Aero bars-- tapered bars
 

A few questions:

Do the mounts work on tapered bars (in this case flat bars)?

I have a space of about 6" between my shifters? Is that enough?

Please recommend make and model (everything else equal, lighter is better)

I like my flat bars but do have problems with numb fingers. I'm thinking the aero bars might help. Plus I'm sure they wouldn't hurt in the headwinds :-)



Thanks,
Bob

several brands of aero bars and Bars to mount them onto do you have a more specific question

brand , Web linked to the parts you intend to match.. submit pictures..



or is this just throwing a stone in a pond, to watch the ripples?


I like Trekking Bars, Myself , Ergon Grips, when the Trekking Bars are Impractical..

I thought I was pretty specific with the questions but the bar I was looking at is this one: http://www.profile-design.com/profil...s/t2-plus.html
It seems like tapered flat bars are not unusual so I would think there would be a way to mount to them.

I looked into this myself, never found any way to properly mount them on tapered bars without some sort of homemade shim.

I had these.http://www.amazon.com/Tec9-Triathlon...ords=aero+bars

AFAIK most aero bars are sized for 26mm bars. There are several shims available to help with sizing problems. Measure your bars at the proposed location with a dial caliper or get your LBS to do it.
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...ls.php?id=7414

26 is the center ,then 23.8mm,.. unless it's not..

why do you hate measuring things before asking questions?

Your LBS should be able to tell you if aero bars will fit on your bike. However, I'd like to go off topic for a moment.

Aero bars are designed for a specific purpose on road bikes and are used for time trials. The rider fit is important for their intended use. I would suggest you try to find someone with an ordinary bike with aero bars fitted and give it a go. You will find that the bars are an acquired taste and do take some getting used to. Invariably, you will take them off your bike and sell them to someone else who will eventually take them off their bike.

Alternate choices that in my opinion make more sense - bar ends, compact drop bars or any of the other tried and true touring bar configurations that will be available for your bike. The last thing any bike slated to carry a load needs is something that will make the bike twitchy to ride.

My opinion. Good luck. Al

Discussion groups are a convenient and useful source for info without going down to the LBS. Simple to ask. If no one here has experience with installing aero bars on their flat barred touring bike then so be it, don't respond to the question. Re the bar-ends and drop bars-- I rode drops for 20 years, I now prefer the wider hand position of flats. I do have bar-ends on the bike and they help a bit.

Spoonrobot-- Thanks for that info, I'll jury rig some custom shims for the taper.

Carbonfiberboy-- The diameter of the bar was never in question (26mm BTW).

Bob, I like aero bars, but it can be difficult to set up a good fit for both them and handle bars. I've used aero bars with fixed and flip up elbow pads and in a recreational role the flip up design like the Profile Airstrike is better as it allows access for most of the handle bar tops.

Finger numbness has a number of causes. A search here or on the other forums may have the answer for you.

Brad

Hmmm! A couple of points. You get to post the question you wish to have answered and you get to control that portion of the post. But you don't get to control the answers you receive. You have no reason to complain so long as the answer posted does not violate the forum guidelines. Thats what forums are about.

The second point. I raised the issue about looking for a solution other than aero bars for two reasons. First, I did try aero bars on my Cannondale T1, not to relieve numbness, but to add yet another optional hand position on the bike. The aero bars did not work out FOR ME. They may for you but I doubt it. Secondly aero bars are not installed to relieve hand numbness. They are installed on road bikes to put the rider in an aggressive aerodynamic position. The proper solution to hand numbness probably lies elsewhere and is probably related to bike fit.

Having said all that, clip-on aero bars can be cheap to buy, are very easy to install, remove and experiment with. There is a ready used market for them among those who are not into TTs. Hope it works out for you. Al

re numb fingers, as an aside, consider replacing your flat bars if they are straight, with bars that have both rise and some backwards sweep. Made a huge diff for me on my "flat bar" bike, as well as using ergo style grips to spread the weight distribution out better on the palms, but the sweep angle is very natural and helped greatly compared to straight. Good luck if you go the aero experiment route, I have no experience with them.

Thanks djb, you don't happen to have a make and model on those bars do you?

nope, they were cheap and cheerful (18 or 19 can.) NON oversize bars bought at a LBS a few years ago that worked with a stem length I had kicking around, hit and miss for finding them in a store probably. Not being overly light, and being not oversize (24.5 or whatever that number is) they are most likely found at bike shops that cater to all kinds of riders (ie, not a fancy schmancy only bike store) as you see bars like this on low to mid priced older hybrids etc.
You could copy my photo and figure out the sweep angle more or less. They rise about 2 inches.
Id visit some well stocked bike stores and see what they have, or at least in catalogue. I was not fussy about them probably weighing X grams more than lighter ones, and didnt want to spend a lot either, was happy to find that they worked so well for comfort.