Originally Posted by
twocicle
Most of the previous aero bar usage photos in this thread, show people with decent body angles, but sitting back behind the BB in a comfy 74/74 degree seat post angle, just jacks up the chest into the wind. As a rough example, if you had a 90 degree bend at waist, your 74 degree seat angle would yield a 16 degree chest exposure. Taking those same body angles and rotating forward to near zero seat setback could provide a 0 degree (horizontal) chest. That is just an example, of course there are "legal limits" to how far forward you can push the saddle and so the "superman" positions are outlawed.
Now, if you are using aero bars for purely comfort reasons, then all this is mute. Personally I've never done any time in a wind tunnel. Our old poor man's coach in 4 man team time trial training was to tape string to our helmets and give each other feedback as we rode.
There are some serious TT folks on here who might think about this. We just do somewhat competitive sport riding. My single bike experience is that simply putting on clip-ons equals about 1.5 mph at the same power, no change in position. Descending on a my single, sitting with clip-ons is very slightly faster than having my chin 2" above a slammed stem, back level. I think that whole effect is simply getting 6' of cylinder, one's arms, out of the direct wind. It also helps a hair that one can drop one's chest down between one's shoulders and also drop the head. This is harder to do in the drops because of muscular tension. I kind of have done hours in a wind tunnel - riding in the mountains, the same courses year after year.
My point is that aerobars are not for comfort, though comfort is a nice side benefit. I ride with a strong rando guy who has his clip-ons jacked up on extensions at least an inch above his bars. He can pull like that for hours. Funny that no one wants to go around him.
So I was thinking, good for the captain, good for the stoker. No titanium bolts. Almost free speed. Takes a cooperative, flexible stoker though. We're still working on it. I'll try to get some detail photos.