Triathlon - Triathlon Sunday!

I got my 2nd tri of the season on sunday, in KC, KS and I have a pretty simple question. Do you think i should leave the aerobars on my road bike that I will be using. The course is fairly flat, but has some steep climbs (i know kansas hard to believe). My problem is that I don't feel 100% comfortable in the aero position unless its very flat. Do you think the weight I'll save by taking them off and loosing the aero drink would be useful, or would they significantly help me in the flat sections of the course?

The benefits of racing in the aero position and having liquids in the aero bottle far outweigh the benefit saving of 600 or so grams by removing the aerobar for the climbs IMO.

I vote race with the aerobars always...

Have a great race!

leave them

Just got back from the tri, and I am happy yet dissapointed. I left the aerobars, but did not have a chance to use them very often. The route was much more hilly then the course layout showed, and was very difficult. I did feel faster on the flats because of them though.

As results goes, I competed as a team this time and was happy with my performance. Not sure of splits as of now, but we won the team sprint relay by a good 5 minutes. Personally my bike was alright, but the race officials pointed me in the wrong way at a turn so i did an extra 1.5 miles, and still had the 2nd fastest bike time. This must have been a common problem at the tri, because i heard of a sprinter doing 18 miles instead of the 13 he should have done (He wasn't to happy about that). Anyway all in all it was a great race, if any of you have a chance to do the Midwest Meltdown next year in KC, its a great course if you like climbing.

The biggest problem with leaving the aero bars on your road bike doesn't have to do with weight, it's a problem with body position. Road bikes have a longer top tube than true tri-bikes. Effectively, this leaves you in a position that is too hunched over with aero bars, which hurts your ability to breathe in the aero position. The best advice I can give you is to remove the full size aero bars (I'm making an assumption here) and replace them with something like the Profile Design Jammer GT bars, which are shorter and are meant to be used on road bike geometries.

The best advice I can give you is to remove the full size aero bars (I'm making an assumption here) and replace them with something like the Profile Design Jammer GT bars, which are shorter and are meant to be used on road bike geometries.

Or just do what everyone else does, and move your seat further forward.