cantdrv55

For those long rides, especially. I saw almost no one on the last charity ride I did sporting aero bars. I've never done a century but if'n I did, I'd use aero bars to keep the weight off my hands for a bit. Switch it up a little.

What stops you from having those thangs? Too dorky looking? Too pretentious? Or are they only for the TT crowd?

FixdGearHead

I'm a minimalist

FrankBattle 

You don't need them if you are properly fitted to/on your bike. This whole bit about weight off your hands is overrated. With regular bars, I have plenty of places to put my hand on longer rides .. but it could just be me.

They serve a [specific] purpose .. probably not meant for everyday run-of-the-mill riding.

Thank you for not making this a poll, by the way.

El Diablo Rojo

+1

caloso

I have them on my tri bike but they're downright dangerous on a group ride.

zonatandem

After you ride your first century . . .

socalslowguy

Because I don't like using aerobars. I'm even doing a sprint tri in a couple of weeks and decided to leave my clip-on aerobars in the garage. I just prefer riding without them.

GuitarWizard

Never had a use for them. If I had a time trial bike though, then I would.

bbattle

I'm not a time trialist nor a triathlete. I don't have a weight on my hands problem during long rides.


If you want them, get them. Some group rides may not want you to ride with them if you've got aero bars. They don't steer as well and can be more dangerous to others in a crash.

patentcad

I just purchased a TT bike. I rode the bike at my LBS for about 10 minutes. The most uncomfortable 10 mins of my life. I got the TT bike in part because I refuse to put clip on bars on one of my two road bikes (that I ride constantly). I don't consider aero bars comfortable. They make you faster for TT's or triathlons. That is all. That's why I got a TT bike - I want to compete in USCF TT's.

It will take me quite some time to get comfortable on a TT bike in the aero position. I'm not sure I can do it. But I will try. And yes, the dork factor on a road bike goes exponentially over the top into the Fredosphere on a bike with TT bars. But my desire to race TT's is greater than my disdain for aero bars. But not by much.

By the way everything about road cycling is pretentious. Aerobars are just dorkier.

labrat_62

unless I am on a TT bike which is set up for them, i find aerobars very uncomfortable. they pull me up on the seat, put to much weight on my shoulder, etc. i just think that you cannot set up a road bike to look like a TT bike. Oddly, i don't know how much difference it makes. In a 40K portion of a triathlon, i finished 101 out of 1544 on the bike, without aerobars, i think the average person might lose a touch of time in them. my 0.02$

merlinextraligh

Take a good look at the people using aero bars on a century ride. Setting aside the few folks that are essentially riding a 100 mile TT on a bike set up as a TT bike, In my experience you'll see:

1) the bars are set up in a way that's not very aero. (because if they were, it would not be very comfortable for a ride of that distance.)

2) the majority of folks with aerobars on a century, don't ride them for the vast majority of the time, which tells you something.

orcanova

I have clip-ons for my TT bike.

And I used them when I biked the Blue Ridge Parkway solo, not for aerodynamics, since I was climbing most of the time, but just for another riding position since my lower back can bother me when I'm in the saddle all day.

Hocam

They'd get in the way of my handlebar bag.


/Fredness

barba

I find them a little squirrelly.

patentcad

Yep. 90% of the TT bar equipped riders I see are:

• Fat

• Slow

• Not very aero

Pcad will be none of the above. Well, OK, compared to Dr. W. and Mikey G., I'll be slow. But I'll LOOK good on that TT bike. I'll be faster than SOMEBODY. And that's all that really matters.

'A little squirrely'?

I nominate this statement for the BF Understatement Medallion of Merit.

ks1g

I've done centuries with and without them. Mostly for additional hand positions, relieve stress on wrists (mild carpal tunnel/hand numbness), and to try to convince myself I'm getting some minimal aerodynamic benefit on windy/flat centuries (Seagull). I used Profile Designs "Jammer GT" bars, which are meant more for comfort and less for TT/tri aero. And I am CAREFUL about not using them when I am trailing someone, in traffic, or think I may need to maneuver in a hurry (like on a bike trail). So they don't always get used. But I liked them when I was in situations where I could use them.

Earlier this season, I swapped out my handlebars with carbon bars that are short drop/reach, next size down in width, and replaced the stem with one with a little more rise. The bike is more comfortable than with the old handlebars, so I'm trying it without the jammer bars for now. Longest ride so far is 4 hrs; a few more long rides and I will have a better idea if I think I still want the jammer bars on the bike. For now, I think not, so the comments re: bike fit may be right. As always, YMMV, and if it works for you (and you use them safely), then do it.

KevinF

I've only very rarely seen people who live in hilly / mountainous areas put aero-bars on their bike. Descending on aero-bars seems like a sure-fire way to die, and climbing? Aero-bars are just hood ornaments on any type of "real" climb. I see a lot more (still not a lot) of cyclists using them when I travel to flatter areas though -- there I could see an actual use.

tubs

and using the aero bars and doing 5mph

CardiacKid

When I want to take pressure off my hands, I ride no handed. My bike handles about as well that way as with aero bars and I get to stretch out my back.

R900

+1, I guess if you were solo for the vast majority of a century trying to make time they would help. Also most add about 1 lb to the front of a bike, seems like a lot of weight to carry all the time. Most people that have them around here are either racer types that use them for aero, or causal riders that use them for comfort. That said, I bet 2/3 - 3/4 of the local riders have them on at least one bike. I don't use them myself.

SandLizrd

I ride three or four events each year where aero-bars are outlawed

'nother

Just never felt the need I guess (even after my first, second, third, etc. century+ rides). They are big red flags to many in group rides.

For a TT, maybe, if I ever found myself in a TT.

lvleph

If you are fitted properly there shouldn't be much weight on your hands.

pelotonracer

When you use aerobars on a road bike, you need to shove the seat as far forward in its rails as possible, and then raise the seat by half an inch.

That's the way to get a TT fit on a road bike- opening up the torso/thigh angle in the aero tuck.