Aero Dropbars and Sprinting

Hello Everyone,

Don’t know if this topic has been addressed but I’m curious about your experience(s) with Aero Drop Bars and Sprinting.

This previous season I bought a set of Bontrager Racelite Aero bars and they were a disaster. Despite the claim that they had a 4 degree flair, I had a lot of impingement on my wrists, constant bruising and actually pain, so much so that I was quite discouraged from sprinting.

Do you have recommendations for a better bar option? Position tips (I keep fairly neutral body position over top of the stem letting my bike move while trying to remain stable) or similar experiences and what you did to resolve this issue?

Thanks so much!

Jeff

Based on comments from several in the main Enve podcast (and a few others) I suspect the TR crew would recommend these:

https://www.enve.com/en/products/ses-aero-road-bar-v2/


Around 14 minutes in, I think.

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Keep in mind the flair on the enves is pretty extreme and their sizing is based on the drops and not the hoods. Before you drop $400, Enve is very proud of them, make sure you’re going to fit the extreme position they are going to put you in.

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I know the question asked was different but i have a question about sprinting with carbon Aero drop bars and aluminum bars. Looking to upgrade a few things on my Tarmac before next season and looking into Aero bars as one possible upgrade i still have the stock Specialized Shallow Drop, alloy, 125mm drop, 70mm short-reach that came on the bike

  1. Do the carbon Aero bars flex more and if so is this a benefit in sprinting?
  2. What are the best Aero bars that you know of?

Depend on the carbon bar…
My aerofly is really stiff, stiffer than any aluminum that I used.
I also have an enve road carbon bar (not aero) the bar it self is much thinner in diameter, it’s pretty stiff but it flexes slightly.

I am a fan of the flare. I would love if my aerofly comes in 2mm flare on it.

You need to be careful when discussing flex in carbon bars…specifically WHAT KIND OF FLEX are you asking about.
Some carbon bars are a lot more compliant than their aluminum comparison, but that has to do with the weave and how they can eat up road vibration. When you go to sprint however they are rock solid, again because of the way the carbon is laid.
Not all are like this, but its important to know what you are after and know that there is a difference.

By flare you mean the drop (flare out beyond the top of the bar right)?

Understandable about the “Flex” I was just thinking in a sprint you put a lot of torque one drop by pulling up and was not sure if an Aero bar was designed for that? Or if the were just designed for cutting thru the wind better was the main question.

Was looking at the specialized aerofly II

Yup my enve are 40mm at the top and 42mm at the drop.

I speak in term of flexes while sprinting. Aerofly is stiffer than my enve road bar.

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I bought the Pro Vibe Aero Bars last spring for my Orca Aero. When I’m sprinting my forearms dig into the trailing edge of the tops. Annoying, yes, but not prohibitive. Especially since I don’t spend a lot of time standing and sprinting. If I’m closing a gap I will stand up for 3-5 seconds to get the cadence up then I’m back in the saddle. Sprint finish maybe out of the saddle for 30 seconds. In a race there’s enough chaos to distract me from the discomfort.

I have had both ENVE road bars and aero road bars. The flare on the road bars is 2 cm so 40cm on the drops 38cm on the hoods. The aero road bars are 40 on the drops and 35 on the hoods. It is a big difference. I love it but I would say some wouldn’t.

My wirsts rub the bars in the drops as well, just how it is with shallow reach bars. I rarely use the drops so its no concern really