Hi everyone! I am new to road biking and I thought I could get some advice from some of the more established road bikers. I ordered a Vilano road bike from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Vilano-Aluminu...2887607&sr=1-2) because I needed a starting point in road biking and I didn't have the $600+ to spend on a better entry level bike. My question is: is it possible to mount clip on aero bars on this particular bike, given that it has index handlebar shifters? I feel like the aero bars wouldn't fit because the shifters are in the way. What do you guys think?

I did a little bit of research on the internet and I was also wondering about converting to STI shifting. Should I do it?

Thank you all for your help!

Looks like they might be in way of clip-ons. Hard to tell how bad from the photo, but maybe the shifters can be moved outward some to make room.

As far as converting to STI.... you'd spend nearly as much on that 'upgrade' as you did for the bike itself. Not worth it. Your money would've been better spent on a used bike that already has 'em. I know your budget isn't that huge, but a new $600 road bike sells for $200-400 on the used market in good condition.

Oh, trust me. I looked all over craigslist and ebay and all i found was bikes from the 1990s selling for around the same price which I bought the Vilano for.