Mountain Bike - Tri Bars

Adotek said:

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

Yes, you should have! See if you can borrow one, rather than throw
money at making something terrible for the job tolerable.

Quoted message said:

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

And a proper set of road gearing. This will (a) give a more useful
difference IMHO and (b) cost Real Money, so again I suggest you look
around at borrowing a road racer.

Quoted message said:

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

Yes.
Since your nose is on the bars you can't see very well where you're
going either, which is why they're only typically used on long
straight(ish) sections where there's nothing much to go wrong... ;-/
Of course, riding drop bars on the tops of the bars, or flat bars on bar
ends, also necessitates a change of position, so it's nothing too
unusual or dopey.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Adotek said:

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

I never got on with tri-bars, and didn't see any being used last week
in the Lausanne triathalon (drops seemed to be the norm). If you have
the std. flat(ish) bars on the specialized, try mounting a couple of
bar ends in-board of the brakes - this makes for a good streamlined
riding position (see:
http://www.geocities.com/freddered1/thorn_bars.jpg) and makes for a
useful change of position

Adotek wrote on 19/09/2006 09:03 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

Why? Ride what you have, enjoy the duathalon. If you want to get
performance, get the right gear. Sticking tri-bars on a mountain bike
is like sticking a rear wing on a Land Rover. YMMV

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Adotek said:

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

Profile Century are cheapish (~£30) and seem to work fine. You may also
want to consider moving your saddle forward a bit, and lowering your
bars (remove spacers and/or flip the stem). See what is comfortable for
you though obviously.

Quoted message said:

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

Yes. Don't stay on the tribars if there's any chance of getting into the
s**t.

Personally I don't think a decent hardtail MTB with slicks and tribars
is as much of a disaster as everyone else is making out (although I
wouldn't want to deny anyone the excuse to get another bike). A 44x11
gear will get you over 25mph at 90rpm, which should be fine for a flat
course. In my experience MTB slicks have noticeably more rolling
resistance than good 700c tyres, so keep them pumped up hard to compensate.

Anthony

In article <[email hidden]>

Adotek said:

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

Indeed.

Quoted message said:

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

Only if you can put them in the right place - depends on the handlebar
position, lever arrangement ...

Quoted message said:

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

You could rig secondary brake levers to mount on the extensions - the
cable would run from the primary lever, through the secondary lever and
on to the brake. But unless you're into major modification you can only
do that with old-style non-aero road levers, and they won't have the
right pull ratio for V-brakes.

As someone else has mentioned, fitting ATB bar ends inside the brake
levers will give a semi-tri-bar effect - I use this arrangement and it
allows a reasonable tuck for headwinds while leaving your hands close to
the brake and gear levers should you need them.

As a different someone else has mentioned, fitting a closer-ratio
cassette will better equip your bike for road use.

It's not too late to trade/borrow a road bike - even something pretty
basic should be better than an ATB. :-)

In article <[email hidden]>

Adotek said:

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

Indeed.

Quoted message said:

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

Only if you can put them in the right place - depends on the handlebar
position, lever arrangement ...

Quoted message said:

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

You could rig secondary brake levers to mount on the extensions - the
cable would run from the primary lever, through the secondary lever and
on to the brake. But unless you're into major modification you can only
do that with old-style non-aero road levers, and they won't have the
right pull ratio for V-brakes.

As someone else has mentioned, fitting ATB bar ends inside the brake
levers will give a semi-tri-bar effect - I use this arrangement and it
allows a reasonable tuck for headwinds while leaving your hands close to
the brake and gear levers should you need them.

As a different someone else has mentioned, fitting a closer-ratio
cassette will better equip your bike for road use.

It's not too late to trade/borrow a road bike - even something pretty
basic should be better than an ATB. :-)

Anthony Jones said:

A 44x11
gear will get you over 25mph at 90rpm, which should be fine for a flat
course.

For some values of "fine": if you need to drop a /little/ from whatever
gear you're in because of wind/protesting muscles/whatever then a MTB
gear set won't let you do that in fine gradations, it will take you down
by a fair chunk leaving you a choice of slightly too high or too low.

There's more to road bike gearing than just a big top end, and of course
if it /isn't/ a flat run you'll run out of gears on the downs.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

For some values of "fine": if you need to drop a /little/ from whatever
gear you're in because of wind/protesting muscles/whatever then a MTB
gear set won't let you do that in fine gradations, it will take you down
by a fair chunk leaving you a choice of slightly too high or too low.

There's more to road bike gearing than just a big top end, and of course
if it /isn't/ a flat run you'll run out of gears on the downs.

All accepted -- I actually used a road cassette on my MTB for this
reason when I lived in Cambridge. I couldn't find any hills big enough
to require the lower gears, so closer ratios seemed like a better use of
the range. But OTOH, some people manage seriously quick TT times on 72"
fixies, so ~15% jump between gears and a lowish top end can't be *that*
much of a handicap...

Anthony

Adotek said:

Hi All,

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

Cheers!
Simon.

Is it a mass start event or are riders released at time intervals? I
ask because I've ridden some events where they don't allow aero bars if
you're riding in a group. The whole head down aero position doesn't
give you the best control over the bike. I'd check with the race
organisers.

You may want to adjust your saddle position if you want to ride aero
bars, push the seat as far forward as you can on its rails and maybe
adjust the height of the nose too.

laters,

Marz

in message <[email hidden]>, Adotek

(') said:

I am looking for recommendations for clip on tri bars for a mountain
bike. I have an '06 Specialized Hard Rock, which I am using to enter a
duathlon in a months time (Mistake made 4 months ago...should have
bought a road bike!).

I have put slicks on, which has made a marked difference, I just now
need the tri-bars (Aero bars??) which I'm told will improve my riding
position/comfort/speed.

They will. Pretty much any clipons will do; I use Deda Black
http://www.parker-international.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/1652/groupID/4/categoryID/70/v/cc30dcf0-5ad7-41f3-89f5-fad482441bd7
which are among the lightest available, and are stylish and comfortable.
You don't have to pay this much...

Quoted message said:

One other Q...the ones I've seen dont have brake levers...is this
right? As in if you get into the s**t, you have to change position to
brake?

That's right. Do not descend steep hills on your tribars (do not ask me how
I know this).

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; I'd rather live in sybar-space

in message <[email hidden]>, Anthony

Jones (') said:

A 44x11
gear will get you over 25mph at 90rpm, which should be fine for a flat
course.

Ish. On the flat you'd be OK, but 30mph would be 120rpm which is pretty
high and on any downhill you'll be losing out; and in any case 11 tooth
sprockets are significantly less efficient than 13 tooth, simply because
of the greater flexion of the chain. However, it isn't impossible to fit
bigger big ring to a mountain bike.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Drivers in the UK kill more people every single year than
;; Al Qaeda have ever killed worldwide in any single year.

Quoted message said:

That's right. Do not descend steep hills on your tribars (do not ask me
how
I know this).

How do you know this? 🙂
(Purely for entertainment value!)

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Guys n Gals,

Thanks so much for all the replies - Really useful stuff. I'm on a budget,
so I'm going to have to stick with the ATB, although I will be taking some
advice...

- Pumping the tyres up hard
- Moving the seat forward
- Dropping the bars
- Getting me a set of profile century bars

Unfortunatley I just changed my chain and cassette, next time I'll get a
higher ratio one tho!

Cheers for now!

Simon.

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in message <[email hidden]>, Simon Harris

(') said:

Quoted message said:

That's right. Do not descend steep hills on your tribars (do not ask me
how I know this).

How do you know this? 🙂
(Purely for entertainment value!)

http://www.jasmine.org.uk/dogfood/story/article_30.html
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/dogfood/story/article_41.html

28 days in hospital, 120 days off the bike. You do not want to do this.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
/-\ You have discovered a security flaw in a Microsoft product. You
|-| can report this issue to our security team. Would you like to
| | * Be completely ignored (default)?
| | * Receive a form email full of platitudes about how much we care?
\_/ * Spend hours helping us fix this problem on your own phone bill?

In article <[email hidden]>

Simon Harris said:

Guys n Gals,

Thanks so much for all the replies - Really useful stuff. I'm on a budget,
so I'm going to have to stick with the ATB, although I will be taking some
advice...

- Pumping the tyres up hard
- Moving the seat forward
- Dropping the bars
- Getting me a set of profile century bars

Unfortunatley I just changed my chain and cassette, next time I'll get a
higher ratio one tho!

You won't get a higher ratio cassette (assuming the existing one starts
at 11 teeth), but a closer ratio one makes it easier to deliver maximum
effort at maximum efficiency. To raise the overall ratios you need
larger chainrings.