Road Fit with Aerobars?
 

What is a Road Bike Fit with Aerobars? Is it a thing? What is it? Who has done it? How good is it?

Generally it is when you leave your saddle in the usual aft road position and place the aero bars so you can comfortably use them - which means having them further back and higher up. You don't get the low, flat back position, but it is still more aero than the drops - and possibly more comfortable.

It most certainly was a "thing" in the era of Dave Scott's dominance when the go-to set-up for an effective/affordable Tri bike was the inevitable Centurion Ironman fitted w/ Scott Tri or Clip-on aero bars. The OEM stem wasn't road race long and with the then new SIS DT controls it was just a matter of bolting on the Scott clip-ons, sliding the saddle slightly forward and adapting to the position and quirks of handling ( there certainly were/are some) and having at it. :twitchy:

Most of us roadies did the same "back when" after Le Mond's starling TdF victory in '89 proved that "Tri-bars" were indeed faster in the TT discipline, although the elite were dropping the big $ on "funny bikes" so equipped as well.

The Vitus 979 that I rode several bike legs for a mixed gender Tri relay team "a while ago" just had Scott clip-on bars fitted and the saddle moved 1 CM forward, a position that worked for me.

-Bandera

[QUOTE=Bandera;20244744]It most certainly was a "thing" in the era of Dave Scott's dominance when the go-to set-up for an effective/affordable Tri bike was the inevitable Centurion Ironman fitted w/ Scott Tri or Clip-on aero bars. The OEM stem wasn't road race long and with the then new SIS DT controls it was just a matter of bolting on the Scott clip-ons, sliding the saddle slightly forward and adapting to the position and quirks of handling ( there certainly were/are some) and having at it. :twitchy:

Most of us roadies did the same "back when" after Le Mond's starling TdF victory in '89 proved that "Tri-bars" were indeed faster in the TT discipline, although the elite were dropping the big $ on "funny bikes" so equipped as well.

The Vitus 979 that I rode several bike legs for a mixed gender Tri relay team "a while ago" just had Scott clip-on bars fitted and the saddle moved 1 CM forward, a position that worked for me.

-Bandera[/QUOTE

I know off topic :twitchy: Who in Bandera painted all those bike blue and placed them around town? Very clever to promote cycling. I had Ceneli aero bars on my Cannondale road bike back in the 90s and was ok for fatigued hands I still have them in the parts bin. Peace :thumb:

Thanks! My comfort goal is to do a lot of trainer hours without pressure on my right wrist, which is healing from a fracture that occurred in February. As a consequence I xpect my saddle positioning to work a bit differently than in my road fit.

Something like this...

Hi, McBTC, thanks for the picture!

It looks like you just added aerobars on top of a conventional road bike setup? Your saddle setback is pretty big, along the lines of what I would use. So far in test fitting I see needing to raise the aero set because right now in my state of non-fitness, I don't think I'd like having my elbows at the same height as my pelvic basin. I'm shaped more like an orange than a snake (lol!).

I probably want my pads maybe 8 cm above the top of my road bars.

Did you say Dave Scott? Here's one of mine.
3 of 4 Ironman I have are set up like this. The fourth has regular road bars. Notice the saddle is scooted up a bit. It's built for speed and comfort. I prefer the integrated aero bars (as opposed to the clip ons), as they seem to be less obtrusive.