cohophysh

So if i am correct, it appears I can turn my road bike into more of a tri bike by installing aero bars and changing the seatpost?
Just a newb tri-ing to figure it out.
Thanks

nukemustang

It helps, but "real" tri bikes have different frame geometry that you are not going to be able to correct by putting a forward facing seat post on. Also the shifters will not be bar end type shifters unless you plan on moving them. I have found that this has been the most inconvienent thing about just putting clip on aero bars on my road bike. I get up to a good speed and then get comfortable on the bars and then have to shift (up or down) for a hill. I do find the clip ons help for long distance cruising over relativly flat surfaces. I have not really noticed my legs feeling any different going from the bike to the run, but again this supposedly has to do with the different geometry.

Overall, for a hundred bucks the clip ons will hold me over until I have another 2K to drop on a tri bike and help in training on my road bike till then.

Crack Monkey

Another noob here. It seems you are sort of correct. The problem is the bike handling could get pretty bad (twitchy) if you go overboard with the aero position.

From the reading I have done, it seems like the best approach is short aero bars. Preferably ones with arm rests that have a low stack height and mount behin the steerer tube/stem cap. And the extensions mount at or below the flats on your drop bar (vs sitting above the flats). Seat post can come forward a bit, but not too far - you might be able to use one of the fast-forward posts, but you probably should try with a normal low/zero-offset post first.

The benefit to this approach is the bike still fits as a road bike. You can use the hoods and drops for climing and descending. Handling remains acceptable.

Like I said, I'm new to this as well. This is just what I've gleaned from a week of research. I'll be applying it over Christmas/NY break.