riceman

I have a specialized Tarmac Sl and would like to put some aero bars on it. The bars i have are Pro-Lite Trieste Triathlon Aero Bar. I do do some triathlons but have never used aero bar. What are the pro`s and con`s of using these bars on a road bike.

Thanks

DrPete 

The pros are the extra hand position and some aerodynamic improvement. The cons are that road bikes aren't really designed to put you into a good riding position when it comes to aerobars. So most of the time the aerobars will be too high and too far forward, making the position less comfortable and less aerodynamic. There are some wacky positions with clip-ons out there and I wonder why people bother, but others swear by it, so who the heck am I.

You can generally get into a decent tri/TT position, though, if you lower the bar, raise the saddle a hair, and then push the saddle forward. The idea is to get into that nice, low aero position without closing down the angle at your hips.

If you're really looking for a good, solid aerodynamic fit for triathlon, find a cheap tri bike like a Cervelo P1 or a Felt B16 and set it up for real. The geometry of those bikes is (obviously) designed to get you into a more aero position. Like I said, with some work you can get a decent position with clip-ons, but it'll be much harder than on a dedicated Tri bike. Not to mention the fact that if you're using clip-ons you'll have to get out of your aero position to shift, which means that you either won't be shifting enough or will be losing some of the benefit of the aero position by having to come out of it every time you want to shift.

DrPete 

I just looked at the Trieste and honestly I wouldn't recommend them for a roadie clip-on application. If I were to use clip-ons I would favor using a bar that lets you move the elbow pads back behind the bar, like the Profile T2+ or something like that. The T2+ is also a bit lower profile, i.e. the pads won't stick up above the bar as high.

Just my 2 cents, though. You can always give 'em a try and you've lost nothing if you decide to take them off.

gazelle5333

I use Jammer GT's on my tarmac and they work great for me. Since they clamp onto the bars using a different clamp than the armrests, you have a lot of room to tweak it to fit right. Most people will say the downside to shorty bars is that you rest your forearms on the pads vs your elbows as you would in a true TT bike, but I was able to tweak it so I had my elbows(or close enough) on the pads by bringing the pads back behind the bars instead of on top of them. Just make sure they aren't in your way when you want to climb out of the saddle

BentLink

See Rule 54.
Of course, you may already be in violation of Rule 42.

K.Katso

Sorry, but they lost all credibility when they misspelled "time trial" as "timetrail." It's time for some new rules, it seems.

AdelaaR

I have exactly the same aerobars on my hybrid and find them to be very comfortable.
They also are very stable and let you turn and go uphill aswell once you get really used to them.
The biggest advantage to aerobars though, if you ask me as a double neck & back hernia patiënt, is that it relieves the back and the wrists by being able to get weight off of the saddle an on the elbows.