slowandsteady

Okay, I don't do time trials...the clock would die before I actually finished one. But, I ride a fuji road bike with clip on aerobars and drops. The aerobars are mainly for comfort on long rides. I never ride in the drops. I always feel like I am about to fall forward/down in the drops. I am 70% hoods and 30% aerobars.

Is there any advantage comfort wise to getting TT cowhorn bars?

voltman

Why would you need to replace your current bar? And how would you mount your shifters here?

merlinextraligh

getting the cow horn bars would just limit your options.

slowandsteady

That is exactly my question. I was just wondering if they are more comfortable than hoods.

slowandsteady

How do you figure? I hate using the drops. As far as I am concerned they don't even exist since I never use them. I am just looking to something more comfortable than hoods. It may not exist, but just asking....

slowandsteady

Also, I have ergo/anatomical drops. Could that be why they suck? I had "normal" drop bars many years ago on my 10 speeds and never had this issue where I feel like I am about to fall off anytime I am in the drops.

bound

I put Ritchey's probicus TT bars on my Allez with my Tiagra brifters on the cowhorn section, and I love it, I'm going to be getting a pair of the inline brake levers to put out on the end of the aerobars. should get some really odd looks then.

VanceMac

I ride a single speed with bullhorns a lot. My geared bike has regular drops. The answer to that specific question is: grabbing the end of the bullhorns is 100x more comfortable and more secure than grabbing the hoods.

But, as others have mentioned, it usually is not worth giving up the much more versatile drops just for that. If you truly do not use the drops EVER, and we can't convince you to keep giving them a try (you'll get used to them), then yea, maybe the move to bullhorns is worth considering.

Grasschopper

If this is true your bars are too low and or your bike fit isn't correct.

redfooj

dont tilt your bars so CCW that the ends point down at the ground.. get the drops more or less level

slowandsteady

Nope, not ever. Well maybe for about 15 seconds once a month then the "i am going to die" feeling hits, then back to the hoods. Like I mentioned, I used to use drops all of the time, back in the 80's when my ten speed had classic drops and they were just fine.

slowandsteady

What is CCW?

Yeah, I know this is part of the problem. To get the hoods comfy I tilt the bars up slightly, which essentially makes the anatomical bars disappear. If the drops are remotely comfy, then the hoods are shear torture. I already switched my stem to a 130 degree rise and have the maximum amount of stem height. The hoods look like they are in the right place, but maybe I could do well to move them up a bit.

The other issue I have with drops is that I am overweight and being that low just makes my thighs hit my gut which makes pedalling even more work. There really is no point in doing drops at this point. The slight aero advantage doesn't make up for the gut disadvantage. Yes, I am losing weight, but it will take me about a year to lose it all. I need some comfort in the mean time. Then I can consider an agressive position.

merlinextraligh

Personally I don't find the base bars of my TT bike to be as comfortable as either riding on the hoods or on top of the drop bars on my road bike. And I find riding in the drops more comfortable than riding in the aero bars.

Changing to bull horn bars would entail new brakes, new shifters, new cables, for no advantage I can see. And I do think as your conditioning improves you might like the drop postion, particularly if the bike is well fitted to you.

If you're looking for more comfort, I'd consider getting caron fiber drop bars with an ergonomic hand position on the tops.

urbanknight

I like to grab the drops deep, so my anatomical ones are tilted way back. No problems there. I agree that bullhorns will limit your choices and only seem to serve the purpose of saving weight, which means you could be fine with them if you never use the drops but you're not gaining any real advantage. Also, keep in mind the aero position is dangerous when riding in traffic or in a pack, so without drops, you have no aero position for such applications.

The guy I rode with last Sat, by the way, had bullhorns and no aero bars and seems happy with his choices on his single speed... not to mention making me sweat through the rollers as if I was the one without gears!

Trevor98

CCW = counter clockwise. To replace the drop bars (assuming you currently have integrated bifters) you could either put the bifters on the basebar (which is odd looking) or replace the bifters with bar-end shifters and brake levers- both options can be made to work and each has benefits.

As for comfort, basebars are not designed for comfort but are comfortable for some people. There are less options for basebars than for drop bars but comfort for you could be awful for me- you must choose what is right for you. Using the drop bars is mostly a fit and personally getting use to the position. Your issue of weight is an additional factor- use what ever makes you comfortable and gets you on the bike. If the bike is collecting dust in the garage it really doesn't matter how cool it looks.

redfooj

do you have photos of your current cockpit setup? there are so many bars out there - shape and size. some of them , like your description , dont lend well to comfort at both positions (hoods AND drops). from the sound of it , maybe you can benefit from shallow-drop anatomic bars such as ritchey? hard to tell , but try to see if your LBS will let you experiment or test

531Aussie

too much weight moving forward could also be a saddle tilt issue