I have a shiny new Giant OCR 3 and am just starting to train for my first triathlon (and ride a road bike for the first time). I want to put aerobars on it - but don't want to remove the extra brakes on the top bar.

Any tips? Is there a brand of aerobars that might work better?

Also any tips on shifting with Sora components? I already miss the easy shifting on my hybrid.....

You could rotate the brake levers down a bit, then retighten. What aerobars have you tried?

If I were you, I'd get real familiar with my new road bike before adding aero/tri bars. You will have significantly less control with aero bars since the bars are so close together. Like a minimum 500-1000 miles, on roads where you will have to stop and go a lot. Maybe even fall once because you forget to clip out at a red light. Remember, if you go the cheap route, you won't have access to your brakes or shifters while using your aeros.

ditto

Rotate your brakes down anyway. They should point down like on an MTB. If you are like me, you will really like them at first, and then start to use them less and less. I just took mine off.

Try taking a look at the Performance century bars. The part that goes around the bar is very thin. Nevertheless, it will be a tight fit.

That has been my concern with the Giant TCR Aero 2 I just orderd, but it doesn't matter I still want it!

Elvish

I have an OCR 2 with Profile Aerostryke aerobars. I ended up removing the inline brake levers. It is a tight fit on the bars with the aerobar and cyclometer and all. Besides, in my humble opinion, the inline brake levers are not needed.

I had used an OCR 3 for a season and a half, including tri's. Profile design century fits fine without removing the top brake lever. You may notice that the the length to be to long to effectivly get areo and utilize the elbow pads comfortably.

I actually use mine quite a lot. Must be because I rode BMX for so long, I instinctively gravitate to them even when my hands are already resting on the lever hoods...

Now that I think about it that's probably a bad habit to have.

This is a pretty personal/subjective thing.

I borrowed a bike last year (before I'd done any cycling), attached some Profile Design clip-on aero bars and rode for a few weeks and was fine competing in my first triathlon. For me, it was not that crazy hard to figure out how to steer with the aero bars. Try it and judge for yourself how comfortable you'll be.

Also, if you plan to only have one bike (and will be doing regular riding in addition to the occasional tri), using aero bars might be the perfect solution (it is for me). "the cheap route" seems a bit judgmental and subjective. I'm going "the cheap route" after buying a $2K road bike and adjusting it for my triathlon season. Doesn't really feel that cheap, but it does feel like I'm taking the steps necessary to meet my needs.

I like the Profile Design clip-on aero bars, by the way.

Sizing and fitting, by the way, is another matter. Check out this recent thread of mine on the topic (but remember that the Giant frame geometry is much different than Trek):

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/130132-part-iii-stems-spacers-fitting.html