UKC

I asked something similar in my triathlon thread, not realizing that on the running form I would probably not get much response, so here it goes again and in more detail:

I am after clip on aero bars for my road bike, in order to use them in mainly non-drafting triathlons, although I will also do some shorter events where drafting might be allowed.
As far as I understand there are two options:

- long bars that go beyond the handle bar and are not allowed in drafting-legal events (I would have to remove these for some races then)

- shorter bars that don't extend beyond the handle bar and can be left on the bike in all events.

So what would people recommend? Both in terms of the above choice, as in materials and particular models.
Anything else I should know? What about changes to the bike setup?

In reply to StefanB:
Short ones dont offer much Advantage over a Normal tuck.

Full size, youll want to Change your Brake and Gear lever set up to get full Advantage, and adjust saddle position etc.

I used to Ride Time Trials Back in the 80s. Tried aero bars, sacked them off Pretty quick.

Horses for courses mind. Some people Love them, i just found them a pain in the ass

In reply to StefanB:

Oh man. I was expecting a thread about the bubbly chocolate bar.

In reply to RyanOsborne:


Me too. I was hoping their full nutritional value had been noticed at last

In reply to StefanB:

I've got a set of Profile clip-on bars - they've never been queried in any triathlon I've ever done, far less disqualified me for them. I'd be surprised if they did, unless they're very serious about it or you're in medal contention.

If you're going aero, you need to change your entire position - well, basically take your normal riding position and rotate it forward, so saddle forwards, short stem and low bars.

In reply to Choss:




You must know something that every time trial rider doesn't

To the OP: you should be able to get sensibly priced aero bars that will be length adjustable so that you comply with UCI regs or whoever polices Tri events. That says 80cm from bottom bracket to front of bar extensions. They've just changed the rules though so have a read up
http://road.cc/content/news/104250-uci-clarifies-time-trial-position-rules
I had alloy clipons for my road bike when I started TT's and you could pretty much play about with position to your hearts content by adding or removing spacers for height and sliding the bars forwards or backwards in their clamps

In reply to woolsack: Compared to the UCI regs, tri set up is pretty much a free for all. As long as they're plugged, I've seen a lot of things accepted.

To the op, I've not come across many sub-elite draft legal tris, so stubby bars may be of limited use. There are quite a lot of low end clip ons, but I'd suggest something with a decent amount of position alteration options.

I use Deda Parabolica Unos which are good for changing length, but a little restrictive in width options - I get away because I'm skeletally narrow but if your have a wider form may struggle.

In reply to RyanOsborne: You'll be after these http://bikewar.com/2013/05/18/the-new-aero-bars/

In reply to Liam M:


Just ordered a set thanks....

OP - I've got some old profile design clip ons that are forearm length and I've never been asked or stopped using them. I didn't change my bike set up at all. Adding gear changing to them is a whole new serious ball game.
I mainly use them to give me an alternative position to stop aches.

Thanks for all the great answers.

Triathlon here (Spain) are regulated by the Spanish federation and they seem quite strict. almost all olympic and sprint events are draft-legal (unless they are part of the no-drafting series) and they are fairly strict on what is allowed. They may not extend beyond the handle bar.

I did a sprint last Saturday's and there were 500 people doing laps in a 5k course, so I can see potential risks. I will use the bars mainly on longer stuff, but don't like the idea of having to take them off.