purpose of aerobars?

[cycleprincess]

Hi...new to the sport of course. I have aerobars on my bike now, and to tell you the truth I'm not sure why. I got them thinking they might be more comfortable for a long ride, but I don't really spend much time down on them. Mostly because I don't feel as stable, and I'm not entirely used to them either. So my question is what exactly is the purpose of aerobars? For whom would you suggest them? Honestly I'm not using them often at all, and when I do I find myself holding the elbow rests with my hands to get a more upright position (when my back starts to hurt).

To summerize...who uses them, why and what are the advantages.

[skydive69]

Hi...new to the sport of course. I have aerobars on my bike now, and to tell you the truth I'm not sure why. I got them thinking they might be more comfortable for a long ride, but I don't really spend much time down on them. Mostly because I don't feel as stable, and I'm not entirely used to them either. So my question is what exactly is the purpose of aerobars? For whom would you suggest them? Honestly I'm not using them often at all, and when I do I find myself holding the elbow rests with my hands to get a more upright position (when my back starts to hurt).

To summerize...who uses them, why and what are the advantages.

Aerobars put you in a considerably more aerodynamically efficient position on the bike. There are those who claim that you can literally sustain 2 mph faster on aerobars as opposed to standard bars. I have them on my time trial bike - time trialing without aero bars is like giving the competition a rather considerable edge.

[caloso]

The purpose of aerobars is just that, to make you more aerodynamic. They take awhile to get used to, though. You may need to play around with your saddle position as well.

As you noticed, they diminish the handling and they take your hands away from the brake levers. For those reasons, you should only use them on the open road. Never in traffic and never in a paceline. But when it's just you and the wind, you'll be glad you have them.

[ZackJones]

cycleprincess: Do you have a trainer? If so mount your bike on it and spend some time riding on it in the aero position. As you've observed they don't feel as stable when you're riding, this should be a temporary feeling. As you spend more time riding in an aero position you should begin to feel more comfortable riding on them.

Did you buy the bars at the local bike shop? If so it might be worthwhile to run by the shop and have them check your position on the bike. They may be able to recommend a change in position that will make them more comfortable for you.

Aerobars are worth the time it takes to get used to them. Hang in there!

[audiojan]

You definately want to keep the aerobars on... It makes a big difference, and not only during the bike-leg... Because you use less energy to achieve the same speed (less drag), your legs will be fresher for the run... I've found that my speed on the bike went up only 1mph (avg.), but my run-pace dropped by 10sec/mile!

You do want to spend some time setting them up though... The problem I've found is that you distrbute too much weight on the front of the bike, making it unstable. This can be remedied by proper setup (get a professional fit, it's worth the $100-150)