Shifting with Aerobars on a Road Bike

Heather, from Cameron, NC emailed me this question:

Hi Carol! I love reading your blog! I had a quick question for you after seeing the picture of your bike… did you have your aero bars installed, or is it a tri bike? I have a road bike and would really like to have aero bars installed, but I’ve heard mixed opinions about the inability to shift gears from a tuck position. I would love to save up for a tri bike, but wondered how they would be for the time being.

Thanks for your kind words about my blog.

I have a regular road bike with Profile Design Wing aerobars added (I think I paid about $130 for them). After getting the aerobars put on, I had a bike fitting done by a triathlon fitter (FIST certified). They adjusted my seat and put in a new shorter stem. That put my body in a position that is optimal for being down in the bars. Because of that, it’s more comfortable for me to be in the bars than to be upright. I do spend 90% of my training time down in the bars.

Regarding shifting – it took some getting used to. I developed a technique where I stay in the bars lifting just one arm off the pad to shift that gear, then put the arm back into the pad. I try to keep my upper body stable while doing this. I tend to stay in my middle chain ring up front
almost all the time, so I only have to shift the back cassette. My right arm is very adept at shifting like this.

One other note, is that my aerobars have spring loaded elbow pads. When not in the pad, they pop up away from the handlebars, I guess so you can grab the handlebars up top when you want to. I never grab the handle bars there anyway, and the flipped up pads got in the way of my shifting technique, so I used tie wraps to tie the pads down permanently. So… If you decide to get aerobars, don’t get the kind that flip up. Or, consider the possibility of tying them down.

I do sometimes wish I had bar end shifters when I am riding lots of hills. But all in all, my bike is great and I love it. My bike weighs about 20 lbs. It’s made of aluminum with carbon fork. I just have regular wheels, nothing fancy. (I can’t afford fancy!) I love the fact that my bike cost less than a set of Zipp wheels, yet I am coming in 2nd in my age group for the bike split 🙂

Happy workouts, Carol