mattm

Based on that, aero bars are bs (in my opinion) - at least based on how expensive they are.

happybday29475

Yep! So, handlebar is 2x more important than front wheel! Yet everybody runs aero front wheels but not aero bars...

edit: lol my take is the opposite of TKP's and Matt's!

TheKillerPenguin

That's sort of my opinion as well. 300ish to save 1-2% overall? I'm all about marginal gains but that's hard to justify if someone isn't giving them to you for free.

TheKillerPenguin

Sure but aero bars serve one purpose which is to save a little energy. A set of race wheels accomplish multiple things: aero, stiff, light, gives you redundancy (dedicated training hoops), etc.

I can't blame someone for buying one because watts saved are watts saved and marginal gains make a difference when stacked on top of each other. I just can't justify it myself is all.

Harlan

I also think about how my aero frame and wheels can sail in a cross/tail wind situation. Aero bars won't sail.

I also wonder how much shoe covers, longer shorts, aero socks (they exist) will do compared to the bar. Probably more for cheaper. Plus changing the bar with di2 is especially painful since my wife would have to get a longer wire to reach a stem mounted junction box.

Ygduf

?? $300 for the fanciest aero road bars (they do make alu ones too, for like $70) vs. $1000+ for a zipp 404 front wheel. that's like 6 to 1 cost-to-return.

anyway, this small margin stuff helps but is so exceedingly unlikely to produce a win (vs. you know training and learning to race) that it's all a poor investment!

mattm

Yeah but nobody really notices an aero bar - EVERYONE sees your aero wheels.

And we all know 60% of being fast is looking cool right?

Ygduf

I can't see my aero wheel because of my big flat aero bars. placebo!

Hermes

Reviewing the Cervelo data, I am going to get rid of my drive train.

grolby

What I wonder about aero handlebars is how much you can shrink that 6%, compared to other aero gear. For example, if the front wheel has only half the contribution to total drag as the handlebar, but if you can get triple the improvement from an aero front wheel, the front wheel starts to look like it might be a better investment. I highly doubt that this is true, but I hope you see my point. If the handlebar is 6% of total drag, but the best aero bar in the world can only save you 1 watt over the worst, it's probably not worth $400. Like I said, I don't think that's true, it's probably more than that.

The other thing about handlebars, which I sort of mentioned earlier, is there's a significant interaction between the bar and bike fit. Which is why the Enve bar is interesting to me. My naive assumption is that the fancy airfoil shapes on the tops and, in some cases, the drops, matter less than being able to get into a more aerodynamic position. So you're potentially moving the needle a lot just by interacting with the handlebar differently even if it's not necessarily "aero." Building a flared bar like the Enve SES strikes me as a very smart approach, and it suggests that you could spend way less money on a more conventional flared bar to and get at least some of the same kind of improvement.

jsk

Aero bars aren't necessarily more expensive than other carbon fiber handlebars. Of course there's a big difference in price between ALU and CF handblebars, and using CF allows for more aero shapes.

I have the 3T Aeronova's. What I like most about them is how comfortable they are for the various different hand/arm positions I can use (include IAB). I do wish they are slightly narrower at the hoods (they're about 2cm narrower than at the drops, 4cm would be ideal).

As far as actual aero gains, I'm guessing they're fairly minimal, but they can't hurt. To get the most gains I think you really need fully-internal wiring and integrated brakes.

TheKillerPenguin

IIRC I once read that each inch of exposed cable (relative to front cross section) = 1W of drag at 40km/h. It might have been 50k though, I can't remember exactly.

shovelhd

I thought your helmet was the #1 aero drag producer.

Ygduf

probably counts as part of the rider in the rider/bike equation

carpediemracing 

I might get on the road and question my sanity on the Adamos - they are an absolute tank of a saddle - but it'll be a while before I'm out on the road.

I'm not sure what I'm doing with my SLR saddles at this point (I bought 3, 2 for the bikes, 1 as a spare). I'd like to keep one, probably the carbon railed one, for my track bike, if I ever ride that again. I have two ti railed ones, white, black. A bit busy with other things right now but selling a saddle seems a reality. I'll PM you.

Doge

Ygduf

those thumb shifters are asking for trouble if you ask me. I'd much rather tap a lever with a finger during a sprint than give up half my grip to lift my thumb. No one asked me though.

Otherwise nice except for the attention-seeking mismatched bar tape.

globecanvas

You'll have to take my (and everyone else's) word for it that you're wrong on that. Sprint shifters allow you to keep a much stronger grip on the bars than going for the regular shifter paddle.

grolby

Yeah, I think your thumb has enough movement to tag a sprint shifter without disrupting your grip, if the shift button is placed well. Though I don't think reaching forward with an index finger is that bad. SRAM made a big deal when their road groups first came out about the "sprint position," where you can pull the shifter lever back to the bar and shift by twisting your wrist a little. But I always found that much more awkward than they claimed, and more difficult to do in a sprint than than just tapping that big shift paddle with my index finger.

Doge

Well the point of the picture was adding to the AERO discussion. We tested both red and white tape and couldn't find which was faster, so getting the average. It doesn't cause the bike to turn either, so may just go one color as they seem the same.

gsteinb

fudgy sprints?

Doge

To the shiftier discussion I always thought the MAVIC Mectronic had the best setup. I could wind it up in one gear and flip my pinkey on the rocker and get the next highest out of the saddle the whole time. Di2 works that way too but takes more force, different fingure, but I thought the MAVIC was easier-when it worked.

shovelhd

There's that. Also, you don't have to release your thumb grip to push the sprint button. You can bump it from underneath with your thumb knuckle. At least that's how I have mine set up and how I have shifted in race sprints. Like with everything else it takes practice.

hack

I'm looking forward to the SRAM etap stuff rolling out. That may be what gets me into 11 speed stuff...maybe.

Hermes

He sprints. He just cannot go over 30 mph.

BTW, trackies do not have to shift to sprint.