Put Aero Bars On Your Road Bike

Aero Bars

Aero Bars for your road bike you must be doing a triathlon. Doing a Triathlon is a great experience and making the choice to put clip on aero bars on your road bike is a good one. You will find that you can go much faster with the aero bars and be less fatigued after a long ride. I like the clip on aero bar option because then you are gaining the performance of the aerodynamic position without going out and buying a new bike which is great for beginners and people who have been in the sport of triathlon for a long time. This is one of the biggest questions I get is what kind of bike do I need for triathlon? I always tell people you can ride any bike you have, even a mountain bike for your first triathlon is okay. But the best option for beginners is a road bike with clip on aero bars.

Aerobar Positioning

With aero bars on your bike you positioning will be much flatter and longer across the top tube and you will be more weight forward with arms out over the front wheel. This does a couple of different things for aerodynamics. It gets rid of that sail of your chest, and makes it much flatter and lower to the top tube. Some people wonder if that really provides a benefit my answer to them is to see how fast you can go on your bike then put a pair of aerobars on it and see how fast you can go. You will be much faster with the Aerobars than without simply due to the wind resistance.

Profile Aero Bars

There are many brands of aero bars out there but one of the best of them has to be Profile design. Profile design has been making aero bars probably longer than anyone out there and they consistently put out good product and design. Not to mention that the current Kona world champion is a Profile Design sponsored rider. Profile Aero bars come in both carbon fiber and aluminum and they have many styles to choose from depending on what style you are looking for.

Tri Training With Your Aero Bars

Now if you have never ridden with aero bars before congratulations on your purchase and the newfound aerodynamics of your bike. You may find that with your aero bars that your bike is a lot slower turning that true it's due to the fact that you are so much farther over the front wheel. Aero bars may change your bike fit as well. What I mean by this is you man feel like the seat is too close to the stem. Now what you can do is what a lot of triathletes do is they lower the nose of the seat towards the top tube so they are more comfortable and they are able to maintain that aero position longer. Your aero bars will make you work different muscles than your used to as well so you will get sore in different muscles until you get used to the different position but you will get it and will be glad you did.

What About Your Riding Buddies

There is this whole cyclist triathlete thing, I don't know what it is but your a cyclist you tell me. Cyclists kind of shun triathletes so you probably won't be all that welcome on your Saturday morning group ride with your new aero bars on but you are not as nimble on your bike now as you were so riding in a group is much more difficult. But keep riding on those aero bars get used to it and have a good triathlon. If it's your first watch out you may catch the bug. Then you will be wanting some Zipp Wheels or a new tri bike and a new wetsuit the list goes on and on.