Touring - Does this animal exist - an aero touring bike?

I know touring bikes are normally ride at slower speeds, but I would imagine some touring riders would enjoy an aero setup for downhills and headwinds.

Is there such a bike marketed?

I've seen it doneplenty of times, but never seen a straight out of the box tourer set up like this. Aero bars aren't that expensive, though. Good luck!

There are a couple of manufacturers of touring recumbents that have aero rear covers and Zipp fairings and the like and actually look pretty interesting. The problem I have with recumbents is that they're lower and a lot harder to see on the open road.

http://www.adv-cycling.org/features/recumbent_bike.cfm

Agreed, that's why I was looking for a similar approach on DF's.

Very interesting article. Granted you can put a Zzipper on a DF and gain .5 mph for about $300 and a couple lbs of weight and some cross wind issues. Probably not as bad as a P-38, or the fully front/rear fairing model. I forget the name of it. Man issue here is cross winds. A fiberglass rolling canoe is going be to buffed good by passing vehicles and side winds.

Aero bars can go on any frame, but other aero has to be at the time of purchase:
-- wheels
-- spoke
-- frame design
-- front forks
-- maybe handlebars

Post purchase aero would be:
-- aero panniers
-- tail box ???
-- fairing ???

It's amazing to me how people will spend hundreds after a bike purchase to "go faster" or look like "I'm going fast" but won't consider putting cash upfront:
-- aero shoes , ok that's style not function unless you're at the Armstong level of competition
-- spandex clothes
-- speedplay peds
etc

Well, I won't say the the C-dale is aero by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have a set of aero-bars on it. (profile aero-strykes). My reasoning is that aerodynamics don't differenate between 25 mph in a calm condition vs 10 mph into a 15 mph headwind. Still have an effective 25 MPH headwind. I have noticed that it does help, even going slow, with headwinds. It also makes a nice comfy position to rest the back and arms.

Biggest downside, losing a place to put my handlebar bag. I worked up a substitute with a small fanny pack and some velcro strips, have it draped on the inside of the stem, can put wallet, a few snacks, yada-yada into it.

Steve W.
Who will admit that with full bags, it does look silly with aerobars, but it works for me.

Hey, thanks for the URL. excellent article on cranks and chainrings.

I have used aerobars on touring bikes since 1994. I don't really care about improving aerodynamics or going faster. I have them for the new riding positions they allow, ones that do not require gripping the handlebars, and that help relax my shoulders. (My shoulders tend to get tight and painful on long rides.)

For city driving, I hardly use them, but on tours, I am on my aerobars frequently.

Aerobars are quite common on MTB touring bikes. They are positioned for comfort rather than race-style aerodynamics but still eliminate the parachute effect.
Other options are Spinnachi clip-on extensions.

Since aerodynamic drag increases with velocity squared, the big saving happen at the highest speed. If you are loping along at touring pace, aero wheels and frames make no difference at all.
Aerodynamic luggage can make a difference since it is so big a drag factor. Carradice saddlebags are noted for their efficiency in comparison to panniers.

http://66.206.15.81/D2C (7).JPG

I saw this over in the road bike thread, just throw some panniers on it and you are off to the races!

are those shifters at the end of the aero bars?

If so, you shift in aero position and come out for braking?

I no interest in "going faster", but I do hate riding into a strong headwind. The solution was to RAISE my handlebars. Raising the bars so that the top of the bars was as high as the saddle brought the drops up to a more usable height.

When I'm riding into a relentless headwind, I can be comfortable on the drops for thirty minutes at a time. If my bars were in the "super low" position that the Saturday morning racers prefer, I could not stay down on the drops for more than a minute or two without my neck and back complaining "We are waay too old for this much pain".

When I'm riding into a relentless headwind, I can be comfortable on the drops for thirty minutes at a time. If my bars were in the "super low" position that the Saturday morning racers prefer, I could not stay down on the drops for more than a minute or two without my neck and back complaining "We are waay too old for this much pain".

I'm so stiff, I might last 5 min in drops. Is the neck/back a problem with the position or with the geometry. Would a more relaxed seat tube angle, 78 instead of 73, like on TT bikes, fix that problem? Just curious.

I get plenty aero on my touring bike just the way it is....once you add bags, a little bit of aero advantage is probably neutralized by your panniers. But it does add another hand position.

I get plenty aero on my touring bike just the way it is....once you add bags, a little bit of aero advantage is probably neutralized by your panniers. But it does add another hand position.

I would imagine there is a diffference between softside flexible panniers and hard shell which can be more aero.
I don't know that it makes a lot of difference, but with winds like the 30 mph we're getting today, any bit of help is appreciated. Next bag I get will not be selected on volume and price only but also on how it helps or hinders the profile of the bike.