Originally Posted by
teejaywhy
Aren't aero bars generally discouraged if not outright banned in the typical group ride?
Seldom banned, but often discouraged for good reasons.
Not really off-topic: Earlier in the summer I was riding an organized century . Probably there were a thousand or 1500 riders, and at the outset I went fast to make sure I would find myself away from the crowds and in a strong group. Sure enough, a group of a dozen soon coalesced and we were making excellent time. Up front was a guy, "Ted", who I've encountered before on other rides. He's a beast and he was doing all the pulling. Some guys behind him were talking about how "Ted" had pulled them for 97 miles of a fast century earlier in the year. But I didn't want to just to sit on somebody else's wheel for 100 miles, so I moved up front to contribute some pulls, and every time I did, "Ted" eased off and I ended up off the front. After doing this a couple of times, I asked him what was going on. He said, "I've got aero bars. I don't mind pulling, but it's not safe for me to draft. Either I'll pull or I'll ride alone."
I respected that. At some point later, I left that group and rode with some others who were willing to trade pulls.
My point (and I do have one) is this guy "Ted" is a very experienced rider and an ex-racer. He was not comfortable drafting with aero bars. A novice shouldn't try it.