bonsai171

Can anyone give some suggestions on how to hold an aero position on a road bike? I added clip on aero bars a few weeks ago, and can handle 3 or 4 minutes in the aero position, then 3 or 4 out (the last ride I did was about 2.5 hours, managed to alternate positions for most of the ride). Need some ideas on how to hold the aero position longer.

Thanks,

Dave

Leinster

Core exercises, flexibility exercises, and just practice holding the position longer and longer.

atwl77

What issues are you experiencing? Neck or shoulder strain? Discomfort "down there"? Stability/control issues? Something else?

cxwrench

It shouldn't be hard...you shouldn't have to work at it unless you're on a pursuit bike. Even then my set up was easy to ride in. Work on your flexibility and core.

masonv45

Get a forward facing seat post - only way I can get comfortable in aero position.

Otherwise you'll be using muscles to support your body weight - instead of your skeletal system.

bonsai171

It's probably core strength since I feel it in my lower back. Definitely feel it in my core a lot when riding. I have a tendency to arch my back too while riding so that may be part of it. Initially I think the bars were too narrow, so now they are further apart (was feeling some tension in my upper shoulders). Will have to ride more and see if that helps.

Dave

datlas 

The best way to win this game is not to play.

TMonk

+1 for strength and flexibility. But the position matters a lot. Do you want the aero bars/position as an all the time thing, or only for certain events? If the latter, I recommend a forward facing post and saddle that you can swap out for when you want to ride with the aero position. Also take some side view photos.

Carbonfiberboy 

Stretch every morning. That helps. How many knuckles can you get under the toes of your shoes, knees locked? Can you do a comfortable resting squat, hams on calves?

Cycling in general is the best lower back exercise I know of. Your posterior chain goes from your heels to your shoulder blades. Thus a guess would be that when you're low, you're maybe using your hams and glutes more. I get the strongest messages from my lower back from doing hard, punchy climbs where I'm really using my leg muscles. In any case, the best thing you can do is to ride more down on the bars.

I ride my aerobars in my standard road position, no changes, and can stay down for long periods just fine. In my low position, my quads just touch my lowest rib. I understand that moving my butt forward would allow better breathing, but I'm not TTing when I'm down on the 'bars, I'm riding moderate and resting my upper body.. I do use them to close gaps, that kind of thing, but it's not the same as being at LT for an hour. I don't want to compromise my all-day road position.

spelger

i put aero bars on my road bike because i wanted an additional position for my hands. i think i am only about a 1/2 inch lower when in them ocmpared to the drops. but in teh drops i can force myself to be lower. regardless, teh only thing i needed to change was to stop riding with a baseball hat from under my helmet becasue with it i needed to crane my neck up so i could see more road, that lead to a very sore neck. with that gone i can stay on them for a very long time when on the road. on a trainer...can't seem to stay on them for more than a few minutes.

popeye

You're not going to get there overnight. Work on it a little at a time, a little longer each week and stop if it hurts and stretch if necessary. You will get there over time. Same goes for riding drops.

_ForceD_

If you have the aero bars attached to a standard road bike, and haven’t compensated for the road geometry angle like manson alluded to above…your back may be experiencing stress because of that angle. Normally, you want a geometry that allows most of your weight to be on your elbows that are on the aero arm rests. If you look at the graphic, you can see that it’s more conducive on a bike with the TT/Triathlon geometry.




Dan

bonsai171

I'll post some pictures a little later. For now the plan is to have the bars on all the time, looking to reduce my overall times in longer rides and increase average speed. At the moment I have a seatpost with a setback, would it be enough to get a seatpost with no setback?

Dave

TMonk

Well having the saddle more forward is going to mess with your normal road position a bit, so there is some challenge there. Maybe a zero offset post and a saddle with a long nose would be the best compromise? I'm not a bike fitter though so even with pictures, I'm not sure I'd be well qualified to assess your positions.

I have a separate bike for this sort of thing since I'm into TT. On the track, I can swap stem/bars and saddle/post fairly easily to convert to a pursuit position. I'm not super experienced trying to configure a bike to be amenable to both aerobar and dropbar positions, although it seems to be done quite frequently our "in the field". So hopefully you can find something that works for you.

bonsai171

Here's some photos. I can touch the floor pretty easily with my hands with locked knees. Generally pretty flexible.

masonv45

Looks like your seat is too high.

Standard position for tt age groupers is at the bottom of down stroke - feet parallel to ground (not pointed down) and a slight bend in your knee.

The bottom picture looks more natural as far as your head and arms are concerned. Pay attention to where your ears are in comparison to your elbows between the two pictures.

atwl77

Can the position of the arm pads be moved? I feel like they're too far forward.

bonsai171

I
'll lower the saddle.

It doesn't look like the pads can move back independently. What if I put a shorter stem on the bike? Either that, or I could change the length of the aero bars, but that would stretch me out more.

Trakhak

Speaking as someone who has ridden on aero bars on almost every road ride for over 25 years, I don't know or care whether I can reach past the middle of my calves. I'm happy to let bike riding do all my stretching for me. Stretch if you like, but its not for everyone.

kingston 

I use a different stem with my aerobars to get the bars up and back. Risers is another alternative. I can't stay in the aerobars very long if I just attach them to the bars in the normal position.

Carbonfiberboy 

Agreed. I was also a non-stretcher for a couple decades of aerobar riding. Not everyone is like that, and you won't be like that forever, either. I think if you check it out, you'll find you're actually quite limber. So far, so good.. It wasn't my back that got me started stretching, though. It was my knees and hips. Cycling is just a bit too much all in one plane. I'm skiing moguls this winter, g-d-it. If we get a snowpack, that is. Now that my right-side sciatica is all cleared up, I can finally almost put my right foot in my mouth again.

bonsai171

Turns out there is a way to bring the pads back a bit. Will post new pics later.

Dave

bonsai171

Brought the pads back a bit and lowered the saddle:

atwl77

I feel like the pads are still a bit forward - this is more common with the very short, draft legal-style clip-on bars where they're not really that comfortable to begin with, but are necessarily that way due to length limit imposed on them. If you look at proper time trial bikes, the pads are positioned in such a way that they're closer to your elbows, which give you better control over the bike and also more long term comfort because your forearm acts like a lever with the pads as the fulcrum and your elbows as the load.

But regardless, I think best to go test your current adjustments first to see how they feel. Basic idea of bike fit, after all - make small changes at a time, test them before doing more. Also probably sit a little more forward (from your regular sitting position) when getting on the aerobars.

If these bars don't bring enough comfort, and you're fully invested in aerobars, perhaps look at other models that give a bigger range of adjustments. Profile Design, for example, has various models that cater to a different ranges of height and length.

spelger

balloon lagoon...my kids loved that game. I sucked at the frogs.