Best aero handlebar + clip-on TT combo

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voicycle
Posts: 170
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:38 am

by voicycle

I also still have the Aeroghiaias if you want to see them in person - keep meaning to sell them but they're in storage and the 4 minute walk has been enough to keep me from ever getting round to it! :shock: :noidea: :roll:

renoracing
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:48 am

by renoracing

The spacer I mentioned is exactly what you are envisioning. Just one of the kit that you can order. The single 5mm one was enough to get the armrest bolting portion of the Subsonic bracket to clear the shaped portion of the Primavera bar... You can see that in order to attain the lower stack of the Subsonic, the armrest wing portion runs nearly directly ontop of the handlebar you're mounting it to.

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Regarding the Ergon pads, I really like them. They are grippier and offer way more cushion, but with that, they are quite a bit thicker, and might not work for everyone on the "Race" arm cups, as you end up with a narrow channel, but its really secure. I do have a pair of the "Ergo" arm cups that use the same pads, and they may work better for most people with anything other than skinny forearms. I'll be running those on the gravel bike, as I'm not as agressively locked into my positon.

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robeambro
Posts: 1829
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:21 pm

by robeambro

voicycle wrote:
Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:56 pm
Haha hi! I wondered if that was you!

My Ribble with the enve bars is almost certainly too small for you (it's a bit too small for me given I sized it based on the stack of my road bike at the time), and I think even the Tarmac I'm building up might be a bit small (it's a 54 and I think you're a 56?) You'd be welcome to take either/both for a spin to get a feel for the kit though.

I also have a spare 120mm Tarmac stem from a fit experiment and the incoming one for the Albannach is 100mm - I don't want to part with either but you could borrow one along with the clip-ons if you want to play about for a few weeks?

As for the stem itself, my take is that in pretty much all situations it feels like a stem. I put it on the Ribble at the same time as switching from alloy to carbon bars, so any extra transfer of road buzz would have been more than compensated by the change in handlebar. Since you bring it up I guess maybe it's torsionally stiffer than a round/oval stem, but I never would have made that observation without a prompt and I can't say how noticeable it would be without a side-by-side comparison.

I've never attempted DMs on this forum but guessing it should be obvious if you shoot me a message. Otherwise I'll check back here soon. Happy hunting!
Haha thank you for the offer - I definitely do not want to try the Tarmac, I think it would only make me doubt my silly N=1 plans even more. :lol:

Good to hear about the stem. I think you might be right, I am currently running a carbon stem but can only imagine that the bulk of the work in killing road buzz is being done by the handlebar.

One thing for sure, is that there's plenty of options to get this done.. I might DM you on Facebook between now and early next year, I suppose even trying your setup for five minutes on a turbo may go a long way. I am not that much in a rush as DR200 is still far away :lol:

baldy
Posts: 142
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:01 pm

by baldy

It's a pity Oval Concepts stopped making the A900 series stem and front plate to take tribar extensions. You can undersling the extensions and add the pads above. I have a 25.4mm one with the integrated pad holder, but was never able to find it in 31.8. You could get your preferred stem length and mix and match. Ebay still has some.

txg
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:12 pm

by txg

cyclenutnz wrote:
Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:55 am
I've updated those to the Race+ design - 40mm longer and the cushion tapers from 5mm at the side to 10mm in the centre. Plus the logos are embossed instead of white so you won't have to tape over them.
Do you know if this is a discontinued or very new product? Can't find these anywhere available for sale in Europe.
They look like an excellent replacement for the disintegrating and way too wide F35 armrests of my Canyon Speedmax.

voicycle
Posts: 170
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:38 am

by voicycle

robeambro wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:05 am
I might DM you on Facebook between now and early next year, I suppose even trying your setup for five minutes on a turbo may go a long way. I am not that much in a rush as DR200 is still far away :lol:
Sounds great! I'm away the last two weeks of December but otherwise around.

YMMV and it will be a new course next year, but in my experience the DR200 course doesn't have enough aerobar-friendly sections to make it worth bringing them to that event, especially with how windy the more open parts of the south loop can get. I had them there last year for the sole purpose of seeing what they felt like after 8 hours of saddle time - successful experiment, but I was able to use them so little that I definitely lost more time on the climbs to their weight than I gained from having them on the flats. (I was trialling them ahead of the Frontier 300, where they were amazing and incredibly helpful as that course is 50% tarmac. There are loads of other events around here where I think they make sense too, so the project is absolutely worth doing - just don't set your expectations too high if DR200 is the sole use-case!)

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Nohands83
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:41 am
Location: Leeds, UK

by Nohands83

Yeah, a few people I've spoken to about DR have said the same thing re: aerobars - not enough suitable terrain to warrant using them on that course.
That's not to say aero shouldn't be a consideration for DR as you could make some pretty significant aero gains from clothing, helmet, bag position.

robeambro
Posts: 1829
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:21 pm

by robeambro

Well in that case, I doubt I might install clip ons at all unless I add other events onto the calendar for next year. I think Frontier is a bit of a faff from a logistics point of view..

Hopefully the discussion will still have proven useful to others! :D

cyclenutnz
Posts: 854
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Location: Cambridge, New Zealand
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by cyclenutnz

txg wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:32 am
Do you know if this is a discontinued or very new product? Can't find these anywhere available for sale in Europe.
They look like an excellent replacement for the disintegrating and way too wide F35 armrests of my Canyon Speedmax.
They are new, but the New Zealand Distributor already has them in stock, so I don't know what is going on with the Euro distributors. They should have stock going live in the next few weeks I guess.
The F35 (not my work) forces a wide position. My aim with the current generation is to give lots of position options.

txg
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:12 pm

by txg

cyclenutnz wrote:
Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:30 am
txg wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:32 am
Do you know if this is a discontinued or very new product? Can't find these anywhere available for sale in Europe.
They look like an excellent replacement for the disintegrating and way too wide F35 armrests of my Canyon Speedmax.
They are new, but the New Zealand Distributor already has them in stock, so I don't know what is going on with the Euro distributors. They should have stock going live in the next few weeks I guess.
The F35 (not my work) forces a wide position. My aim with the current generation is to give lots of position options.
The Race+ are still not available in Europe but i was able to get the standard Race Armpads for a very cheap price. First impression is pretty good, they allow a much narrower and more locked-in position than the F35. The hardest part of this change will be to get my body used to the narrower position, but i guess it will be absolutely worth it. I took pictures of my the frontal area with the F35 and the Race pads (both in the narrowest position) and the difference is HUGE.
race_vs_f35_cr.jpg

troyerza
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu May 11, 2023 7:41 pm

by troyerza

renoracing wrote:
Tue Nov 29, 2022 3:29 am
And the final contribution I can offer you is on the latest build. A Mosaic drop-bar 29er... Again similar thought process in my handlebar selection. I've settled on the 38cm Cervelo AB09 Flared bars, although I don't have any photos of them mounted, I did test fit it all before wrapping the bar tape. There is plenty of room(and strength- used in several bikepacking races by others), for my Profile Design setup to mount. They have a nice aero upper portion, and 16 degrees of flare, as well as easy cable routing underneath. These might be what you're after!
Hopefully you're still active and see this months later! I have an aspero 5 with the Cervelo AB09 Flared bars. I for some reason thought they were NOT clip on compatible. But they worked fine for you? I would love to not have to swap out bars.

renoracing
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:48 am

by renoracing

troyerza wrote:
Fri May 12, 2023 12:54 pm
Hopefully you're still active and see this months later! I have an aspero 5 with the Cervelo AB09 Flared bars. I for some reason thought they were NOT clip on compatible. But they worked fine for you? I would love to not have to swap out bars.
Yes indeed. I had zero issues with them on some really rough terrain. I'm not alone in using them with Clip-Ons either, as youtuber Chris Hall also has used them in his videos for some of his bikepacking races(see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kkvvupx8Pw)

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spdntrxi
Posts: 5791
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:11 pm

by spdntrxi

I will eventually add the Vision Metron 4D M.A.S with TFE Pro extensions to my BMC Timemachine Road and sell my dedicated TT bike. There are just not enough TTs in my area and my running has gone to shit since ACL surgery with 7k being my ran max with no pain.
2024 BMC TeamMachine R Building
2018 BMC TImeMachine Road
2002 Moots Compact-SL- getting aero look makeover
2019 Parlee Z0XD - "classified"
2023 Pivot E-Vault - completed project, full Xplr package

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