Triathlon - aerobar position

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elementary
10-03-04, 04:08 AM
I have recently fitted some aerobars to an old roadbike for use in tri/duathlons but I've found that I seem to tire faster when in the aero position. After a few kms on the aerobars, I need to switch to a normal roadbike position in order to recover...pedalling at the same rate/same gear etc. Is this normal for a newbie on aeros or is it likely that my setup is wrong?
Thanks

MichaelW
10-03-04, 07:11 AM
If your bars are set up for comfortable riding, then simply adding an aerobar will result in a position tooo stretched out, and with too much bend in your hips.
Tri riders usually rotate saddle forward about the bottom bracket compared to a road bike (ie higher and more forward), to open up the hip joint and place more weight on the bars. That is thee reason for tri frames having a steep seat-tubee angle. You can replicate the saddle position by switching the seatpost from oone with layback, to one with an in-line clamp.
park
10-04-04, 08:40 PM
I had to buy a Thomson 10 degree offset seatpost and turn it around so that the bend in the post leans toward the stem. It looks weird, but it was the only way to get the saddle forward enough so I wasn't stretched out too far. Profile makes a post for this purpose also but the bend is too severe which can make it difficult to adjust the nose of your saddle so that it is level. This seat post change effectively changed my Trek 5500 seat tube angle to 76 degrees. Someday I'll get a nice time trial bike, but for now this is a cheap way to modify your road bike.