# Tri Bars on a Road Bike



## likemjinhisearlydays (Sep 30, 2008)

Crew,

I purchased a Cannondale Road Bike this season and wanted to get some feedback from the forum on adding tri bars to a road bike. In previous seasons, I rented tri bikes from my local race shop, but that seems like a waste of $ now that I have a nice bike that is race caliber.

What are the groups thoughts about adding tri bars to road bike in general? 
What are the groups thoughts on prodcuts/brands of tri bikes that are nice for adding to a road bike?

Thanks!


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

definitely do-able. you don't want to just bolt them on and go for it though. you'll want to change your position a bit...saddle should move forward some, and you'll probably want a shorter stem when you use the aero bars. your body position will actually remain very similar to what you have now, it will just get rocked forward and down. your best bet is to find a shop that has staff that is experienced in fitting both road and tt/tri bikes and get their help.


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## pcs2 (Sep 4, 2006)

What cx said.

For my first couple of TT's I used clip on bars and a setback seatpost flipped 180 degrees to get more forward.

Go to a good shop to try out some different types of bar bends that are comfortable as well as getting a decent position to make proper use of bars. And ffs don't use them in a paceline 

Road bike crash at 34mph (almost) - YouTube

it's only funny because nobody was hurt.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Eh, you can do. When I would add tri bars for races, I'd drop by bars a bit and change my saddle position, too.

Now, if the race is Oly distance or less I don't bother with tri bars period.


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## pcs2 (Sep 4, 2006)

likemjinhisearlydays said:


> What are the groups thoughts on prodcuts/brands of tri bikes that are nice for adding to a road bike?


Do you mean what bars are nice to add? For bars it depends how much you want to spend. You can get cheap clip ons for around 40$. For my first set i grabbed some Deda parabolica's for about 80$. You can obviously spend alot more


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Visiontech's mini clip on aero bar perhaps.


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## CyclingVirtual (Apr 10, 2008)

Some roadies may not approve of a rider with tribars on if your riding in a group.
Depends on your ability/experience.

Otherwise if your on your own mainly no problem.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

CyclingVirtual said:


> Some roadies may not approve of a rider with tribars on if your riding in a group.
> Depends on your ability/experience.
> 
> Otherwise if your on your own mainly no problem.


Is there an underlying reason for this?


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

aclinjury said:


> Is there an underlying reason for this?


Handling is twitchy, espcially if you're new to them. Aero bars aren't necessary in a paceline since that's the point of a paceline. If you take to the front in the aeros, the person behind you isn't getting much of a draft.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

spade2you said:


> Handling is twitchy, espcially if you're new to them. Aero bars aren't necessary in a paceline since that's the point of a paceline. If you take to the front in the aeros, the person behind you isn't getting much of a draft.


Also, if in the aero bars the ability to cover, feather or get to the brakes is degraded.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

^ ah I see.


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## Schmack (Mar 25, 2009)

Aero bars should never be used in a group ride! Watch the video linked by some other poster above! You shouldn ot have to make major body adjustments to feather the breaks in a pace line. It is not that you are dangerous to yourself on aeros, you are dangerous to others! This is primarily the reason this makes me mental. The is a reason you are not allowed to pace line in a tri!

I freaked on a guy a year or so ago for sitting in behind my wife on aeros. He was around 180lbs and she is about 95. We were all crusing along at about 24mph. My friend and I were giving her a tow home and this guy decide to sit in. Kind of rude to sit in on a group you don't know without saying anything. A bit more rude to do so and not do any work. Whatever, we have all been gassed. I looked back a few times rolling through and he was sitting on in the aeros! He knew it was wrong, because every time I looked, he would get up. Finally I flipped on him.

This is a bit off topic, but I think it is relevant. If you want to put aeros on your road bike to do a tri, it's a great idea. However, don't hop on your Saturday am ride with them on.


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## psycleridr (Jul 21, 2005)

I would disagree with many comments as well as agree with others. I am 'THAT" guy who does group rides with the aero bars. The caveat being that my group is never more than 5-6 and we all know each other very well. Also, if I am not leading I am usually off the back or to the side a good bit as the whole point of getting aero bars is if you want to do a tri and you are not allowed to draft in one so I see no reason to draft in the group either. Essentially I eleminate myself from the group if I am not at the front. It is the safest for all around because even with good handling skills and familiar people to ride with sh!t happens and you (aero guy) cannot react as quick and have reduced acces to brakes. 

If it is a large group with people I do not know I bring the road bike with no aero stuff

To OP - I bought the Profile Design T2 ones. I like them but wish I had a little more adjustability. For me I would have liked to get forearms a little closer together and also since I have them on road bike I have seen some that flip up when not in use. By some used and get new pads for possibly best price


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## rgg01 (Jun 21, 2011)

I have the profile T3 ones and I like them, but i train with them on my own, it does take some getting used to assuming the correct position and then relaxing and getting comfortable so what I'm doing is using them on my shorter weekday rides to get the feel of it. Also unless you are going to buy a set and reroute your gear shifters etc you need to get used to setting yourself up before you get onto the bars or balancing on one pad to shift. I am also finding it takes time to get it all dialed in properly, I originally thought that it would be difficult to stay in the aero position for long but I actually find it quite comfortable, I'm probably doing it wrong! But I now have the bars extended out as far as possible and the pads angled slightly to support my forearms in the right plane. I have been riding 10k laps to do this, take an allen key and change them each lap and hopefully will settle on an optimal position soon.


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## krozema (Sep 30, 2011)

Go for it


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## spastook (Nov 30, 2007)

Riding with clip on extensions doesn't put you any further from the brakes than you'd be if your hands were on the drops. Granted newbies are dangerous,PERIOD. But it's not because of the extensions it's simply because they are not aware of what's going on in the paceline ahead of them. If I'm 3 inches off your wheel my hands are touching my brake levers and I'm looking beyond you for road obstructions etc. If I'm 12 inches off your wheel my hands are on the hoods and if I'm 18 inches off your wheel my hands could be on the drops or on a set of aero extensions. Riding 33 years now and I've never hooked the wheel of a rider in front of me.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

spastook said:


> Riding with clip on extensions doesn't put you any further from the brakes than you'd be if your hands were on the drops. Granted newbies are dangerous,PERIOD. But it's not because of the extensions it's simply because they are not aware of what's going on in the paceline ahead of them. If I'm 3 inches off your wheel my hands are touching my brake levers and I'm looking beyond you for road obstructions etc. If I'm 12 inches off your wheel my hands are on the hoods and if I'm 18 inches off your wheel my hands could be on the drops or on a set of aero extensions. Riding 33 years now and I've never hooked the wheel of a rider in front of me.



Nothing is black and white or absolute. However, the vast majority of riders I see with aero bars on a road bike that show up on a group ride have no business using them while riding in the group and maybe don't understand how the handling is degraded while using them. IME the following are much more amplified with aero riders and causes pain for those behind them:

-Reaction time to brake, and therefore braking smoothly. 
-More weight/CG over the steer tube causing control issues. 
-Inability to hold a line. 
-Maintaining reasonable control after hitting pot holes or other debris. 
-Tendency to surge more. 

Usually riding behind someone while they are using aero bars while in a group just sucks, period and probably why it's generally not accepted in group rides. From experience, I stay far away from people who use them while on group rides. YMMV.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

spastook said:


> *Riding with clip on extensions doesn't put you any further from the brakes than you'd be if your hands were on the drops.* Granted newbies are dangerous,PERIOD. But it's not because of the extensions it's simply because they are not aware of what's going on in the paceline ahead of them. If I'm 3 inches off your wheel my hands are touching my brake levers and I'm looking beyond you for road obstructions etc. If I'm 12 inches off your wheel my hands are on the hoods and if I'm 18 inches off your wheel my hands could be on the drops or on a set of aero extensions. Riding 33 years now and I've never hooked the wheel of a rider in front of me.


what exactly are you talking about? of course your hands are further away from the brake levers. they're on the ends of the extensions...about as far away from the levers as possible while still being on the 'handlebars'...
if you're in the drops, your fingers can be *ON* the brake levers. if you're on the hoods, your fingers can be *ON* the brake levers. please explain what you're talking about here, 'cuz it doesn't work in my head. :skep:


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

cxwrench said:


> if you're on the hoods, your fingers can be *ON* the brake levers. please explain what you're talking about here, 'cuz it doesn't work in my head. :skep:


:thumbsup: These type of threads hurt your head, don't they?

Also, not to mention that if you just slap some aerobars on your road bike (and if you are a new rider, your stem probably already has a huge stack of spacers underneath it) you will not necessarily be more aero than riding in the drops. Aerobars work when you can ride in them and have a horizontal body position. If you put aerobars on a road bike, you are placing them on the top of the hoods of a handlebar, and then the pads are even farther up from that position. So you actually lift your body more into the wind.

Nothing like watching bad riders ride in clip-on aerobars with an upright position, turning cranks at 50 rpms, with their knees waddling outward away from the bike. The complete opposite of aero.


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## spastook (Nov 30, 2007)

[-More weight/CG over the steer tube causing control issues. 



I should clarify that when I said being on aero bars was no different from riding on the drops I mean with a road bike with clip ons.The road bike I have clip ons on I'm using the very short UCI draft legal Syntace XXS extensions which don't protrude beyond the brake levers. My T.T. bike is skittish when I'm on the extensions and has no place being in a group ride.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

aerobars on hybrids...i'm sure you've seen that, yeah? what the hell are they thinking? maybe they have back problems and it's like a couch?


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## swimbikerun78 (Nov 7, 2011)

psycleridr said:


> I would disagree with many comments as well as agree with others. I am 'THAT" guy who does group rides with the aero bars. The caveat being that my group is never more than 5-6 and we all know each other very well. Also, if I am not leading I am usually off the back or to the side a good bit as the whole point of getting aero bars is if you want to do a tri and you are not allowed to draft in one so I see no reason to draft in the group either. Essentially I eleminate myself from the group if I am not at the front. It is the safest for all around because even with good handling skills and familiar people to ride with sh!t happens and you (aero guy) cannot react as quick and have reduced acces to brakes.
> 
> If it is a large group with people I do not know I bring the road bike with no aero stuff
> 
> To OP - I bought the Profile Design T2 ones. I like them but wish I had a little more adjustability. For me I would have liked to get forearms a little closer together and also since I have them on road bike I have seen some that flip up when not in use. By some used and get new pads for possibly best price


Same here. I put them on my road bike since I wasn't ready to spend the money on a Tri bike. None of the people I ride with seem to care - in fact I'm not the only one with them. I will say heed the advice of others about not being in your aeros when in a paceline. Maybe if you are pulling, since you don't need to feather, but the guys behind won't get as much benefit either. I never get in aero when I'm in the line, I stay on the horns. But I love having the aeros when I'm by myself training and obviously when I race.


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