Aero postion on the road, your take?

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sadisticnoob
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Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:30 am

by sadisticnoob

I have done it in races as well as normal rides. I prefer the 3T egronova for this because it is flat on the top part. I tried it with normal round bars and i almost fell off the bike.

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kbbpll
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by kbbpll

Anyone thinking it'd be nuts to put a small patch of velcro on the inside forams
Ha, I was wondering if that would work. Clearly someone else thinks like me.

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davidalone
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by davidalone

have used the position before, in races and in training.

If you have a garmin out in front mount, just put your hands on it and you're golden. it is still a very demanding position to generate power with your core though, and definitely less control. best used for TT efforts, but even then It would be hard to mantain it for a long time.

hands on the drops and elbows bent is still my go to position for TT efforts on the road bike. more aero than the drops, yet compact and comfortable.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Found 170mm / 30° and 180mm / 35° stems now at trialmarkt.de / trialbikeshop.de. A stem of that length would probably allow me to just ride on the tops with the hands very close next to the stem, and still get my knees behind the elbows in a good tuck.

Agreed that "ghost aerobars" is very demanding on longer distances. Being able to grab the tops in a good tuck should be much more sustainable, also when the road gets bumpy.

Marin
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by Marin

Is there some kind of "micro" aerobar without pads that lets you grab something while resting the arms on the tops?

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Marin: Cinelli Spinaci, but they don't work with those new fangled oversized bars.

I was thinking of a clip-on along the lines of the little bar the Cinelli Ram has in front, maybe just slightly bigger and with a computer socket.

Image

KWalker
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by KWalker

I did some drag testing with a friend and found that hands on the hoods/Sphinx position was more aero for me than the faux tt position and I a bit more efficient/more controlled. For my friend he had roughly the same drag in both, but rides the hoods position because its more controlled for him as well. Unless someone changes their stem dramatically to allow for the forearms to rest comfortably and hold onto something it seems pointless to pursue this position.

What I have found works the best as a compromise (but can make things awkward otherwise) is this:
-Run a bar that is 1-2 sizes wider than what you normally would run
-Run a stem stack that is 1-2cm lower than normal
-Run a stem that is 1cm shorter than normal
-Angle your bar so that the the tops and the hoods have a flat transition
-Rotate your bars upwards so that the tops/hoods are in line with the stem. On a normal road bike with a -6 stem this means they are on the same incline as the stem. This is why you run a lower/shorter stem. Rotating the bars increases the reach and the stack.
-Cant your levers inwards quite a bit probably .5-1cm each side. This will allow you to rest your wrists on the tops of the bars and lightly grab onto the hoods with a "pistol grip".

You can then rest your forearms on the flats of the tops and put your hands just inside of you levers. You will have much greater stability putting your weight just behind your wrists and the same drag.

A good picture of this and where I got the idea from is Fabian in the 2010 Tour of Flanders. A little birdie and Specialized told me that Cancellara actually tested this in the wind tunnel and is one of the few riders to still run wide bars to this day basically so that he can use this position. I've tried it personally and like anything you adapt to it, but it does make out of the saddle climbing feel a bit awkward at first.

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/inspi ... LARA_1.jpg
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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Very interesting KWalker. Unfortunately Spec didn't test the Sphinx position, but Ghost Clip-ons was 15% faster than riding in the drops, which is quite remarkable. (Hence my desire to emulate this position for the 46km roadbike TT)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rvJ-6Cgnz8

KWalker
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by KWalker

Several riders have tested the Sphinx position in Speci's wind tunnel. I know of almost a dozen that have done roll-down testing with it on the road or used it in the tunnel. It is as fast as the invisible aero position for a lot of people and everyone I know personally that has tested it has found it easier to hold higher power outputs.

For a 46km TT I'd just use clip ons in general, but this is what I'd do for general road racing.
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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

Good info again, cheers KWalker. Agreed about handling the Sphinx vs the Ghost.
For my event, the rules to participate in the "road bike" classification, you can't use disc wheels and any sort of clip ons. That's just where the line is drawn.

BmanX
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by BmanX

Why could you not use a pair of these and have the U-bend part as short as possible and just call it a bridge for your computer. These come without the pads on them so really they are not aerobars per say.

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BmanX
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by BmanX

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KWalker
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by KWalker

That would not be USAC legal unless you really shortened the extensions
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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

BmanX wrote:Why could you not use a pair of these and have the U-bend part as short as possible and just call it a bridge for your computer. These come without the pads on them so really they are not aerobars per say.

Interesting concept, but probably will not work out unless you can get thinner and shorter bars. It's not a sanctioned event, but the rules clearly state no clip ons for the road classification, and I can't imagine the organisers opening that can of worms, allowing anything remotely looking like aero bars. The cost might be prohibitive also for running it just once a year.

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HillRPete
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by HillRPete

One week to go, and after doing pretty much all my training in the drops recently, I have tried out the 18cm/-35° stem. It is not as bad as it looks. Riding tucked on the tops with horizontal forearms I can get my knees in behind the elbows. Hoods still work too without problems, so the short steep rollers won't be a problem either. Really looking forward now.

Image
(Saddle - bars drop is about 24cm)

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