Clip-ons! What do you have?

velo.2010

Hi, I've come to the conclusion that I will forgo the impulse to purchase a TT rig for obvious socio-economic reasons:D. Instead I will invest any availible funds into a pair of clip-ons. The bike I have is aero enough(though not as aero as an S1!).

Any reviews/suggestions would be helpful.

@Blorg you had a nice set on your PX. What were they?

Thanks.

blorg

Mine are relatively cheap ones- Profile clip-ons, I got them secondhand but think they are around 50 quid new. Not sure there is a massive difference, I got quite used to these ones. I am sure the TT heads would have a better idea.

Lumen

The main considerations for me were adjustability and whether I wanted them to hinge up out of the way when not using them (handy if you do e.g. for hilly TTs, possibly irritating if you don't). There's also something about draft-legal designs for certain types of triathlons, if that's an issue for you do some more research.

I have Profile Design Carbon Strykes which were recommended by a bike fitter and I can't fault them at all, but they are expensive.

The advantage of the separate bars compared to the loop type is that you can rotate each bar to adjust the orientation of the bendy-uppy bits.

It would be nice if they did an identical (but cheaper) alloy version, but I can't find one on CRC. They do a cheaper hinged-pad loop one though.

Disclaimer: I am a crap TTer.

Lumen

I just came across this article while searching for articles about TT bike fit.

I'm too tired to analyse it properly right now, but it gives some hints about selection of aerobars for road bikes, and (I think) indicates that some may be too long.

The problem with sticking full tri bars on your “perfectly fit” road race bike is that the bike is too long for these bars or, if you prefer, the clip-ons are too long for the bike. You’ll notice that your shoulder angle is greater than 90 degrees. You’re too stretched out. The solution? Don’t get full aero bars. Buy a shorter bar made just for a road bike position. There are several out there. Cinelli makes two, the Spinaci and the Corna. Profile Design makes a very popular model called the Jammer, and a souped-up version called the Jammer GT.

The good thing about these bars is that they’ll allow you to achieve that 90-degree shoulder angle without changing the fit and set-up on your road bike. The negative is that the armrests aren’t hitting you under your elbows, but under your forearms, almost under your wrists. That is not optimal for a lot of people.

The article was written in 2003, so the product recommendations are probably out of date.

I don't understand exactly what he means by "full tri bars", and I haven't found anything which properly explains the difference between TT bikes and tri bikes, except stuff stating that tri bikes have steeper seat tubes, presumably because (a) they don't have to comply with UCI rules about saddle fore-aft position w.r.t the bottom bracket, and (b) triathletes are trying to save certain muscles for the run leg (though I haven't found a proper explanation of what this means in practice).