Aero bars on a commuter

[AyBee]

I'm going to be buying a commuter in the near future for London riding. However, I walk past a bike locked up every day that has aerobars on it (not the whole lot, just as the picture below):

So, does anybody else ride like this? I usually ride on the hoods on my roadie, but I guess if there aren't any gears to change (I'm planning on getting a single-speed so I don't have to look after the gears), then this style looks like a comfortable alternative where I can also have the brakes nearby (they'd be on the ends of the bars underneath the rounded section).

I'd be interested in general thoughts also

[Parsnip]

Loads of commuter fixie types will ride on bullhorn bars (like your picture) No reason not to really - bit of a fashion thing I guess and a bit of a comfort thing. Struggle to think of an advantage over standard drops, but I don't pretend to understand the first thing about what fixie riders do

Aerobars are the (not pictured) extensions attached to the basebar, not the basebar itself HTH.

Edited by Parsnip on Sunday 26th December 06:34

[mchammer89]

I used these on my fixed:



Great for climbing as you get a lot more leverage than standard drops. Though they are mainly just to emulate the position you get with drops & hoods.

[Uriel]

I love them. On a regular frame they replicate the position of hoods on regular drops. Except I find them better for climbing and sitting a bit more upright when I want to move my hands beck, but not so far as the tops or corners because you have that nice flat area you can wrap your fist around without the 'drop' coming out of the bottom which normally means having one finger in front and 3 behind. On a low profile frame, the horns replicate the position of the drops.

If all you're going to use are the hoods, corners and tops when commuting, then I'd say bullhorns are better than drops since TT style brake levers are better to use on horns than regular areo/STI brakes on the hoods.

You can see all three here (same bars, Profile Airwings, on the track and TT bike, just cut down):

[shalmaneser]

I'm thinking about doing this for my singlespeed, mainly because there are no nice brake levers if you want drops but no gears, and TBH I spend no time on the drops anyway. If I do it's only going downhill where I can get more leverage on the brakes.

[mchammer89]

As mentioned by the chap above you'd be much better off with bullhorns and TT brake levers for the better leverage you'll get. Especially seeing as you only use the drops to get increased leverage on the brakes.

[zax]

I use regular drop bars with aero extensions on my fixed gear bike. Covers all of the bases Aero extensions get used mostly in the exposed areas where there is often a strong headwind. The position helps a lot when there are no gears to drop down...