I aslo have carpal tunnel in my wrists. I used to be able to ride any bar I wanted to but now thats not the case. I have found the Soma Sparrow to be super comfortable and easy on the hands and wrists. I have the standard bar but I am thinking the wider one might be even better. I really think a bar with a lot of rise to it that offers a natural hand position would help her out and the Sparow does that. There are other similar bars out there also.

Most women today are riding frames that are generally designed for men, with top tubes that are much too long for them proportionately. I can spot a girl riding a bike from distance just by the fact that they are often riding in a tuck. My girlfriend had constant wrist issues until she switched to a frame with a much shorter top tube, which she loved instantly.

If she's riding the tops of drop bars now, then switching to bullhorns is not going to make a difference. The top of a bullhorn is the exact same position, and the horns will be too far out. Haver her get a short rise stem and some riser or townie bars. An adjustable stem jacked all the way back might be a good temporary fix, even if they're ugly. You both should grow up and get over the "aggressive position".

I really doubt it will help. Think about it, bullhorns on the tops is the same position as drops on the tops, and bullhorns on the "horns" gives you pretty much the same position as riding on the flats/hoods. I would worry more about fit, reach and bar to saddle drop IMO. Has her bike been properly fitted?

You might want to tell people who ride at 40-50mph in aerobars that. They are a bad idea because they don't allow you to use your brakes, they don't make steering harder.

Though who is going to ride 40-50mph where there's "traffic/people/whatever?"

I hope you mean 40-50KM (distance) not MPH (speed). 40MPH isn't (generally) possible in aerobars. Those are track/road sprint speeds. Actually I think Cavendish is probably the fastest ever at 47MPH in a road sprint:



Tri guys ride on long open roads or semi-closed bike trails. Not in basic city commuter traffic. I have seen the occasional tri-guy in aerobars in rush hour traffic...catching h*ll.

I was more talking about people riding on the road with TT bikes, not so much racing. I have a friend I ride with..er..try to keep up with that descends in her aero bars at 30+mph.

Road bikers who ride on highways?

Clink83, you don't think it's harder to steer with your forearms than with your hands?

Have you ever actually used aerobars? Seriously.

Also, 30MPH isn't crazy fast, you know.

I'm sorry, I do mostly city riding, I've never imagined going over 35 mph unless I'm going down a hill. Even then if there is any amount of civilization I'd be hard pressed to go anywhere near that speed lol..

I have not, but I have spent a lot of time riding with someone who only rides a TT bike, as I said above. The point was more than aero bars aren't a bad idea because they make it hard to turn, they are a bad idea because you can't reach your brakes, even on a dedicated TT bike. No one with any common sense rides with aero bars at speeds low enough that you have to steer by turning the handlebars, so it's a bit of a nonissue.

I would consider 30mph very fast on a fixed gear off a track though. Not so much on a road bike.

30 is not fast. 40 is crazy fast.

stick with drops/hoods, gives her the most options, moving her hands around will help the most. Try getting her a pro fitting for her bike, should only cost like $75-100 at your LBS, and it'll do wonderful things. (of course you might have to buy a stem or something to adjust the fit) If you're looking to change things, I recently switched to FSA compact drops, which make the drop a bit less extreme, and the curvature fits my hands really well, it depends on her hands though, but I really like those bars. Also, see if you can find a bike with campy on it. the current lineup of campy hoods are ridiculously comfortable, I wanted to switch when i bought my last bike, but I'm way too bought into shimano/sram compatible wheels to do it.

Descending with her hands away from the brakes? Dont worry about keeping up, you'll live longer.

You are not speaking from experience. On your lunch break, go to a shop and test ride a time trial bike in the aerobars and get back to us.

IMO mustache/Bullhorn/TT bars will probably cause more pain. Getting into an upright riding position with weight off the wrists (townie, riser + positive rise stem) will probably make things a bit better. My favorite is riser (roughly shoulder width) + small bar ends/ergo grips.

Will that change the fact that there are lot of people riding TT bikes on curves, high speeds, and other things and managing just fine?

But they don't do those things on he aero bars. They get up and hold onto the base bars when they need to maneuver.

not very curvy, but he gets out of the aero position to corner

I might not be understanding the argument, or the situation but let me see if I do. Just for kicks and jiggles.

Carleton thinks its a bad idea to give a (possibly inexperienced) person TT bars for road use to remove pressure off their wrists.

Clinks thinks TT bars are fine for riding on open streets and isn't considering the fact that the people he says riding them (possibly other then his friend) ride them on closed courses?

Anyway, my opinion is that they are not safe nor really proper for normal, urban road use. Most of the time I don't even max out my speeds simply because I've almost been hit so many times, 4 this week, and counting.

I fear for small children when I see kooks laying on their aerobars riding through town traffic. Experienced tri-athletes seek training rides where there is little traffic, and it's fine for them to be in their armrests out there, but not for a daily rider.

Try out some cool townie bars, bring the grips closer to the rider so she can sit up. She can still lean forward and ride fast if she wants and it's not like bullhorns are any "cooler" than a nice set of townie-style bars.

No, my point is they are a bad idea because you don't have brakes, not because they make it hard to turn. You're going to harpoon the rear of a car or some pedestrian before you wreck in a high speed turn.

I didn't watch the whole vid, but in the early part hes doing fine on most of the curves, he's getting out of the aero bars more to brake, which is what I was talking about ^

But they are harder to turn. That's what you do not understand!

Leaning through a curve IS NOT turning a corner...much less maneuvering.

Man, I don't say this often (if ever), but you don't know what you are talking about.

From the "deals" thread, the VO branded bars are 20% off right now.

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...andlebars.html

I see where the confusion is. I worded my original post poorly.
I should have said:
That's also why they don't like them on group rides, idiots ride in the aerobars when they shouldn't then wreck into the person in front of them when they slow down. I should have said they don't make turning harder if you don't use them in foolish situations, like traffic.

Get a different stem.

One that sets the top of the bars level with the saddle. Also, one of those Nitto Noodle handlebars, which also has some sweep would probably be best. That way, she's got plenty of comfy hand positions at a level that will aggravate her CTS less, but if she wants to get all aggro, there's still the drops.

Stem might look dorky -- you'd probably be into 17-25 deg rise before you're done -- but it would be comfortable for her.

Otherwise, get a pro fitting. If she got issues, go to a pro for a solution... just make sure it's someone with some PT or other sports med type training who can deal with her particular issue.

moustache bars dud they are the only thing that I know of that doesn't drop and offers multiple comfortable hand positions