What are aerobars?

Aerobars go by many names, including triathlon bars and tri bars, but essentially, they’re extensions to your handlebar with padded forearm rests which help you achieve a more aerodynamic position.

They come in two different styles: those that are integrated into the base bar, like you’ll find on most of the best triathlon bikes, or clip-on aerobars, which you can add to your road bike’s handlebars.

The latter can be had for less than £50, offering strong value aero gains, while the integrated options are more costly, but are said to be more aerodynamic. Here’s some more detail on the differences between them…

Integrated vs clip-on aerobars

While an integrated tri-bike cockpit will invariably be more aero, the advantage of clip-on bars is they can be added to road bikes and adjusted with minimal fuss, as they don’t interfere with brakes or shifters.

Integrated bars have the brakes mounted to the base bars and shifters on the ends of the extensions, which makes changing your set-up far more time-consuming.

Another big plus for clip-ons is their affordability, with basic alloy versions starting at £39.99 from Decathlon Aptonia.

After Bradley Wiggins’ successful Hour Record attempt, the component of his bike that attracted the most attention was his 3D printed titanium aerobars.

Designed and machined precisely to his position, they played a major role in his staggering 54.526km ride.

With a rider’s frontal area one of the key determinants for drag, bars that facilitate a low and narrow position have been sought since the importance of aerodynamics was first realised.

How much time will clip-on tri bars save you?

How much time can you save for this small investment?

In 2014, Specialized conducted a test in their own purpose-built wind tunnel to investigate the speed differences between using clip-ons and riding on the drops.

They calculated their test rider would save 1:40 mins over a 40km Olympic-distance bike leg using the clip-ons.

So with many studies claiming similar results, clip-on aerobars are arguably the most cost-effective upgrade you can make to ride faster.

A word of warning

However, aerobars aren’t a one-shot, go-faster solution for triathletes. For the rider, aerobars can facilitate a more aerodynamic riding position but, if that position isn’t sustainable or compromises power output too much, the net result can be less speed.

The bike, its components and the rider have to be considered as a whole dynamic unit.

Focus too much on one part, such as the bars, and the real-world riding results may surprise and disappoint you.

Andy Smallwood, Boardman Bikes company director, found this to be true when developing their TTE bike.

“When we took Pete Jacobs’ Kona-winning AiR 9.8 set-up and started using it as the baseline for our new TTE model, we decided, within the parameters of fit and adjustability, to make the cockpit as aero as possible,” says Smallwood.

“CAD and CFD testing on their own showed the new bars to be extremely slippery, and the bike, as a whole, was posting numbers showing it to be 14-24% faster.

But when we factored in a rider, the whole set-up was 4% slower. The problem was the bars were too good.

The air was flowing over them but then slamming into the rider’s knees. Learning from this, we redesigned the bars to manipulate the airflow and produced a whole set-up that was 4% faster

The importance of adjustability

Whether you decide on a dedicated TT set-up or clip-on bars, being able to adjust the bike, especially the cockpit, to your position should be a top consideration.

Many integrated systems don’t allow the range of adjustment necessary and, although they may look sleek, slippery and tempting, remember that more than 80% of drag is down to the rider.

When the Zipp engineers were designing their Vuka bars (reviewed here), adjustability was their core consideration.

Nathan Schickel, Zipp product manager, says: “From the inception of Zipp aerobars in 2006, the focus has been on adjustability to allow the rider to find their most comfortable aerodynamic position.

“Our designers know that not having a position you can stay in for your entire race is a wasted opportunity to go fast. Therefore, our focus is on ensuring the bars and bolts are as easy to adjust as possible.”

Although it’s important to train in your race position, there are times when hunkering down on your aerobars isn’t a good idea.

Group situations such as club rides are an obvious example. Don’t turn up to sportives with them either, especially those run under British Cycling rules.

Even in a race situation, don’t be a slave to your aero tuck. If the course is hilly, there’ll come a point during climbing when the increased power of sitting up or standing will outweigh the aero gains of using your aerobars.

Even on closed roads, if you’re unfamiliar with a descent it’s better to lose a bit of speed and cover your brakes.

See our list of the best clip-on aerobars for our pick of the best options.