Vision Trimax Carbon Si aerobars review
Are the Trimax aerobars worth investing in for long-course aero comfort? Yes, says Jack Sexty, if you have the money...
Vision’s aerobars are available to buy individually or can be spotted specced on numerous tri bikes off-the-peg. The new Trimax Carbon Si are right at the top of their range with a full carbon construction, plenty of adjustment and a flippable base bar.
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We tested the S-bend versions, which weighed in at an impressive 780g for the full rig. They’re also available in the arguably more comfortable J-bend if you prefer your extensions facing skywards in the ‘mantis’-style position currently utilised by many top Ironman athletes, including Lucy Charles-Barclay (although you can tilt these all the way up to 16° – more of which later).
They’re described as ‘semi-integrated’ as you’ll have to fit your own stem. Yet the design is optimised for routing cables for a clean look, with ports for wires and cables on the base bars and extensions. When you or your bike fitter set them up, you’ll find there’s a huge amount of adjustability to find your perfect position, with a stack height of 70mm all the way up to 145mm possible in 5mm increments – if you want to go higher or lower, you can simply add or remove spacers and swap out the bolt for the length you need out of the many supplied.
The reach is also adjustable from -9mm to -99mm to get your armrests in the ideal position, while the extensions can go from 245mm up to 385mm from the centre of the base bar to the top of the tips. You can also flip the base bar, so
if you want a smaller distance to your brakes when you come off the aerobars then you can have the bars flipped up.
In use, we found the shape of both the base bars and extensions to be very comfortable, and the full carbon chassis makes them stiff and sturdy under load. The pads on the armrests are low profile and not too pillow-like, but are comfortable enough for long-distance tri. There’s also tilt adjustment from 0-13° on the armrests depending on how you want them to cradle your elbows. We ran our extensions around the middle of the 0-16° of tilt adjustment, so if you want to replicate a mantis position adopted by many top triathletes and time- trial specialists in 2020, you can tilt them all the way up to 16°.
Overall we’re fans of the range of adjustability and shape of the Vision Trimax Carbon Si. They’re a big spend, admittedly (but compare favourably to their rivals at this price point), but if you want a show-stopping addition to your aero road or tri bike with plenty of scope to secure adjustments as you tweak your position, we think these are some of the best carbon aerobars on the market.
Verdict:Highly adjustable AND luxurious aerobars with a price tag to match 87%
Buy from shop.windwave.co.uk
Contact : shop.windwave.co.uk