Thinking about upgrading my aero bars. Mine are original non carbon on a P3. Any good suggestions out there? May be specific to fit however any advise is welcome.
Aerobars are actually a complicated concept, and need to be considered only in the context of an overall bike fitting. I had the opportunity in 2012 to accidentally find myself in a conversation with Dan Empfield, (Slowtwitch owner) who basically invented the concept of a tri-specific geometry which incorporated aerobars, when he founded Quintana Roo in the late 80s.
I told him I was looking for new aerobars (actually, base bar plus aerobar extensions) to upgrade my then 13 years old Qunitana Roo which had been custom built for me in 2000. While I didn't really understand most of what he said, he led me on a long journey which considered the height and angle of the armrests, the shape of the extensions, the angle of the base bar, the length of the stem relative to the length of the extensions, considerations of how it all fit in relation to the height of the head tube and the angle of the fork, etc, etc, etc. Basically, he scared me off of making ANY changes to my front end unless I had some specific issues with fit I was trying to address.
I will note that on my bike there are only three parts which are still left from the original: the seat tube, the rear half of the frame, and the base bar, which are Profile Design bullhorns. I did change the extensions, to PD S curves instead of ski jumps, which fit my hands better. Dan convinced me that making small adjustments to my current system was far safer than running the risk that a whole new bar would mess up my finely tuned personal fit which I now had.
Bottom line: if you are going to replace your aerobar (base bar or just extensions), only do so in close consultation with your bike fitter.
I went through this awhile back after breaking my factory bars in a bike crash. There are a ton of options available from a couple hundred $'s to well over $1000. I ultimately went with the zipp vuka bull, alumina clips, and the vuka shift extensions. I found a deal on ebay for the whole package and i think i paid somewhere around $400 all in. The zipp pads are really big and very comfortable. Adjustability is good, but you do need to have your fit pretty close to dialed in because once you choose your setup and route the cables internally it's hard to fine tune things beyond about 1cm without recabling. I also added the R2C zipp shifters and i really like the feel of these shifters vs. typical dura ace or SRAM.
I'd also take a look at the bars from profile design, 3T and the TriRig Alpha. The alpha is supposed to be highly adjustable, although the reviews have been mixed. Hope that helps!
Thanks all, very helpful but does make me a little nervous to change. On the first question, I have gone down the path and have helmet, PM, wheels. The fit of my current bars are great (or so I think...they work for me but was perfect from stock build). I have a local shop that sold me the bike, did the bike fit, and obviously get a lot of money for me so feel comfortable they would help with the set up. In reality, if I were to get new ones, I would opt for the same geometry set up as current....but now you guys are making me nervous to make a change! ;-)
Will have to give it some thought...appreciate the tips!
Comments
Aerobars are actually a complicated concept, and need to be considered only in the context of an overall bike fitting. I had the opportunity in 2012 to accidentally find myself in a conversation with Dan Empfield, (Slowtwitch owner) who basically invented the concept of a tri-specific geometry which incorporated aerobars, when he founded Quintana Roo in the late 80s.
I told him I was looking for new aerobars (actually, base bar plus aerobar extensions) to upgrade my then 13 years old Qunitana Roo which had been custom built for me in 2000. While I didn't really understand most of what he said, he led me on a long journey which considered the height and angle of the armrests, the shape of the extensions, the angle of the base bar, the length of the stem relative to the length of the extensions, considerations of how it all fit in relation to the height of the head tube and the angle of the fork, etc, etc, etc. Basically, he scared me off of making ANY changes to my front end unless I had some specific issues with fit I was trying to address.
I will note that on my bike there are only three parts which are still left from the original: the seat tube, the rear half of the frame, and the base bar, which are Profile Design bullhorns. I did change the extensions, to PD S curves instead of ski jumps, which fit my hands better. Dan convinced me that making small adjustments to my current system was far safer than running the risk that a whole new bar would mess up my finely tuned personal fit which I now had.
Bottom line: if you are going to replace your aerobar (base bar or just extensions), only do so in close consultation with your bike fitter.
I went through this awhile back after breaking my factory bars in a bike crash. There are a ton of options available from a couple hundred $'s to well over $1000. I ultimately went with the zipp vuka bull, alumina clips, and the vuka shift extensions. I found a deal on ebay for the whole package and i think i paid somewhere around $400 all in. The zipp pads are really big and very comfortable. Adjustability is good, but you do need to have your fit pretty close to dialed in because once you choose your setup and route the cables internally it's hard to fine tune things beyond about 1cm without recabling. I also added the R2C zipp shifters and i really like the feel of these shifters vs. typical dura ace or SRAM.
I'd also take a look at the bars from profile design, 3T and the TriRig Alpha. The alpha is supposed to be highly adjustable, although the reviews have been mixed. Hope that helps!
Will have to give it some thought...appreciate the tips!