakaway saddle and have loved it for thousands of miles.  Adamo now has a new saddle, the Attack, that looks very promising.  Many LBS participate in Adamos loaner program.  Buy one, if you don't like it, just exchange it for another Adamo.

1 Mad Madone---yes you can leave the seat in its current position, but it is not the best and you MAY experience saddle pain as the pelvis rotates forward into the aero bar position. The lower your aero bar elbow pads are the more forward your pelvis will rotate forward.  "Legal" aero bars are shorter aero bars that are "legal" to use in UCI governed races.  If you just race USAT sanctioned races, any aero bar is legal as long as the bare aero bar pipe end is covered with a plug or the aero shifter.

Hope this helps

Yes.  Aero is always better in a non drafting bike segment/race so long as it is not going up a mountain...and not coming back down.

Improving aerodynamics allows you to go faster at the same effort/power.  That means you save time.

The less time you spend biking, the less energy you use.  That means more energy for the run. 

Anytime you can get on your aerobars, even if it's for only 30 seconds at a time, will allow you to see a benefit.  Aerodynamics are just as important on hilly courses because you go faster on the downhill...and aerodynamics matter even more when you're going faster.  If you're on the flats, the difference between riding on the hoods an on your aero bars could be 2 mph.  When you're descending a big hill, the difference between riding on the hoods and on your aerobars could be 5-7 mph.

If the course is so technical that you can't ride on your aero bars...that's one thing.  But I don't know of one triathlon bike course which is that technical.

Train hard, and pace yourself according to effort.  It's almost impossible to extrapolate speeds from one course to another, especially if one is over double the distance.  FWIW, In my first HIM, I averaged 19.7 mph on a semi hilly course.  This was 3 weeks after an Oly where I averaged 23.5 mph on a flat course.  But that doesn't mean you can't average 19-20 mph for your HIM...a lot just depends on the differences in course difficulty and how your fitness translates to longer distances. 

Saddles are very individual.  You really need to try them for yourself.

I just bought a set of Airstryke cheapy aero bars for my Giant Defy 4 road bike today.  I have a quiet, flat 1/2 mile stretch of road that I go back and forwards on for my interval training.  Today there was 19mph wind, almost complete tail wind on the outwards leg and obviously head wind on the way back.

I did the first leg on the drops, second on the aero bars.

Average speeds: -

OUT (Drops): - 35.5kph/22.2mph

IN (Drops): - 31.6kph/19.8mph

OUT (Aeros): - 38.7kph/24.2mph

IN (Aeros): - 33.8kph/21.1mph

So a difference of 3.2kph/2.0mph with a tail wind and 2.2kph/1.3mph in the head wind.

This was for similar power inputs and the wind was pretty constant throughout.  The 2 sets were done straight after each other.

First time using aero bars and I was a bit nervous as it felt like one bit of crosswind would send me falling over sideways, the bike doesn't feel nearly as well planted on the aero bars but I guess that's just a confidence thing more than anything else.  I'm also not sure if I will be able to stay on them for 15 miles or so at the moment, it all feels a bit bunched up, considering a bike fitting session soon to get me sitting properly on the bike.

I'm surprised the aero bars gave me more speed increase in a tail wind situation so not too sure about the data but I am off out on my sprint triathlon route this afternoon (15 miles).  If I get anywhere close to my personal best in these winds I will be pleased!

A 14mile circular route today with winds 19mph gusting above that, according to the forecast and it certainly felt it.

My time today was 45:25 which is almost a minute slower than my PB which was set on a calm day.  I was in aero position for 3/4 of the course, apart from one bit which was on the top of a ridge with a nasty crosswind.  Was all I could do to keep the bike upright in the drops to be honest!

For me this makes a very compelling argument for aero bars, I would expect to be at least 3 minutes faster than this on a calm day which would have saved me 2 minutes.  I haven't been out on the bike in the last 3 weeks since I set my PB either.

On all occasions where I transferred to the drops my speed went down by 3kph and immediately went back up when I got back onto the aero bars.

Two years ago, I had the exact same amount of experience as you do now.  I can't speak for the saddle vs the aero bars, but I would definitley do the aero bars.  Made a big difference for me.

My only caution would be for you to spend some time in the saddle in the aero bars.  I added mine the week before and I had some cramping.  I believe my cramping was due to the different position and muscle use. 

I saw someone else comment that they used the profile design bars, and that is what I use.  I'd also recommend the water bottle that goes in between the aero bars.  That made it a lot easier for me to keep drinking throughout my HIMs.  Again, make sure you have time on the road with the aero water bottle.  It was a little hard for me to get used to and I jury rigged mine a little bit.  Gooogle it and lots of youtube videos and blog comments will help.

Went out on my training route again, 14 mile circular route, same one as yesterday.  Same horrible 19mph winds today and got my time down to 45 minutes, even with the saddle coming loose half way round, it kept rocking up and down.

Even in 15mph constant wind on a circular route you will burn nearly 60% more energy to fight the wind on the way round than you would if there was no wind so I'm expecting to knock at least 2 minutes off my PB this weekend with no wind forecast.

I played around with the saddle position today, other than not tightening it enough I realised how important getting this right is with aero bars.  I moved it up (fine) and right back (definitely not fine) today and I was getting lower back pain due to having to stretch to the aero bars.

A good first setup would be saddle fully forward, but it does make the bike more twitchy at speed due to more weight over the front wheel.

THanks for all the advice.  Aerobars are purchased and on their way.  Went with a pair of Profile Design T2+ Cobras.  Now I need to figure out hte saddle and get things set up.  It sounds like there will be a significant advantage to using the aero bars even if it's just being able to ride with less effort.

My aero bars are the best thing on my bike.

Leaning on them on while bike on the trainer and playing XBOX...