- Aero bars are designed to make you more
aerodynamic and therefore faster.
If however, you're not confident on them
or you're in the wrong position,
then the benefits become questionable.
- Yeah, getting started on Aerobars can be
really quite difficult.
So here is our step by step guide
on how to use them.
- Start off on a turbo because here
there's no balance issues
and it's also a safe environment,
and then, if you get a friend or a coach
to look at your position,
you can make any adjustment safely
before heading out onto the road.
- So to start off with, you want to
make your position more comfortable.
You'll have plenty of time to get more aero
and aggressive with your set up.
So you want to raise your stem or your
aero bar to make the position less challenging,
and if you can,
also try tilting the aero bars upwards to help.
- Changing position whether that's swimming,
cycling, or running, takes time for your body
to adapt before it becomes normal,
so make sure you allow yourself plenty of time
to adjust to your Aerobars
before you intend to race on them.
- Riding on the turbo is one thing,
but moving forwards whilst you're outside
can be quite difficult to start off with.
Now it may seem counterintuitive, but actually,
riding with a little bit more speed
is easier than going slowly.
Simply because you're carrying momentum
and so the bike is a little bit more stable,
and when you're starting out,
perhaps try finding a flat, quiet section of road
or if you're really lucky,
maybe a closed circuit nearby.
- Start by taking one hand off,
feeling confident, indicating, or taking a drink
will set you up really nicely
and then once you are happy with that,
it's time to start trying the aero bars.
So with one hand at a time, just place it
on top of the aero bar,
when you feel comfortable, drop your elbow down
and then take it back.
Make sure you repeat this on both sides,
and then each time do it for a little bit longer,
ride along in that position
with just one hand down,
and then when you feel ready,
you can just bring the other one across.
- Keep the time in the aero bars fairly short
to start off with.
You should try practising going into
and out of your position regularly,
as you need to be confident getting to your brakes
and so that you can corner safely,
and then when you're happy with your new position,
start increasing the pace,
and spending a bit more time in them.
- Once you come to riding aero bars on the flat,
it's time to practise your descending.
Now, don't forget you'll take longer
to get to the brakes because you'll have to
come off your bars and onto the hoods,
but to start off with,
just find a nice straight, gentle slope,
something like this where you can feel confident
and say you go into the corner
and you need to practise that,
but on nice, gentle, sweeping corners,
and when it comes to sharper corners
it's best to come back onto your hoods
for better handling.
When it comes to uphill though,
if you're going slower than
around 12 miles an hour or 19 kilometres an hour
it's probably worth coming out of the aero
position because the benefits
are pretty negligible, and then,
you can stretch your back off
and just get a little bit comfortable.
- Taking on food and drink whilst in the
aero bars is a little bit more
of an advanced skill.
If you've got an aero bottle between your bars
with a straw, then all you need to do
is locate that straw with your mouth
while staying in the bars.
But then if you're using a normal bottle
between your bars,
or you've got one on the down tube,
or behind your saddle, then it will require you
to get up out of your aero bars momentarily
to grab that bottle, so it is a little bit harder
and you should practise that a little bit
in training.
- Being on the aero bars puts strain on
your lower back and your hamstrings
and can also tighten your hip flexors
a little bit more so just make sure
that you keep on top of a good stretching
and conditioning routine so you can still
get into that efficient position.
- A great way to improve your skills
in the aero position is to challenge yourself
and there's not better way of doing that
than to do a race.
But rather than trying to put it all together
in a triathlon, why not enter
a local time trial bike race,
so that you can try it all out beforehand.
- If you ride on your aero bars regularly,
you'll be surprised at how quickly
it will feel just as natural on the bars
as it does on the tops.
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