Going Aero: A Buyer’s Guide To The Right Bars

Aerodynamic drag, weight, aesthetics and materials are important features of any aerobar—but they are all secondary to a bar’s fit characteristics and ergonomics. Aerobars play a critical role in a bike’s fit and comfort because they connect the rider to the machine. The fore-and-aft location and height of the elbow pads can affect fit just as much as frame choice, so finding a bar that matches your fit is nearly as important as selecting the right frame. In addition to our reviews of these bars, we also tell you how they will affect bike fit.

Vision Vector Si Aerobar, 768 grammes, £599.99
Stack height: Very high,
Pad reach length: Moderate,
Adjustment range: Moderate,
Wrist position: Neutral
Vision aerobars have long been fast, relatively light nd a good value because of their minimalistic design. Vision’s sleek design used to come with a penalty, however: It had fixed aerobar extensions that could not be adjusted in length. Unlike the standard Vision clip-ons, the Vector extensions can be lengthened and shortened, and these bars have not sacrificed Vision’s typical streamlined design. It retains the positive features of most Vision bars and the new dimension of adjustability makes the Vector Pro Vision’s most practical—although not its most elegant—aerobar ever. Adding this layer of adjustability does, however, add substantial weight to the bars and prevents the pads from lowering down to the basebar. windwave.co.uk

Profile ZBS Ski-Bend clip-ons/ Ozero basebar, 758 grammes, £209.98
Stack height: Very low,
Pad reach length: Short,
Adjustment range: Narrow,
Wrist position: Moderately taut
The Ozero/ZBS aerobar is priced as a budget-sensitive bar, but its clean welds, aggressive shapes and minimalistic clamp design give it the look of a pure performance aerobar. The ZBS Ski-Bend creates an exceptionally comfortable wrist position in the aerobars but still offers a nice leverage point during a big effort. The ZBS clip-ons are available in three lengths but cannot be adjusted. The pads, however, can be moved fore and aft as much as six centimetres. It isn’t the lightest bar, but the ZBS/Ozero combination provides exceptional ergonomic and aerodynamic value, if one of the three extension lengths matches your fit. Madison.co.uk

Hed Corsair, 623 grammes (with cables and brake levers), £599.99
Stack height: Middle,
Pad reach length: Middle,
Adjustment range: Wide,
Wrist position: Neutral
Every product that comes out of the Hed workshop in Shoreview, Minnesota, is built for performance and function.
Aesthetics are not part of the equation. The Corsair lacks the elegant fasteners found on some other high-priced bars, but it boasts the most comfortable hand positions—both brake and shift—of any bar in this test. In addition to excellent ergonomics, the Corsairs feature an aerodynamic basebar shape designed by the mad scientist of cycling aerodynamics—Steve Hed. It’s featherweight, but still plenty stiff. It’s hard to call the Corsair a bargain at £600 especially because some other bars look flashier, but the Corsair’s combination of performance, ergonomics and functionality is nearly impossible to beat. Hedwheels.com

Bontrager Race XXX Lite Carbon, 696 grammes, £379.99
Stack height: Very high,
Pad reach length: Short,
Adjustment range: Wide,
Wrist position: Very relaxed
The Race XXX Lite is an elegantly simple aerobar with a fit profile that takes the edge off a frame with fit characteristics that are too aggressive for your personal riding style. If you’ve reached the limits of fit adjustment on your current bike yet still can’t find a comfortable position, the Race XXX Lite Carbon can provide that additional adjustment you need to find a comfy position on your current frame. Its simplistic assembly hardware gives the XXX Lite a clean aero profile, but there’s no internal housing routing pattern for the shifters, and it weighs more than some similarly priced models. These bars are a good choice for any rider looking for a high-performance aerobar to take the edge off a frame with excessively aggressive geometry. Bontrager.com

Easton Attack TT, 577 grammes, £499.99
Stack height: Very low,
Pad reach length: Long,
Adjustment range: Moderate,
Wrist position: Moderately taut The Attack TT has been just about the lightest production aerobar in the world for years, although older versions were hamstrung by a lack of fit adjustability. Easton’s latest edition offers a new degree of adjustment that allows it to fit more riders than its predecessors. The extensions are cleanly fastened to the basebar with collets, which allow the length to be adjusted to the rider’s individual fit. The S-bend extensions have a short upper portion which draws the shifters back toward the rider, creating an ergonomic grip position that puts the shifters in-hand without excessively stressing the wrists. The pads, however, cannot be drawn back to the rider to accommodate a position with a short reach to the aerobars, which is the Attack TT’s only shortcoming. The extension shape and adjustability adds a new level of comfort and usability to these pro-level aerobars. Extrauk.co.uk

3T Aura Pro, 720 grammes, £259.99
Stack height: High,
Pad reach length: Very long,
Adjustment range: Wide,
Wrist position: Taut
The Aura Pro has an innovative brake grip position, highly adjustable fit characteristics, low weight and a sturdy airfoil carbon basebar that inspires confidence when out of the saddle. The Aura Pro is a worthy adversary in every way for high-priced bars, but its £260 price tag makes it the best value in this review. The S-bend extensions on our tester bar are a little too aggressive for all-day comfort, but long-coursers can swap them out for 3T’s more relaxed up-turned aero extensions. The pads cannot be moved low so this isn’t the right bar for the rider looking to get lower than his frame allows, but for those that don’t need to drop their position, its combination of performance, comfort and usability make it the best aerobar at this price point. I-ride.co.uk

FILED UNDER: All / Gear & Tech TAGS: 3T Aura Pro / Aerobar / Bontrager Race XXX Lite Carbon / Buyer / Choose / Easton Attack TT / Guide / Hed Corsair / how-to / Ironman / Profile / Triathlon / Vision Vector Si Aerobar / What / Which

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently The World's Toughest Endurance Challenges which you can buy on Amazon. Paul has also written Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which is also available on Amazon.

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