steve-in-kville 

If you've ever tried areo's on you commuter (and have pics) please post about it! I'm thinking of trying something different on my Tourist. Tired of fighting the wind. Need to try a lower position.

Thanks in advance.

AdamDZ

Aerobars? Why?
Wind?
How long is your commute?
Just pedal harder.

SpasticSprocket

Pedaling harder is hard.. But I do agree that Aerobars seem a bit much for a commuter.. I just drop down a gear and power through.

steve-in-kville 

I thought I mentioned this in the OP but I guess I didn't: I am training to do a multi-day tour this fall. Not only do I commute on the Windsor but I tend to do some long-ish rides on the weekends. I am adding extra weight to the bike to prepare myself for my touring. I love commuting but I have higher aspirations for the ol' Tourist.

Hence the reason I ask this question. And yes, I am always fighting the wind... crosswinds, headwinds but never a tailwind!!

SpasticSprocket

Well in that case I can see where an aerobar might be useful, considering you might have to fight a headwind for longer than a 15 or 30 minute commute.

deanp

This one my bikes outside my office ready for the ride home. I use the areobar as a rack to hold my backpack.

AdamDZ

Ah, OK. I actually wanted to try aerobars on my touring bike but the handlebar bag is in the way and the bag is more important. I tried mounting the bag lower using Thorn T-bar but it would still be difficult to access. Not to mention that aerobars are made for thicker road handlebars and on trekking bars or flat bars they're harder to install.

My theory is that you don't notice tailwinds, but headwinds and crosswinds are easy to notice. I feel like that too. I also think that on a loaded bike there may be little advantage in aerobars as the bags and stuff produce a lot of drag.

Steely Dan

i slapped some aerobars on my foul weather beast this past winter because i needed to get more aero on my daily runs up and down chicago's windy-ass lakefront. my preferred choice would have been a drop bar conversion, but my bike has hydraulic disc brakes, so i had to stick with a flat bar because of the levers.

it looks wonky as hell, but it get the job done, and on those days when i'm battling a 40mph headwind, gusting to 50mph, i sure as hell don't care about how stupid aerobars look on a hybrid.

function over form.

fietsbob

I got a set of old Profile aero bars from a friend ,
they were 1 tube bent to form both the cowhorn and aerobars.

I also from another friend , got a Zzipper Thriller fairing for upright bikes.

I bought a Terry stem, tall , short reach, added some extensions
to widen the elbow pads, spread.

worked well, Sat more upright, and Fairing kept cool air from going thru my clothing,
so I dressed a bit less heavy..

and I was able to hear the "Books on Tape" I got from the Public Library thru my Ear buds
as I rode the rural road home , better , thru the ear-buds , behind the fairing.

Steely Dan

nuts to that. why "just pedal harder" when you can simply slap on an appendage to your bike that can make your life easier when you have to go head to head with serious, open-water headwinds?

CliftonGK1

That all depends on what your commute conditions are. If you've got miles and miles of open roadway, then go for it. Or a sparsely populated MUP, fine.
If you're dealing with traffic (automobile, cyclist, or pedestrian) then pedal harder; the handling disadvantages aren't worth the aerodynamics.

I don't use them any more, but I think back to my tri racing days along the Erie lakeshore and how nice it was to duck the wind on long stretches.

Steely Dan

absolutely. i never ride on my aerobars on city streets with traffic, that's too dangerous. but mornings like this one when i had a 25 mph headwind at my one o'clock as i rode up chicago's lakefront path, i sure was glad i had my aerobars to drop down on. wind blowing about on city streets through the buildings is rarely ever that bad, but out on the lakefront trail, which directly abuts hundreds of miles of open water, the wind can be INSANE some days.

because i rode in on my foul weather beast today, i snapped a couple pics that are better than the crappy shot i posted earlier.

mechanicalron

They dont look fun to use and well, i hate to say it but,,, they are just flat out UGLY as heck and are they safe outside a time trial? lets see some photos to win me over but you should use the sort of brake levers they make for them to be safe on the road.

fuzz2050

While they may be ugly as sin, there really isn't anything inherently dangerous about them. There isn't much call for brake levers, after all, most hand positions on drop bars don't have ready access to brakes.

Anyway, the handling is so wonky on aero-bars that you only ever really use them on long straight sections. If there is any lack of uniformity on the road (such that might require braking) I tend to swap hand positions naturally.

steve-in-kville 

Thanks for the pics.

MK313

I don't know, I think that aero bars on a commuter look pretty cool.

Steely Dan

aerobars are actually quite fun to use.




form follows function.




absolutely, but you have to remember that a huge chunk of my daily commute is along chicago's lakefront trail, and outside of the summer months, the trail is sparsely used and it's quite safe to get down on the aerobars for long stretches. i would never get down on my aerobars in traffic.




not possible on my bike. i would need reverse pull levers to work with aerobars and i don't know of any manufacturer that makes reverse pull levers for hydraulic disc brakes.

Leebo

Are they better for wind than drop bars? At 235 lbs I'm not slim or aerodynamic.

Steely Dan

that would depend on the set-up of a given set of aerobars vs. a given drop bar, but generally speaking, an optimized aerobar set-up will be marinally more aero than an optimized drop bar set-up.

alan s 

No need for aerobars here. My normal riding position with riser bars is about the same as hoods with drop bars. I can get in a more aerodynamic position by bending my elbows. However, I'm not usually commuting for an hour or more in a strong headwinds.

Steely Dan

that's really the crux of the matter. for the vast majority of commuters, i would imagine that aerobars wouldn't be terribly useful, but for those of us on flatbar bikes who do battle with insane open-water winds on a regular basis, they can have their place.

however, i do appear to be in a fairly unique club as only one other person beside me has posted a pic of a commuter bike with aerobars.

scoatw

I've got my radio strapped to mine. I've had em' on my bikes since they were introduced in 1990. I enjoy the additional riding position you get that so happens to be beneficial in the wind. I only use them where its practical. But I do use them sometimes in the street and around traffic, if I'm in cruising mode.

scoatw

here is the trail bike. I have a 12 mile ride to the trails and I outfitted the mtn bike with the aerobars, which makes the trip more comfortable

mechanicalron

WoW,,, thank you! I will look at them in a new way

swoody

That's a great idea, and to be honest I think they look fine on a commuter. I live just west of Chicago, and my commute has me riding just on the other side of O'Hare airport. The winds in the entire area are bad, but riding headlong towards a giant, open field the wind can get pretty severe. 15mph headwinds are something of the norm now. I don't mind -10* F blizzards, or 90* F summers with 98% humidity as much as dealing with the daily winds around here. I've tried to drop and narrow my flat bars as much as possible, but there's only so much you can do. I'm going to give some serious consideration into some bolt-on aero bars now. Thanks!