Tri bars or not..I'm confused!
joolzd
Posts: 245
in General Chat
So...I have a friend who is a pretty darn good cyclist and when I mentioned Tri bars he instantly shot me down saying I didn't need them!! However, I still went out and got some, still not fitted but....What are the benefits? Are they necessary? Do we really need them? Having watched the TDF I didn't see many there on the long routes...although they are hilly climbs in most instance...but can someone help me decide whether or not I should actually fit them?
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i think that tour riders aren't allowed to use aerobars in the normal stages as a safety measure (might be wrong with this..)
for a lot of triathletes the aero position probably offers very little actual benefit. clip on bars fitted to a road bike means that the aero position is compromised (seat angle, frame geometry etc all being different to a tt bike). i find that clip on bars help me maintain speed on flatish sections and offer an extra range of hand positions, which is good when i'm getting tired.
they took me a while to get used to though and i still can't climb with them though.
All i know is i've got some - i'm now going slower....
Think it might be that i moved the sadle (as i'd heard somewhere) Had a bit of adjustment yesterday so see how that goes.....
It does seem that since putting them on the cyclist pureists seem to ignore me now on a sunday morning ride when they had been saying morning and a nod of the head. Oh well at least i am still waving and saying hi to them.
I get up when climbing but thats fine as it keeps me mobile!
Get em fitted and judge it for yourself........i will add that when i first fitted mine i found using them very unstable but after a few rides (no more than three/four) i found them great and love them to bits now
Apparantly you can lose a little power if you don't tweak your position on the bike. This is due to the extra reach to the Tri bars altering your power delivery a little. The way to counteract this is to move your saddle forward slightly either with an angled seat post or buy a saddle with a longer nose such as Fizik Arione giving you more room to move forward.
Given that aeorodynamics play an important part in cycling anything you can do to improve your front area profile will help you go faster / be more efficient. So I'd say go for it, paying attention to saddle set up.
Doesn't make a quantum leap in speed, but certainly increased mine by a couple of percent. Not much I know, but every little helps. What I find is that it's far more comfortable on the long drags, rather than supporting your upper body on your arms, which constantly twitch, and tires your triceps, resting on your lower arms/elbows just seems to be much more relaxed. I aslo find that being further forward and flat seems to stretch the back of the legs more and make the run a little easier.
However, first/second/third time of using you will feel very unstable, but persevere and you will get more confident. As to climbing, if it's a smallish hill, and I can climb it in the saddle, then I can generally climb in on the aerobars. If I need to stand up to climb, then aerobars or not wouldn't make a difference.
Also handly place to fix a bottle (a thread in itself), hang your helmet in T1, and makes you feel like a proper Triathlete.
My advice is to get them properly fitted - I think badly fitted tri bars may slow you down and just feel uncomfortable. Doing it yourself is not a great idea - having someone who knows what they are doing look at your position is well worth it. If you live near Ealing, West London, google the "bike whisperer" - he works magic, and is well worth the money
You may want to look at this although your mind is (correctly in my mind made up to get some)
post24105.html#p24105
Certainly helps me in my decision on what the next piece of kit I will be buying.
Thanks Jack, answers like this are really useful for novices like myself.