NudeBiker

Don't get this wrong I love my hybrid but would like a road bike too.
Ok I have had a lot of help about picking a road bike and I would do it yesterday if I had the money. Meanwhile I will enjoy my time on the trek 7200 hybrid until I find the money. Have thought I could get a little more power and ride further if I put aero bars on the 7200. Crazy? Since I recently had hand surgery and just back in the saddle and holding the handlebars was a little painful so I tried sort of assuming the position one might be in if aero bars were on and it felt great and I seem to be fairly comfortable. Now if you are lol ok.

AdelaaR

Why would anything that is simple physics and logic ever be "crazy"?
I use a combination of flatbar with barends and aerobar and I love it.
I'm on the aerobars about 80% of the time when doing roads while on the flatbar mostly when doing offroad and on the barends for doing steep hills.
Don't think of how it looks or what other people will think of it ... believe me: it's fantastic
The exact combination of what barends with what aerobars exactly is very personal ofcourse so choose wisely.
I've got some pictures of my set-up on pages 45-46 of the picture thread if you want to get an idea of it.

fietsbob

Getting the weight off your arms , after surgery to your hands is an obvious advantage to getting back on the bike..

A number of years ago I adopted a Zzipper Fairing attached to some older aerobars , and used a rather tall quill and short extension stem.

Behind the fairing getting low bent over was not important, so I had a comfortable position for a hour long commute
down a road not heavily traveled to roll along with a 'Books on Tape' selection in the ear-buds ..

NudeBiker

You bring tears to my eyes. Some of these forums get a little off the subject. You go right to the point and tell me I should go for the aero bars. Thank you very much. I hope to return the favor someday. Ever in NY?

AdelaaR

If you were referring to me: no ... I'm never in NY since I live in Belgium
Getting aerobars was a difficult choice for me as they were quite expensive (about 100€) and I never rode with them before I got them so I wasn't sure what type to get or if it would even realy help me ... but after a couple of hundred miles with them I gotta say it has been the best thing I ever got for my bike

NudeBiker

Yes I was referring to you. I rode out with a group today and they all had road bike and I was not really able to keep up but I would have been a little closer to the pack with the aero bars. I found some carbon ones for about $132. I little pricey but not as bad as yours. They are profile design as are yours. What model did your get? I love your pictures. Thanks again.
Invite is still open if you ever get to NY.

AdelaaR

Hehehe ... NY ... who knows, right? Maybe one day.
I got the "Jammer GT", since it has bended arms and I think that it is easier for me to hold them without twisting my wrists too much.
It is also quite short compared to typical aerobars, which is a perfect fit for a normal geometry bike.
I do not believe in carbon, since the weight difference is marginal but the price is higher and it tends to be less durable, so mine are aluminum. (about 90% of my bike is aluminum btw)
I paid 89€ for them in a cheap dutch online shop, but the typical price around here in LBS's is 100+ ... you can't compare prices in $ in NY to prices in € in Belgium by simply converting the currency ... since profile design is an american company you will allways get them cheaper

NudeBiker

Thanks---- the Jammer GT is about $65 here and weigh 512g and the carbon ones I looked at for $132 say the weight 1.6 pounds or 725g. This makes no sense. I will contact Profile Designs.

AdelaaR

Take into acount that the "Jammer GT" is a pretty short aerobar and this may probably make it lighter than others.
The weight of the clamps and the pads is identical anyway as they are the same.

Sylv

I have to admit, if I passed someone bent over aerobars on a hybrid I'd probably have a good laugh. To me that's like putting one of those big obnoxious spoilers on a Honda Civic. But your situation sounds like it makes sense.

qmsdc15

Sylv, there is a reason you haven't passed a hybrid rider using aerobars. It's more likely one will pass you.

Sylv

The way the headwinds sliced me apart today you may be right.

Just saying it would be unusual as the OP himself alluded to, but I think it is a good idea for the OP until he can get a road bike.

AdelaaR

Some people, like me, do not have the option of a roadbike.
I have a double hernia in both my back and my neck ... I can hardly move my left arm as I am typing this and will probably have to take a muscle relaxant very soon to reduce the pain and throbbing headache.
I simply can not ride a bike if the saddle is higher than the handlebar.
Therefore ... I have concocted myself a nice combination of a 30 degree stem, a flat handlebar, barends and an aerobar.
Using this combination I manage to maintain a speed of 30 miles per hour for about one mile on a flat road ... on a hybrid bike

spwelton

Haha, no you're not crazy. I've been considering doing this myself. Unfortunately for my bike, the car usually wins out on hobby spending. lol

waynesworld

I just bought a used set of aero bars from CL, planning to put them on my 7.3 FX. My biggest problem now seems to be handlebar real estate. I'm not sure where I'll put my headlight.

MarkN

<fellow hybrid rider>
I've been frustrated by riding into the wind a lot lately and toyed with the idea of Aero bars. However I don't have a physiological condition that necessitates them and, I'm ashamed to say I agree with Sylv. Aero bars would just look out of place on my Hybrid, like I was trying a bit too hard with no real clue what I'm doing - which may or may not be true. Not that's it's a particular issue - I'm only ever dropped on the open road by the shaven legged men in tights crouched over their aeros on their uber machines of slippery quickness. I just get a small, ridiculously silly but worthwhile nevertheless, warm feeling from cruising past roadies on a bike that is quite clearly a long in the tooth hybrid,

Mind you, I had to do something about the aerodynamics so, in lieu of swapping my Dawes Discovery 601 hybrid for a road bike, I swapped for a longer 140mm stem (flipped down), moved the extra spacers to above the stem, sawed 10cm off the handlebars, and added longer bar ends. The result allows the bike to keep its clunky-looking hybrid credentials while (for me) considerably improving the riding position. Bonus; cheap!

Tom Bombadil

I have two friends who installed aero bars on their hybrids and they really like them. One of them does 50+ mile rides regularly and said the aero bars improved his speed by about 1.5 mph. He's in good shape and is a fairly strong rider, so YMMV.

qmsdc15

While you might not have a physiological condition that necessitates the use of aerobars, it seems you have a psychological condition that prevents you from using them. I'm glad you found a solution to your problem.

MarkN

Heh. A psychological condition called 'I don't want to look like a prat by adding an expensive upgrade I don't physically require to a bike designed for a different purpose'-itis.

Somehow I'll survive

AdelaaR

If you think that I "look like a prat" because I have an aerobar on my bike ... I have no problem with that ... you may silently think whatever you want while I am coasting right past you

MarkN

I wouldn't grudge it to you, since you'd clearly be putting in so much effort, but I'd still be wondering why you'd gone through the trouble of fitting a feature designed for racing to a bike designed for something else, and then gone out and raced it. Unless of course your 'hybrid' is actually designed for racing or you're just some kind of hybrid-riding super hero who does that kind of thing.

To be fair, the last time I recall being passed on the open road (it was a while ago) was by a chap in lycra hunched over his aero bars, so I've no doubt they're effective. But then I had a couple of full pannier bags while his whole bike looked like it was designed to be slippery. And calves the size of melons.

Anway. This is the internet; talk is cheap

AdelaaR

Spot on: My hybrid is indeed quite racy and I am indeed some kind of hybrid-riding super hero
Talk is indeed cheap, especially on the internet, but I know I just returned from doing 14 miles in 90 degrees at an average of 19,5 mph.
I passed many roadbikes on the asfalt parts and passed many mountainbikes on the graveltrails around the local municipal lake-pool-family-park-thing (or whatever one could call that place).
The main reason I've got aerobars isn't aerodynamics and speed though ... I originally bought them to easy my sore back.

qmsdc15

MarkN, you"re riding a hybrid! You already look like a total Fred to all real cyclists! Set your bike up however you want, then ride with your face covered so nobody can tell it's you.

AdelaaR

Well ... it depends on one's point of view:
I personally think that all those wannabe cool roadies look like a bunch of idiots on their multi-thousand-dollar-bikes and wearing their flashy quickstep-outfits even though they are not professional cyclists and are not teammembers of quickstep or any other cycling team.
Most of them are nothing more than phony posers.
Whenever there's a little race around here ... and that happens about every two weeks ... there's allways a whole lot of those guys standing around (not even really cycling no no just standing besides their bikes) and trying hard to show off how very flashy and expensive their bike and their outfit is.
I find them to be funny, yet also a little bit sad ... like a circus full of crying clowns

MarkN

Yeah, gotta say I'm with AdelaaR on this one. I commute from one side of London to the other and back, passing more "real cyclists" than I care to count. Don't get me wrong, I love cycyling and tend to give it my all when I'm doing it, but I really wouldn't want to make a big thing about it or show off expensive kit while I'm at it. At the end of the day I'm still doing it to get from A to B and my hybrid serves me admirably.