Clip on bars

I’m looking to buy some clip on aero bars for my ancient 09 road bike, and I’m definitely on a budget (wtf happened to modern prices for TT bikes?).

I want to try and get fast (for me anyway) this year after basically doing nothing for the last 10 years. I never really did anything other than participate in stuff back then, training for a few months for an event and then switching off til next year. I’ve been a little more consistent this year since picking up a smart trainer for zwift last summer so I’m hopeful I’ll be in decent shape before too long (covid did set me back quite a bit early this year so I’m playing catch-up), and will do a couple of olys this summer and possibly try a 70.3 next year.

Given those plans, does anyone have any advice on which bars to go for? Are the cheap prime clip ons any good for 25 quid, or do I need to go for one of the profile options around 100 ish quid?

I’m sure the prime bars will be fine for a few sprints and the odd Oly, but if I do manage to get in decent shape and go as far as some longer stuff, will I regret not going for the profile bars? The chance of the wife letting me pickup a TT bike are extremely slim so I’ll probably be using these for a while at least. No big deal if I have to go for the more expensive bars, I just don’t see any reason to spend the extra cash if the prime bars are good enough.

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That’s modern! Ancient would be quill stems and shit.

Cheap ones will do all the same as good ones. Main thing is to get them low enough on your normal bars, a more down stem may well be worth spending some of the diference on (which will make the drops position less comfortable of course, but not for descending so much)

Any idea if they’re as adjustable as the more expensive ones? My bike might be a bit too big for me, I feel pretty stretched out on the trainer when I’m on the hoods, so I guess adjustability is important.

Once I sort some bars I’ll probably grab some tyres, latex tubes, and probably a new saddle to make the TT position a bit more comfortable.

If it’s an old bike it’s more likely to have alloy bars, which is a good thing. You don’t want to be clamping clip-on bars onto carbon bars

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what sort of adjustability do you (think) you need? fore/aft adjustability is common, height adjustability less so, but as I said the stem can be changed to do that.

Probably being stretched out on the hoods is good, as clip-ons generally bring you back, ie less stretched out.

Tbh I wouldn’t have a clue. It’ll be my first time with TT bars, and I’ll probably stick a picture in here for advice once I get them setup. I guess I won’t know what I need until I’ve given it a go. I’m assuming it’s not the end of the world like you said that I’m a little stretched because I’ll be flatter anyway on the bars so hopefully it won’t be a problem.

I think a new saddle will be important, the one that came with bike isn’t great and will probably be unbearable in a TT position. I’ll probably try to pick one up that’s more tri position friendly. I’ll move it forward and up a bit too, but I’ll see how it looks. I have no idea what I’m doing really, we’ll see how bad it is when I’m set up. Hopefully I won’t have to mess with/change the stem.

I think it’s got alloy bars, so shouldn’t be any problems there.

I bought these from Decathlon for £35 a few weeks ago

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How are you getting on with them? I was looking at just picking those up too - easy to fit?

These are a bargain from Wiggle’s eBay site

Very easy. 5m hex and away you go. A few mins at the most. Can adjust the pads inwards but not forwards.

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Great thanks. Idiot question, did you need to undo handlebar tape or do they just clip on around it?

Is the choice between S/J shape primarily just personal preference when it comes to comfort?

One shape of bar. Tape stayed on, they sit on the bar on my bike just where the tape ends.
You can angle them higher if you want by twisting round the bar to point up or down.

Can also spin them to get the bar ends closer (which I did after the photo)

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I missed the deda eBay bars, they did look a bargain.

Tempted to grab the decathlon bars this weekend now.

Has anyone got any saddle advice? I was looking at the ISMs and Selle SMP saddles. I’m tempted to pickup an ISM PN 3.1 for £117. They seem to get great reviews. Haven’t the slightest clue which bit I’m actually supposed to sit on but I’m sure I’ll work it out.

If you do get an ISM you need to stick with it. They aren’t instantly comfortable. I really got on with my TT ones but never used as a road saddle.

Reckon it’s useable as a road saddle? Might look into some others if not.

Choosing a new saddle looks like a massive research task sadly. I get numbness so I definitely need a change, whether it’s position, saddle, or both.

For road bikes like the Venge or Foil with their flat handlebars, what clip on TT bars work for them?

Seen that Specialised do a proprietary set specifically for the Venge, but wondered if there were any cheap alternatives.