Aero bars on a gravel bike ?

[Fixed]

Anyone use here use that setup
I see some marathon cyclist use them
I do not have opinion on them
What do you think ?

https://www.cxmagazine.com/gravel-bike-devinci-hatchet-craig-richey-2018-dirty-kanza-200

[Fixed]

from the article
‘Aero bars got their fair share of attention before the race, and Richey decided to join the party with a set that he MacGyvered to fit his needs during the long day out on the course. “I initially didn’t want to run aero bars, but I could definitely see the benefits of being able to keep a more aerodynamic position and have a different hand position,” Richey said about his decision of Friday.

After the race, updated his aero bar thoughts, “I never touched them for the first 80 miles and was extremely grateful I had them when I cracked and was dropped from the leaders soon after the second checkpoint and was faced with the sad reality of potentially riding nearly 100 miles alone mostly into a headwind.”

[ColonelJLloyd]

I love them for long rides. They have a learning curve as far as what options are available and it takes some trial and error to find what works for you. I'm still dialing it in and will soon swap out my risers and probably get some longer extensions with different bends.

I'd suggest getting very comfortable with them before using them on rough terrain.

My setup is much more "endurance" with the intent being comfort and change of position to rest my lower back and shoulders.

[Fixed]

Not much padding there for the forearms

[verticaldoug]

Back in the late 90's, I had a Quintana Roo Panamint which was set up for off-road tris. I had shocks on the front, with Syntace clip on aero bars for fire road/paved sections. With wide tires, it was a bit of Frankenstein, but it worked well and you could surprisingly haul ass. One of my favorite bikes to ride of all time.

I'd go for something a little more substantial then those aero bars shown in the photo.

[oldpotatoe]

Anyone use here use that setup
I see some marathon cyclist use them
I do not have opinion on them
What do you think ?

https://www.cxmagazine.com/gravel-bike-devinci-hatchet-craig-richey-2018-dirty-kanza-200

Are they 'aero bars' or someplace to rest your elbows? 'True 'aero bars', that is, making you lower, forward hands, making you really 'more aero' also changes your position a lot too. To be able to be lower AND have your hands forward, means you kinda automatically slide forward on your saddle OR your fit, when in the 'aero' position is good, but when you go back to your hoods, is essentially 'too short' too upright.

When we were doing fits for tri-people doing 'drafting' tri races, this was always a compromise...

[ColonelJLloyd]

Good points above. Redshift (https://redshiftsports.com/dual-position-seatpost) makes a dual position seatpost if actually getting aero is the goal.

If you're not trying to get aero it's usually important to get the elbow pads up such that your hip angle doesn't change (or change much).

[Veloo]

That's what I liked about my 6600 levers with the external shift cables.

Something to grab onto in my aero tuck.

[thirdgenbird]

Cinelli needs to rerelease the spinaci with a 31.8 clamp and market it to the gravel crowd.

Shoot, they could also do an updated alter and have computer and light mounts that attach to the center hole.

[Duende]

I've been interested in the Enve aero bards, but only because they have an amount of flair I like that would be beneficial for gravel

[Tandem Rider]

Good points above. Redshift (https://redshiftsports.com/dual-position-seatpost) makes a dual position seatpost if actually getting aero is the goal.

If you're not trying to get aero it's usually important to get the elbow pads up such that your hip angle doesn't change (or change much).

That is a very intriguing seatpost. I can see how this would be the other 1/2 of the aerobar setup. I have never put them on a road setup for this reason. My TT bikes were always at the UCI limit for seat forward.

[srsoltis]

Love them or hate them, aero bars are a necessary evil for long races. I put them on my bike in 2019 after the 100 miles of headwind in the 2018 DK200. They are less comfortable than hoods and drops, but they are certainly faster.

As far as setup, I would not recommend replicating the position of a TT or Tri bike. You can be a little more upright and less extended. You don’t want to compromise positioning on the hoods or drops, and you will want the ability to choke-up on the bars for rougher gravel.

I ended up shortening my stem from a 120mm to a 110mm as well as flipping it from -7 to +7 degrees. To compensate, I installed bars with deeper drops and longer reach. I didn’t change my saddle position, though I did switch to a saddle with a full groove.

Some people have safety concerns. They are far less stable and never should be ridden while in a pack or behind anyone. However, surprisingly, I have not heard of anyone crashing while on aero bars.

Personally, I hate having aero bars on my bike and I will remove them when I stop racing.

[charliedid]

I think most anyone who is serious about endurance events these days rides aero bars. Road and gravel it seems. Also some of the off road endurance folks who ride mountain bikes vs gravel bikes use them.

If I were doing that sort of mileage I'd use them. I've done quite a bit of road touring and have often wondered if they would be useful. Fit is of course a big consideration. Not sure I could just slap them on my Gunnar touring rig and ride off.

[RFC]

If I recall correctly, touring cyclists were among the first to adopt aero bars. Set up a little higher, they provide another bar position that can be comfortable for the miles. I have also used aero bars on an MTB I use for gravel. I also had the Scott bar designed for MTB. Worked quite well.