Tris-@aol.com

Kent is correct that there was a significant change in armrest width for

several individual riders and teams both in the Tour and throughout the season

this year (Basso, some Discovery riders, the Gerolsteiner team TT bikes).   They

arrived at that position with extensive wind-tunnel testing however, which

most of us do not have access to.   It is probably better to start with general

rules (like having the elbows in line with the knees while on the extensions,

hands as low as comfortable, flat back, etc.) and then work from there either

with coaching or use of a power monitor/speedometer/track/trial and error.   

Width of the base bar is probably largely irrelevant other than at the start, as

others have noted.

Cheers,

Ian



In a message dated 11/20/05 8:51:13 AM, jpow-@spiritone.com writes:



 Kent, I'm not sure who's theory you're subscribing to... in any event,

the original question concerned start bars rather than TT bars

themselves if I'm not mistaken.? BTW, you're? correct that a wider

elbow position might make breathing easier... but so will extending

your arms further forward.? Bottom line, no position is always correct

and/but trying to emulate what someone else is doing without proper

coaching is generally a mistake.



Jerry





On Nov 19, 2005, at 9:23 PM, Kent and Jenny Peterson wrote:



 The latest theories have moved to a wider arm position. Several teams

in the Tour had much wider elbow pads and the theory being that wider

bars opens your chest so that your lungs can function more efficiently

which offsets the slightly greater amount of drag.

Kent Peterson

Kirk Willett

drsmith wrote:

 I am in the process of building a new bike for doing triathlons. My

question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road bike

I

use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go that

wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?

Thanks,



Darren Smith

Hi Darren,



I'd buy the narrowest bull-horns I would be comfortable/confident using

when out of the saddle (for starts, steep hills, etc.) or cornering.

For TT/Triathlon applications, familiarity through practice is likely to

be the most important aspect of developing this comfort/confidence.

Very little time is actually spent using the bull-horns, and that time

is generally not critical to performance.



When tweaking aero-bar or clip-on width, I shoot to keep the outside

edges of my elbows within the silhouette of my hips/thighs. Perhaps

your choices can be aided by some eye-balling which takes a look at how

the clips-ons and bull-horns interact with respect to this.



Best of luck, Kirk

Jerald Powell

--Apple-Mail-21--420623067

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Content-Type: text/plain;

charset=US-ASCII;

format=flowed



Kent, I'm not sure who's theory you're subscribing to... in any event,

the original question concerned start bars rather than TT bars

themselves if I'm not mistaken. BTW, you're correct that a wider

elbow position might make breathing easier... but so will extending

your arms further forward. Bottom line, no position is always correct

and/but trying to emulate what someone else is doing without proper

coaching is generally a mistake.



Jerry





On Nov 19, 2005, at 9:23 PM, Kent and Jenny Peterson wrote:



 The latest theories have moved to a wider arm position. Several teams

in the Tour had much wider elbow pads and the theory being that wider

bars opens your chest so that your lungs can function more efficiently

which offsets the slightly greater amount of drag.

Kent Peterson



 The short answer: As narrow as you can corner properly with. In a TT

you should only be out of the extensions to start, climb when your

speed

is below 20kph, or turn at the cone on an "out and back" course. A

narrow profile is very important aerodynamically, so a bar as wide as

46cm would just be uneccessary drag.



Peter Drake

drsmith wrote:

 I am in the process of building a new bike for doing triathlons. My

question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road

bike

I

use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go

that

wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?

Thanks,



Darren Smith

Jerry Powell

USAC Elite Coach

1926 SW Madison Street

Portland, OR 97205



503 222 7173

503 799 7823



jpow-@spiritone.com



--Apple-Mail-21--420623067

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Content-Type: text/enriched;

charset=US-ASCII



Kent, I'm not sure who's theory you're subscribing to... in any event,

the original question concerned start bars rather than TT bars

themselves if I'm not mistaken. BTW, you're correct that a wider

elbow position might make breathing easier... but so will extending

your arms further forward. Bottom line, no position is always correct

and/but trying to emulate what someone else is doing without proper

coaching is generally a mistake.





Jerry







On Nov 19, 2005, at 9:23 PM, Kent and Jenny Peterson wrote:





<excerpt>The latest theories have moved to a wider arm position.

Several teams in the Tour had much wider elbow pads and the theory

being that wider bars opens your chest so that your lungs can function

more efficiently which offsets the slightly greater amount of drag.



Kent Peterson





<excerpt>The short answer: As narrow as you can corner properly with.

In a TT



you should only be out of the extensions to start, climb when your

speed



is below 20kph, or turn at the cone on an "out and back" course. A



narrow profile is very important aerodynamically, so a bar as wide as



46cm would just be uneccessary drag.





Peter Drake



</excerpt>





drsmith wrote:



<excerpt> I am in the process of building a new bike for doing

triathlons. My



question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road

bike



I



use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go

that



wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?



Thanks,





Darren Smith





</excerpt>



</excerpt>





<fontfamily><param>Helvetica</param>Jerry Powell



<italic><x-tad-smaller>USAC Elite Coach



</x-tad-smaller></italic>1926 SW Madison Street



Portland, OR 97205





503 222 7173



503 799 7823





jpow-@spiritone.com</fontfamily>





--Apple-Mail-21--420623067--

Kent and Jenny Peterson

The latest theories have moved to a wider arm position. Several teams

in the Tour had much wider elbow pads and the theory being that wider

bars opens your chest so that your lungs can function more

efficiently which offsets the slightly greater amount of drag.

Kent Peterson



 The short answer: As narrow as you can corner properly with. In a TT

you should only be out of the extensions to start, climb when your speed

is below 20kph, or turn at the cone on an "out and back" course. A

narrow profile is very important aerodynamically, so a bar as wide as

46cm would just be uneccessary drag.



Peter Drake

drsmith wrote:

 I am in the process of building a new bike for doing triathlons. My

question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road bike

I

use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go that

wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?

Thanks,



Darren Smith

Peter Drake

The short answer: As narrow as you can corner properly with. In a TT

you should only be out of the extensions to start, climb when your speed

is below 20kph, or turn at the cone on an "out and back" course. A

narrow profile is very important aerodynamically, so a bar as wide as

46cm would just be uneccessary drag.



Peter Drake





drsmith wrote:

 I am in the process of building a new bike for doing triathlons. My

question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road bike

I

use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go that

wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?

Thanks,



Darren Smith

drsmith

I am in the process of building a new bike for doing triathlons. My

question is regarding aero bar/bull horn type bar size. On my road bike I

use a 46cm bar, the width of the bull horn bars doesn't seem to go that

wide. What size should a broad shouldered lad like myself be using?

Thanks,



Darren Smith