Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

I have classic track bars on my track bike and I recently bought clip ons. The taper down from the stem is making it difficult to the bars as they just slip down regardless of tightening them.

I have two options:

Buy cheap drop bars without the taper and mount the clip ons.
OR
Buy a cheap wing, cheap stem and mount the clip ons and use it as a single unit. From there just take out the other bars and fit on the 'aero piece' then when I'm done just swap out to the other bars.

Remember I'm strapped for cash so I can't go around throwing money around trying different options

Chaderotti wrote:I have classic track bars on my track bike and I recently bought clip ons. The taper down from the stem is making it difficult to the bars as they just slip down regardless of tightening them.

I have two options:

Buy cheap drop bars without the taper and mount the clip ons.
OR
Buy a cheap wing, cheap stem and mount the clip ons and use it as a single unit. From there just take out the other bars and fit on the 'aero piece' then when I'm done just swap out to the other bars.

Remember I'm strapped for cash so I can't go around throwing money around trying different options

Chad! Why are you concentrating your efforts on, all these extra bits, before getting your fitness up to scratch? They won"t do you any good until, you reach somewhere near top fitness Concentrate on getting you level of fitness up first! The reason I say this is,unless you can carry through with your effort, to a point of shear exhaustion then it is worth nothing! Don't matter how many dollars you have, it means zip, if you cannot carry through!

Did you make a mistake or are you implying something which I can't understand?

Chaderotti wrote:Did you make a mistake or are you implying something which I can't understand?

Who are you replying to?

Chaderotti wrote:Did you make a mistake or are you implying something which I can't understand?

I think it's the cycling equivalent of the golf analogy: he/she has $1000 clubs but a $10 game. It should be clear (as mud) now.

foo on patrol wrote:

Chaderotti wrote:Did you make a mistake or are you implying something which I can't understand?

Who are you replying to?

When you first posted you just quoted me and didn't leave a reply

I understand what you're saying Foo, but in the TT position I feel more comfortable and am able to maintain a bit more power than trying to maintain it in a position set up for sprinting.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense but it works for me.

Wing bars and a separate stem is a better option in my opinion, you need to get new bars either way so might as well go with the slightly more aero option.

Chaderotti wrote:I understand what you're saying Foo, but in the TT position I feel more comfortable and am able to maintain a bit more power than trying to maintain it in a position set up for sprinting.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense but it works for me.

Actually, it does make sense,(unlike my stuff up in the original post) because if you are more comfy, then you can concentrate on your task at hand, instead of wiggling all over the place.

Gary

The way I see it is with drop bars and clip ons, I'm most probably 'in between' the two different geometries, so I won't be efficient in the 170 metre sprint up to speed, and won't be too comfortable in the TT position for the remaining 1830 metres.
But with wings I can scoot my saddle forward, raise it up a fraction and I'll be comfortable for both types of riding.

Would I be able to slip past in a TT position with the same stem? Or is it better to just fork over the extra $$ and get the right size stem to complement the bars?

Can you clip the bars very inboard on the untapered portion (on my 31.8 bar I have about 10 cm untapered)? They definitely don't last when mounted even half over the taper.

I don't agree with the fitness first argument. Taking it to its conclusion, we should all be riding Kmart bikes until our fitness has peaked, or at least OK mountain bikes (so that you can't argue about reliability). $50 aerobars gave me 2 km/h more speed, I still put out my measly 220 W (estimated) in my solo 10 mile TTs but I'm a speed addict so I enjoy it more.

Anyway, drop and wing aren't the only options. Bull horn and flat bars will work well too but they're still simple circular metal tubes so probably much cheaper than wing bars. To prove a point I'm trying out clip-ons on my 1997 flat-bar steel framed hybrid slammed low on a 650c front wheel and fork. It works. I haven't timed it yet though.