aero bars vs none

You would not be crazy to not have them.  When I got fitted to my road bike, the fitter said that I should not run aero bars on my bike at all.  He thinks the handling of the bike would not be very good with the road geometry.  I have, however put a set of Profile-Design GT Jammers on the bike and I like them.  When I am in the aero position, my hands don't extend any farther out in front of the bike than if I was riding on the hoods.  I use them for another position on long rides and for some aero advantage, especially when riding into the wind.

I do agree that you should get used to the bike first.  When you ride in the aero position, in order to brake, you have to move your hands.  On your road bars, you won't have to.

On my HIM, I probably rode 30% on the "jammers", 50% in the drops, and the other 20% no handed.  Just Kidding!

Aero bars put you in a more aerodynamic position which can gain you 1 - 2 mph.

They work best on time trial bikes because the bike geometry itself lends itself to be ridden in the aero position.  Not so much for road bikes.  However, they are not too far off than aero bars won't help.  Tons of people put earo bars on a road bike.  Nothing wrong with it.

If you are going to race tri's, I would get them for sure.  But just take your time to get used to them.  They are a little bit twitchy and there is a learning curve with them.

Thanks for your reply!

Since I am new to this...bear with me   I see a lot of people talking about being "fitted" on their bikes.  I imagine that this is a little more involved than stepping into the bike shop and asking them to adjust your seat to the correct height. 

How do I go about doing this?  Is there a cost?  Is it important?  Is it during this "fitting" that they would suggest aero bars vs "jammers"?

Did I understand correctly?  Jammers are different (shorter) than aero bars?  Or are "Jammers" the brand?

A proper "fitting" should cost about 100-150 bucks and take about an hour.  It is far more involved than just setting the seat height (bit does include that).  It will adjust saddle fore/aft position, saddle angle, handlebar height and reach, etc.

A proper fitting will let you get the most out of your bike (efficiency) AND allow you to ride more comfortablly in many cases.

The probably won't "suggest" that you get an aero bar, but if you you tell them you want to ride in aero, they will set you up do so and perhaps help you select the one to get.

A road fitting is NOT a time trial/triathlon fitting.  You need to first decide what you want, then direct them to do it for you. 

I am not a bike fitter, so this is all pretty much untested and amateur guidance... but I have been fit for my road bike and a tri bike by a fit guru (Tom R) and I paid a lot of attention! Please take this with a grain of salt, though, and maybe it will be helpful for you.

Profile Design "CG Jammers" (carbon) and Jammers (aluminum) are aero bars made to work especially well with standard road geometry bikes. They have a shorter stretch (reach) than typical triathon triathlon aero bars, and the pads are shaped to accomodate the "piece" of your forearm that naturally falls on the pads when you are on a road bike. A lot of people like them. Because Jammers do not extend you out so far in front of the handlebar, you keep your weight centered more near to a standard road bike center of geometry, and you will not twitch out the steering. (More weight up front ~= more responsive steering, but too much weight up front ~= twitchy steering ... Tri bikes are designed with a very short chain stay to keep more weight over the back wheel, to prevent overweighting the front wheel >> simply adding a typical tri bar to a road bike SOMETIMES twitches out the steering, although a lot of people do this and report very comfortable and stable riding). Also, because Jammers do not extend you out so far, they work well with the longer top tube that is typical for a road bike fit compared to a tri fit. As mentioned above, Jammers are intended to keep you extended  near where you are normally extended while on the hoods of your road bars.

After getting professionally tri fit about three weeks ago.... I've decided to keep racing on my roadie, because I am much more comfortable and more confident with my road bike than I think I would be with a tri bike and aero bars. I like having a finger on the brake, even at only 25MPH. I rode the relatively flat Nation's olympic tri in DC last year at >18MPH (~ 80 minutes)  ... hope (expect) to get 19+ this year... and I am thinking of going with Jammers, although I am wary about changing anything this close to the race. I'll probably slap on the Jammers right after the race, and train with them over the winter... and then I may build up a tri bike with "real" aero bars before next year's 1/2MDOT,  because yep, I do agree that a proper aero tuck is worth at least 1MPH and maybe 2.... as long as you can hold it for most of your flat, level riding.

The one point my fitter stressed more than anything was confident and comfortable beats aero and oxygen-deprived and neck-pained everytime.

One more point in this LOOOONNGGGG-winded .... my buddy and and coach and old Navy shipmate Erik (*shout out to Erik) qualified for and finished three Kona's and multiple IM's and 70.3's on a Specialized Tarmac roadie with Jammers.... he believes aero wheels are much more important than tri geometry for recreational racers. (Of course he also just went full freakin' overboard on a blinged-out Kuota QK last fall, too, so there you go again).

Thoughts?

Edited by jsselle 2009-09-02 9:21 PM

I just want to second most of jss's thoughts.

Road bikes are _not_ designed for aerobars.  If you add aerobars, you'll never be particularly comfortable on them, and your handling will be crap.  You can approach a tri-bike fit, by also adding a forward tilted seat post, but then your weight distribution is still off, and the bike won't handle well.

Moral of the story is do _not_ add aerobars to a road bike. 

With a real tri-bike, you have a steep seat tube, and you put a lot of your weight resting on the aerobar pads.  It should, in theory, be nice and comfortable with your weight relaxing on those pads. 

Now, jammers are an entirely different story.  They are very short aerobars, that give you some of the aero benefit of aero bars, without ruining your position or handling on a road bike.  All triathletes on road bikes, probably should get a pair of these.

Though... wait until you get very comfortable on your bike as it is before adding the jammers.

2 cents. 

I just put a pair of Profile Design aero bars on my fuji team pro roadie. My first ride with them was yesterday....20 miles. Using them was very awkward at first. Im still not totally comfortable in aero, but I felt better towards the end of the ride than the begining. One of my biggest concerns was riding with my hands so far away from the brakes. VERY SCARY at first. Im hoping that with a few more rides under my belt with them that I will learn to like them real well. Ive been told by others with the same set up as mine that they felt the same way at first but now cant live without them.  But I look at it this way.....Im sure that I will be passed in future races by road bike riders without aero bars! LOL.  And theyre not too terribly expensive. Worste case scenario is you dont like them. Then take em off and sell them on craigslist. Most of all,  be comfortable and have fun!!!!     Good luck!

Really!!! Could have fooled me. I've had aerobars on my road bike for at least 15 years. I've comfortably ridden tens of thousands of miles and never had any problems with handling. I used this bike to win my AG several times and the overall in a sprint duathlon.

However, prior to adding aerobars I had been riding for many years with the standard setup and was already very competent. Since the OP is perhaps not as proficient yet it might be a better idea to wait on the aerobars until some good biking skills are acquired. Aerobars will likely change the way a road bike handles, but anyone with good biking skills should be able to adjust very quickly.

A couple of things...

I think that the guy at the bike store tried to tell you that you should get comfortable with the balance and handling of the bike before installing aero bars. This is a very good, solid advice.

Second, you can most definately add aerobars to a road bike, but you can't get super aggressive in your position. Jammers are basically short aero bars that allows the elbow pads to be further back (towards you). This in return allows you to use them on a road bike. You retain the rearward weight distribution and you effectively shorten the reach. This is a great solution for someone that has to use a road bike in a tri (could be that this is your only bike or that it's a draft legal race where handling of a road bike is desirable).

You add aero bars for speed primarily (the vast majority of your power is used to overcome resistance from the rider, the more aero the less power needed for a given speed, or power being a constant, the faster you can go), but it will also allow you to have another position, which is great on longer rides.

x2.  I've had aeros for close to 17 years.  While I am not a fast rider now, it is because of a lack of T.I.T.S.  I used to ride routinely about 22 mph, with a big chunk of that on a very old fashioned set of Scott aerobars (think a giant "U" shape) that I still have in the garage.  The tri guys from "back in the day" were known for their homemade bike modifications, including aero bars which they slapped on road bikes. 

But I also second the idea of getting compfortable with handling the bike first, then adding the aero bars.  Aeros do make sterring more twitchy, and keep your hand further from the brake (unless you move the brake lever to them, which I've seen).

I have Profile Jammer GT bars on my Trek 1500.  They have increased my average speed by about 1.5 MPH during multiple tests on the same course with and without the jammers.

My level of comfort is actually better while using the jammers, however I do not feel quite the same level of safety and control as riding in the hoods.  So when I get around traffic or in close quarters with others riders I pop up into the hoods.

Because the jammers don't extend you too far forward, your fitter should be able to find a relatively neutral position for you when either in aero or on the hoods - at least that's what mine did.