I've been toying with the idea of putting a set of these triathlon aeros on the ToughRoad to give me some upper body relax time
and a speed increase on those long straight stretches. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who uses them and what their opinion is on the benefits/drawbacks.

For those not in the know here is a good article on them.
Aerobars | Triathlon, Time Trial and Cycle Race Aero Bars

I don't have them, but I have seen a few on the road. From talking to the riders who have them, it is only to give their wrist/hands a break on long rides, not so much for the reduced wind resistance.

Go for it you dont need permission..

Touring bikes Have, (look in that forum Archives) , you can also slide bar ends in the center then put the levers and grips On..

to get a More aero Position ..

I used an Aero bar rig 30 Years ago on my commuter ... I had a Fairing in front so the aero was Not from bending way the Heck Over , Low.


It was More comfortable , Behind the fairing too Zzipper 'thriller' road fairing..

I was going to install them on my hybrid for better aero on longer, higher speed rides. Then I bought my road bike.

Were they fitted on racers? A racer is pretty aero anyway so they wouldn't gain as much as a hybrid rider would. I tried the IAB thing and found it very unsettling lol. You'd need a very smooth road for that to work safely.

No I don't need permission, but I do need to know if it's practical. A lot of what I have read since posting this thread suggests that the seat position has to be altered to make them work efficiently. I don't like the idea of having to tinker with that, it has taken me ages to get it right as it is. I've a friend who has a Giant Roam with them fitted, it's a M not a Large but I'll take it for a ride and see what they feel like.

Took mine off 20 years ago .. The Fairing * made the wind go around me rather than through my clothing.
and It quieted the noise , so I could hear the Books on Tape reading better for My Hour down the road, between work and Home

Nearby Towns.. Zzipper fairing

Profile Single tube Bull horns + aero Bars with the down tube shifters moved to the fr=ont of the aero Bar,
reverse brake levers in the bull horn bar ends .
Not my Bike , company site
Title

I moved Since then .. Retired , Now I use a Bike with trekking bars the far reach on them gets the headwind hunker down good enough ..

Mostly now like to day I ride to the Pub , for Pints ... cheers!

Funny you should bring this up, I have been thinking along these lines too.


It often seems to me that when I am riding my Toughroad that being able to rest my elbows/forearms on these kind of aero bar setups would be ideal as that seems to be the position I often find myself capable of easily being in.


I'd be looking at getting a setup that has comfy resting pads and the resting pad replacements are readily available.


I think I will definitely try this sort of arrangement out, but it will not be for at least 6 months I suspect.

I don't have a hybrid but thought I'd share anyway.
If you use aero bars you'll have to get a shorter stem so your position doesn't change, you may have to raise the stem also. Triathletes didn't change their stems and had to push their saddles forward to compensate then discovered they ran better after a time trial, so left it. Forgetting aerodynamics, you'll be faster as your upper body will rest more and allow you to put more into your lower body.
If you're in a lot of stop and go commute, the benefits wont be as apparent.

Ok tex, thanks for the input. I imagine once mounted there is a bit of latitude as to adjustment also some natural barriers like your knees getting in the way if you have the rests too far back. I will keep investigating this as I don't like the other options, namely those barend horns.

Although I have seen a lot of them on road bikes, I meant that I have seen aerobars on hybrids and the owners were using the forearm rest to relieve their wrist and hand pain, not for the aerodynamics. They were actually pretty upright.

Ok, thanks, this is the sort of information I was hoping to come out in the thread. What is actually being used and how. Relieving wrist pain is half the equation so even if that was all that was achieved it would be worth it.

I can see how you can't achieve a decent aero position on a hybrid like my toughroad, it's just not designed for it though other bikes that came out with the factory options of either flatbar or drops would lend themselves more. These hybrids like mine are a compromise of course so any gain in aero would never approach what you'd achieve on those dedicated tri bikes.

Still It's built into a lot of us to try and stretch the envelope, when it's safe to do so

I had them on my hybrid bike for a while, and I liked the variety they gave me, and the ability to get out of the wind...

BUT, I had bought and EXTREMELY cheap set, and they kept getting loose, and when I tightened them the metal was so soft it would just compress and get loose again. I finally decided they were unsafe to keep using and threw them away.

I didn't ever replace them...and then I bought a road bike. :-)

I imagine you would have to practice getting back to the bars with the brakes in a hurry, also I don't believe they are very good for turning in even a mild corner? If I fit them I'll be very cagey how and when I use them.

You'll get more confident as you use them. You'll basically move your hands back to slow down for a 90' turn, then once you've made the turn get back in the aero position. It will become instinctive.

How about turns of lesser radii, can you negotiate a sweeper with your arms on the pads?

Oh yeah, you can do curvy roads Ok, you just have to try it and you'll get a feel for how tight a turn you can make with the aero bars. The reality is, you can do a tight turn with them if you go slow enough.

In fact, as kid, I used to ride around my block on the 4-foot wide side-walks taking the corner side-walk turns with NO-HANDS!. ( i CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE).

Ha-ha...I remember doing that too. What happened to us??!!

Other than slow speed maneuvering, the front wheel doesn't turn much at all. Leaning into the curve is what guides the bike around.

What I have learned about riding with no hands, is that it depends a lot on the bikes geometry and weight distribution. I have messed up a perfectly stable bike by moving the saddle a bit to far forward. As little as 1/4 inch can make a big difference. In general, touring bikes are pretty forgiving. Some racier road bikes are twitchy no matter how you try to adjust them.

I have Profile Design T3+ bars on my 2013 Trek 7.2fx. I had to install a shim as I have 25.4mm bars and the t3's minimum diameter is 26.1mm. Other than that, they're really comfortable and pretty stable once you get used to them. I was going to shorten the stem, but in doing so, I'd make the steering more twitchy. I have the stock 100mm stem. At most, I'd consider dropping to a 70 or 80mm. The shorter you go, the more twitchy the steering.

I found that I gained 4+ mph on the straights. I have a nice long road close to the house that's about 18 miles long. I was averaging 17-18 mph before the bars, and 22-25 with the bars. I did have to install a PD fast forward seat post to get into the position that was comfortable though. After that, it's smooth sailing.

The only thing I don't like about the setup is the preparation to get into the aerobars. You have to switch to a gear that you can stay in for the duration of your straigh section. Moving from the aerobars to the shifters is not fun, and semi hazardous if your balance isn't spot on. I shift to a gear that is somewhat difficult to maintain while on the main bar. That's the gear you'll be spinning in on the aeros.

I've also toyed with the idea of going from the stock 700x35c tires to a 28c tire to see the increase/decrease in speed/comfort. ATM, 35c's are pretty comfy, just not fast as possible with the current setup.

That's some good feedback. Do you find they get in your way if you have to climb or sprint out of the saddle?

To be honest, there really aren't any hills of note near Kingwood Texas. The only hills would be the overpasses. They don't get in the way when I transition to the main bar.

The only drawback I've seen so far is transitioning between the the main bar in the aero bars for breaking and or shifting.

I made a short video of installing the bars on my Trek. I'll try and get that uploaded tonight on YouTube. I'll also post the link here for easy searching. It won't have any riding portions but it will have set up info and a few tidbits as far as comfortable positioning

I debated it wondering how much I could gain... best investment ever. I'm up 2.1 mph average speed on a 20 mile loop I do and it adds quite a bit of relief on long rides. Go for it and post some pics!

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