AdelaaR

I have the Planet X stealth pro carbon with it's original TT bar and bent extensions.
I like the bent extensions a lot more than the straight ones ... they're far more relaxed to ride and give me better control.
I used to have my bike set up quite aggressively and for doing 30 minute TT's that was perfect, but for longer 2-3 hour rides my back couldn't take it.
I have a very bad back, you see.
So now I bought myself a BBB 35 degree stem and with the handlebar a bit higher I'm able to output slightly more power and the result is about the same but much more relaxed for my back.

hhnngg1

Ok kewl. Still, you gotta come out to CA. TONS of TT bikes on the windiest of mountain paved roads around here.

Although I do think that since TT bikes are more typically ridden by triathletes (far fewer # of road cyclists training regularly on them), it's not unexpected in lower cycling density areas that they'll be seen a lot more on the flats. Like it or not, a lot of triathletes are beginners or simply not strong cyclists, and they'd avoid big hills even on a road bike just from the difficulty of climbing them.

Here in CA, there are more than enough strong TT'ers/triathletes, that you see TT bikes everywhere, on the windiest climbs/descents.

I ride my TT bike a lot, and I have no handling penalty compared to my road bike, honestly. I'm not a super aggressive descender, but I'm usually going at a decent clip and taking reasonable risks on the corners to keep my speed up. I wouldn't even say descending is easier on my road bike than my TT bike - once you're on the horns of the TT bike, it's the same braking speed. The body position is slightly different so it does take some getting used to , but honestly, when I'm riding my TT bike more than the road bike, I feel safer descending on the TT bike than I do on teh road bike. (I'm not descending windy roads on aerobars, either.)

Breathegood

I've had a lot of people on TT bikes pass me while riding my road bike on the flats, but I have yet to experience someone on a TT bike outpace me when climbing a hill with any significant grade or length. I don't think it has much to do with my own climbing abilities either. Gearing can be set up just like any other road bike, but their geometry makes them ill suited for climbing, and gearing them down defeats the purpose on the flats. That would keep me from using it as an everyday bike. I would only ride it on low relief routes with the intent of riding it at TT pace. I don't consider that "regular recreation".

Small rolling hillls where momentum may allow you to spin over the top might be okay, but out of the saddle, not so much.

TT bikes are made to go fast while under power. Would you buy an exotic sportscar, never take it out of second gear, and use it to take the dogs to the park or haul grocieries? Probably not. Others might disagree.

Seattle Forrest

You make some good points. How do you feel coming down at 40 mph on a road with a lot of sharp turns, on the horns and not the aerobars? I haven't been on a TT bike very much, enough to get a basic feel for it but not enough to understand it well. So I assumed this was the reason I don't see them in the mountains.

I've been over Tioga Pass in a car and on foot, I'd absolutely love to do that road on a bike. It would/will be a long effort coming up from the west, and then a spectacular reward heading down to Mono Lake.

jmX

I got a TT bike because I wanted to change my riding up a bit. To me it's fun to add an extra mph or two and optimize aerodynamics, even if I'm not racing. I'd say 10% of my miles are on my TT bike, and they're all flat miles. Climbing on it sucks, so that's reserved for the road bike.

Still working on that goal of a sub 1 hour 40km time trial...It's gonna take me a while to get there.

Was it worth spending $2400 on a Shiv? To me, sure. If I was hurting for cash, I'd just stick with my clip-ons. My most aggressive road bike clip-on aero position is only about 0.75mph slower, but it is also a bit less comfortable.

PS, as for TT bikes on windy mountain roads in CA, that isn't my experience at all. Only once in my 80-100 hours on mount baldy have I seen TT bikes up there. In the easier less windy climbs, like around Malibu or Orange County you'll see them sometimes.

Campag4life

jmX,
Can you explain why your road bike with clip ons which isn't as aggressive as your TT bike isn't quite as comfortable as TT bike?
thanks

OldTryGuy

Have had clip-ons for years because of old age (now 63) body issues. Started triathlons last year and considered TT bike. Rode a couple of friends and not comfortable on them. Maybe time would have changed things but not willing to spend the money. Purchased a Giant Propel SL3, added Profile bars and LOVE it. With health issues had my first Half Ironman in May and 56 miles in 2:44:25 without pushing things. Went up hills faster than much younger riders than me. Have Ironman in November and still prefer the Propel because it is so much fun when club riding. 56yo friend rides his TT bike on club rides some time, also training for an IM, but he still feels more comfortable on road bike it's just that when he starts pulling for miles at 26-28 then kicks it up to low 30's he knows he can't get that kind of speed on road bike.

A younger body should be able to adapt much easier.

Andy STi

The reason you see some many TT bikes is because Triathletes do not need a road bike. 90+% of their bike training is done on that bike. If you split your allotted weekly training time into three you only have time to ride your specific bike not mess around with other bikes.

You all act like you've never heard of triathlon. There are lots of triathletes in CA thus reason you see them on the road or in tri group rides.

I road race and I ride my TT bike for races and in training to keep me comfortable on that bike.

AdelaaR

Depends.
Olympic triathlon is raced on UCI legal race bikes and the only difference is a clip-on short aerobar.
I raced in the Belgian championship team triathlon this year and that discipline also dictates only normal race bikes are allowed.

jmX

Well, I did say my "most agressive" road position is less comfortable. That's because the fastest position doesn't have my forearms/upperarms at a 90'ish degree bend, its much more open - more like a superman position. Road bike bars are further forward than tri bikes, but if I kept my elbows at a 90 degree bend my upper body is too upright - and my stem is slammed. Basically I end up more contorted if I try and get super aero on a road bike because I just can't get low enough in the front.

That said, for double centuries I use my road bike with aerobars in a slightly more reasonable position (a little higher, and gripping the bars closer inboard) and can stay there all day - it then wins the comfort war (A roubaix with aerobars is hard to beat for a long day in the saddle ). It's probably 1mph slower than my TT bike position.

halfspeed

Roadies generally avoid aerobars not out of a misplaced sense of "purism" but because aerobars compromise handling which means they aren't welcome on group rides and aren't competition legal. Plus they add weight. Finally, the position can be achieved with IABs when necessary.

Campag4life

thanks. I looked into aerobars on my Roubaix. I probably have the worse possible handlebar for mounting clip on aerobars to...a FSA Kwing carbon compact....see below. There is virtually no 31.8 diameter band adjacent to the stem to mount the clip on clamps to on the FSA Kwing drop bar. So...if I want to add aerobars to my Roubaix as you have, I would have to change the handlebar. This maybe part of my consideration if I change handlebars and find a handlebar I like better than the Kwing which is a great road handlebar...just one that isn't compatible with clip on aerobars.

Btw, jmX, which clip on model did you choose for your Roubaix?

Jobiensis

Maybe it is because my club has a strong tri presence, but TT bikes and aerobars seem to be perfectly welcome on the group rides.

Campag4life

Again..your posts always make me smile. You write with such conviction about things that are as variable as the day is long.
On a roadbike, in difficult handling situations, one has the latitude to ride the road bike conventionally with no ill effect to handling.
Second, I ride with countless TT'ers in group ride settings. Just because you are afraid of TT rider's inability to control their bikes, doesn't mean all the numerous groups of riders I ride with are daunted. In fact, TT bikers maybe safer to ride with because it is understood what the handling challenges are in favor of aero profile and therefore TT riders and road bikes in their company ride more carefully accordingly.

AdelaaR

Same here.
The problem is not with aerobars, but with people riding them without enough experience.
Once you have enough experience they aren't any safer or more dangerous than anything else.
In my tri club we only ride the aerobars when pulling in front on long straight sections.
There is, after all, little to be gained from aerobars when in the middle of the pack, right?

elcruxio

Absolutely no aerobar use when in the middle of the pack. I don't have much group riding experience but even I know you sometimes just need to tap taptap those brakes to adjust a little.
For pulling might be ok

halfspeed

The irony of you, of all people, posting this is too comical not to note.

Be that as it may, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and preferences but they are not entitled to their own facts. What I posted was little more than a collection of facts. If you doubt whether or not aero bars are generally considered a good idea on group rides, a quick search should disabuse you of that notion. Some clubs ban them from group rides outright. Others have very explicit rules about when and what types are accetable.

So you ride with other n00bs. There's no crime in that.

This is absurd. Go ride a bike with clip-ons and see what it does to your agility. It doesn't matter how experienced you are, you simply cannot exercise the same fine control on aero bars. I'm capable enough to ride aero bars on rollers and I do ride them solo sometimes, but there's no way I'm sitting on them in a group.

hhnngg1

I'm honestly surprised at anybody who thinks noobs ride aerobars WITHIN a group.

I've never seen any true noob do that (they're too unstable to even contemplate it), and even in not great aerobike handlers, it's pretty universally known to not ride the aerobars in the group unless it's a straight clear clear road, and then to do so only with great caution.

The LAST thing a new TT bike rider does naturally is to favor the aerobars in a group, particularly in a tight group or road with any sorts of turns, debris, etc. It's self correcting - I'm very capable on a TT bike (since it's my main ride now) and I have to MAKE myself stay on the aerobars when taking fast turns on a solo ride since the natural instinct is to get back on the brakes.

I've also done tons of group rides with mixed bikes (3 different triclubs in Norcal and Socal), and while sure, I'm just n=1, I've never seen problems with new riders using aerobars dangerously in groups. As said, they naturally get the heck off them and get their hands on the brakes when they see that wheel right ahead of them.

If anything, there's tons of overyhyper on the DANGER! (gasp!) of aerobars by roadies on this forum, most of whom have never even ridden a TT bike, ever. And FWIW, ask the same question on Slowtwitch.com where a lot of high-level triathletes (and true pros) who almost exclusively train on TT bikes , post regularly, and this DANGER! of aerobars in group rides is virtually never mentioned as a safety issue, because it's so rare in reality for riders to willfully ride aerobars in tight quarters. Just try it yourself if you doubt me - you'll get your hands the heck off those bars ASAP.

Taipei325

For long rides on the flats....nothing but nothing beats a well fit TT/Tri bike. When the bars are in the right position, there is no stress on my arms and shoulders, and my head just seems to naturally rest in the "right" position. I generally wouldn't train with an aero helmet until a week or two before a tri, but it is important to build the neck up to keep your head up if you are going to use an aero helmet too...other wise your aero helmet is worse than a regular helmet if you look down.

Climbing and descending on a TT bike...not as much fun as roadie. The response is just slower due to the position of the body weight over the front wheel.

Roadie with clip on aero is a great compromise...one I am doing until the TT fairy god-mother drops a another sweet bike into my life!

halfspeed

n00bs generally don't do fast group rides... because they aren't fast. But show up to a century ride and you'll find lots of sketchy riders on aero bars with riders all around them.

hhnngg1

The noobs at the century ride have nothing to do with aerobars. THose same noobs are horrendous on road bikes. Believe me, I've done those rides too, and it has NOTHING to do with aerobars - I've def spent more time dodging those noob cyclists who ride like 2x/year (the big events here overlap my training rides).

And even those people would get the heck off the aerobars the moment they were near other riders, I guarantee it. Heck, they're usually too scared to even ride the aerobars on anything but glass-like wide open road to begin with.

AdelaaR

Aeobars discussions are similar to headphones discussions.
Yes, aerobars are in theory more dangerous ... but only for stupid people that shouldn't be using them.
The naysayers always come up with that one video of that one stupid guy who used his aerobars while going fast downhill in a group and crashed to prove how inherently dangerous those things are ... while in reality thousands of intelligent people are using them in grouprides every day without any problem whatsoever.
The same goes for headphones: yes, there are examples of solitary imbeciles that got in an accident because they were so absorbed by their music that they weren't paying attention to traffic. That doesn't mean riding with music is dangerous, though.

Campag4life

Only guys that are hyping the danger of aerobars are guys like halfspeed who never ride with TT riders and don't know what they are talking about.

Campag4life

Initially when I read your thread, I thought you were talking about headphone sound signature which is hotly debated on audiophile websites...lol.
Quite right Adel...hard for me to ride without music as well. No doubt double booyaa from the halfspeed absolutist fear monger...lol.

AdelaaR

Yeah let's not get into audio discussions.
I know how those often go
I'm an audio geek myself actually.
As I'm writing this I'm sitting between my 7 DIY speakers of which the two mains stand 150cm tall weighing 70kg each and the whole room is treated with QRD diffusers and absorbers.
There is no headphone in the world that can even come close