Aerobar extensions

Aerobar extensions are mainly used on dedicated Time Trial or Triathlon bikes, where they help create a more aerodynamic riding position - on the cost off reducing vision, braking and manouverability a bit.
Because of these, they're often not allowed in regular road races or even group rides.

A dedicated TT/Tri bike will have a slightly different geometry from a regular road bike, primarily the saddle being further forward.

Some are quite happy with merely slapping aerobars on road bikes and then riding as is, some flip the seat posts around for a kinda-sorta aero position.

In the Netherlands it's quite common to see aerobars on Townies to create a secondary riding position to use in bad headwinds.

Aero bars are not noted for their ability to improve cadence, for that people use specific features of their training, or simply the choice of which gear to run.

dabac,
Thanks for the feed back. I will need to look into whether or not the MS ride allows the aerobars.

The reason I posted the question was I noticed while riding the stationary bike at the gym they have handle bars with different geometry to allow an assortment of riders multiple postions for a more comfortable workout. I took the liberty to try all the different hand placements and found that certain positions seem to help increase my cadence by making the peddling seem easier. Now I understand that a road bike forces a rider to be in more of a crouch position than a mountain bike, but one would think by havng more options for hand placement might also give someone the ability to focus on improving his endurance and less time focusing on comfort......at least for us old gear heads.

John S

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Cycle Drama
How many of you experienced riders run with aerobar extensions on your road bikes?
Does it help your ride experience?
Can you increase your cadence with them?

I added bar extensions on my mountain bike and am thinking I may need to do the same on the road bike.

Thanks in advance for your input
John S

Aerobars typically reduce a road bikes handling capacity, and imo they diminish ride experience by an order of magnitude.

I wouldn't use them for anything other than competition. And even then, in open USAC "cannibal" categories (no aero equipment) they are not allowed, and if one were competing in a bonafide category rated TT one would likely be competing against fellas with bona fide TT bikes. Some riders love 'em though.

Some pro's use them on uphill time trials, but if doing so are often more likely to use the stubbies (like the VisionTech mini clip-ons vs. the longer ones) that put the upper body in a similar orientation to the pedals as regular bars without having to move the seat forward. A lot of that is personal preference.

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As far as cadence, practice is required to use them efficiently as a general rule. The main factor in cadence imo is saddle height, along with the desire to improve/increase cadence and work on the discipline.

They do as you note add additional positioning for hands/arms.

Here's some fred unable to respond to the wheel overlap during the inevitable speed yoyo that happens riding in a paceline:

(After he regained control the actual spill looks like it was caused by an equipment malfunction. Did I only count 16 spokes on that front wheel?)

For comfort issues you may want to revisit saddle type, saddle fore/aft, or stem length/handlebar height before going with the extensions (whichever one seems to be the culprit). Just my 2 cents.

PS if yer feeling like you are leaning on your hands too much, and if it's already level, moving the saddle back a little bit (.5-1cm) sometimes helps alleviate...
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Just remember to accommodate with appropriate stem length if you do so and then feel too stretched out. It can never hurt having an experienced eye take a look which may actually be the best place to start.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Cycle Drama
dabac,
Thanks for the feed back. I will need to look into whether or not the MS ride allows the aerobars.

The reason I posted the question was I noticed while riding the stationary bike at the gym they have handle bars with different geometry to allow an assortment of riders multiple postions for a more comfortable workout. I took the liberty to try all the different hand placements and found that certain positions seem to help increase my cadence by making the peddling seem easier. Now I understand that a road bike forces a rider to be in more of a crouch position than a mountain bike, but one would think by havng more options for hand placement might also give someone the ability to focus on improving his endurance and less time focusing on comfort......at least for us old gear heads.

John S

Be wary of using stationary bikes as a reference. There's a truckload of differences between stationary riding and dynamic riding. Not all of them immediately obvious.
The typical hotel gym stationary bike for instance will usually have a hopelessly wide saddle that will tend to shift a rider using the "correct" saddle height forward.
And the more forward you scoot, the more weight you have to carry on your arms - unless you're able to pedal harder to compensate for the added leverage.
A way to deal with that, to widen the type of people that'll be able to use the bike is to fit a kinda-sorta aerobar. The casual riders plonk themselves down on the wide saddle set low, as if it was a bar stool and crank away happily.
Those looking for something more energetic can balance themselves on the tip of the saddle, on the correct height, and bracing their forearms on the kinda-sorta aerobar.
And if you're looking at a more dedicated spinning bike, well spinning classes HAVE to offer some variation apart from rhythm, so they need several hand positions to make their gig work.
But you're half way right in your observation about multiple hand positions, but most people would be content with a regular drop bar for that. It gives you three basic positions: drops, hoods and the flat section closest to the stem. For flat bar bikes, the general recommendation is the trekking AKA butterfly bar instead.
Generally though, comfort and the big benefit from several hand positions only becomes an issue on longer rides. You should have a primary riding position that's comfortable enough for quite some time to start with.

I'd say start with investigating your basic position. Saddle height, saddle fore-aft, bar height, and bar fore-aft.
My bet is that your "easier to peddle" comes from one of these.
Saddle further forward will make it easier to put more pressure on the pedals.
OTOH If you can't push that hard, you end up carrying plenty of weight on your arms instead.
If your forward reach is too big, your bend at the waist may become too acute, restricting your breathing, so pushing the saddle forward is a way to mitigate that too. But again, it can transfer unwanted load onto your arms.
Too little forward reach will also affect the leverage you can apply on the pedals, but should leave your arms rested.

Not a complete picture, mind.

MTB vs road crouch isn't that clear cut.
Sure, a bike set up for All-Mountain or Freeride will have a fairly upright position. But that's because all "priority riding" on one of those will be done out of saddle. While a dedicated XC - cross-country - bike very well can have the bar at the level of the hoods on a road bike. Or slightly lower.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by dabac

Saddle further forward will make it easier to put more pressure on the pedals.

I tried this when wanting to go lower in the bars to get more aero, by rotating the contact point "triangle" forward (saddle/pedals/bars) around the pedal axis - moving saddle forward and running accordingly longer stem/lower bars. The only thing that happened was serious pain about the knee after a single ride. Maybe I've been riding too long in the same position, maybe I could have eased into it a bit more, I could already have been at my forward limit, who knows. Lot's of riders seem to do it fine, especially tri folks and TT specialists. Just didn't work for me.

if moving the saddle forward, unless a corresponding move forward is made to handlebars the cockpit may become too cramped, and in a worst case scenario when climbing out of the saddle on a steep incline the knees could impact the bars.

It's also important to note that a saddle position too high will limit cadence, while a saddle position too low could facilitate knee problems.

A lot of this is individual and YMMV.

While I was not planning to purchase a set of aero handles until after I ride my bike a few miles....after reading your comments it seems my best move would be to get a trainer for my road bike and work on adjustments. That would do two things for me, 1.Allow me to get used to my bike and 2. the benefits of a real workout. This will also get me away from a stationary bike that may not be the best fit for me to begin with.

Thanks,
John S

Yeah but then you'll have no excuses for taking a day like today off the bike 😉 Dunno what it's like in Wisconsin but in Brooklyn it's 7F today!

Getting a trainer is a great investment, even if it is only used for tweaking comfort on the bike.

-20 this AM.....we may see 0 degrees by noon [IMG]files.cyclingforums.comsarcasm.pngOpen ↗[/IMG]

I am very impatient this year and need to get back on the road.......I have set goals to make dang nabbit!!

Besides that, with my not-so-perfect physical conditioning I need to increase my workouts to get to my happy place.

John S

-10° this morning and 0° now.

15-20 minutes warmup on the rollers and 30-45 minutes on the trainer.

Ouch, and ouch. Btw does that picture of Jan make anybody else feel fat?

:P

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
-10° this morning and 0° now.

15-20 minutes warmup on the rollers and 30-45 minutes on the trainer.

Will that workout guaranty me my happy place? [IMG]files.cyclingforums.combig smile.pngOpen ↗[/IMG]

I already do 45-60 min at the gym 4 days a week. I am also working on increasing my strength by slowly increasing the workout levels. I also vary my training with a 'Hill' setting one day then alternate to a consistant power level the next.

Now if I can just stop eating large portions of my wife's delicious cooking I will have a better shot at hitting all my goals.

John S

FWIW - I have run with clip on bars on my long haul / commuter bike for many years. They are useful for cold, long, flat and or windy rides. If set up properly they are relatively comfortable and can noticeably increase your average speed.

I have witnessed a few mishaps when riders have used them in group settings and over rough surfaces. Don't use them in a group, rough roads or unpredictable settings. I would not put them on my primary road machine.

It takes practice to ride with them properly; using them on a trainer may help to adjust the fit and adapt to the position, but it will not help with the balance and handling changes.

maydog,
Thanks for the heads-up and good sound advise.