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due to a technical hickup - i lost my ultra comfy and flat backed front end - which was a mash up from years of testing and making and moving stuff - and various parts are no longer availible. the main criteria that made it comfy was - wide elbows and reasonably high elbows , with narrower hand position - keeping the chest open
I replaced with a functional and cheap planet X stealth base and extension combo which frankly has been a disaster.
the arm rests are too low , the extensions are too flat and straight out from the elbows and after a 25 on tuesday i'm crippled - i can blag the position for a 10 but a 25 is too much.
so I had a look about and came up with a couple of contenders.... the Cammish PDQ front end looks a likely contender - how ever being inquisitive and being under no illusion(based on their website) that there has been any more design on their front than ordering from a catalogue i went hunting and saw the same design for sale for about 100 quid less more or less confirming they are little more than catalogue specials but more than that i have vague memories of these looking very similar to the ones that the GT rider had part at the risers to the armrest when he hit a bump.....
What cock pit are you running and how do you rate it - mainly for adjustability both width and height.
I'm following the crowd with the 40 Deg use extensions reversed, seems a popular choice around here. Zipp vuka base bar, nothing unusual with one med riser.
Puts your hands reasonably high, so you need a wedge under the elbow rests if they are going to be comfortable. This was a bit of a rinky-dink setup and eventually stripped the clamp bolt holes. I've had to get the newer vuka clamps which seem a lot better, testing them tomorrow in a 25 so we'll see.
You can laterally move the elbow pads on the vuka so could get a degree of wide elbows, narrow hands - not sure how much. Small bit of rotation on the extensions would out the ends v close together as well.
Med riser is low for me and has delivered some pbs already, so it's a decent position. It's a bit uncomfortable around the aerobelly though so I think the answer will be to go back up to the high riser, shrug those shoulders and just rage the Watts.
HED corsair with 3T clip ons sporting aerocoach cups and carbon j bends - the 3t can be angled very easily and are height and width adjustable with supplied spacers (just need to clamp to a round base bar). I really like them. On the trike I have a Bontrager carbon front end with aero profile base bar and integrated clamping cups, but need to lower it with an adjustable stem and it's not great. On the fixed, I have the old HED corsair arm pads mounted to some 3T drop bars.
Modern all in one bling carbon base bar systems do not really allow flexible width, height or angle adjustment. Pick something basic like 3T first, nail your position, then go spendy on carbon stuff and custom angle wedges.
These are the pads you are looking for (add carbon j bends for comfort)
https://www.3t.bike/en/accessories/clip-on-without-extensions-251.html
i know where i'm heading for position - i've been there with the basic stuff but the cast clamp and base bar got damaged in a fall.
the PX was a cheapo replacement that was availible locally quickly
i know what needs to happen is that the front needs to come up and the elbows need to go out.
The PX actually has pretty good elbow out adjustability as they can go anywhere on the base bar.
I could probably lash up some spacers for under the elbows to lift them
The sticking point is they use propriatory sized Extensions and PX have stopped making the Mk2 extensions which would get a sensible position. the MK1 S bend are a joke - How ever it might be cost effective to make up my own extensions.
I have a set of the Bontrager Carbons availible as well but those prehistoric and pretty beat up + even less adjustable than the PXs.
The PDQ extensions are a different diameter to normal - I have a carbon set of J bends that didn't fit the 3T clamps. I also considered PDQ longer term so kept them. Cammish is of course a legend.
are they ? i was reading they were 22mm at the clamp but the hand end was different so you could not just flip them round for the high rise position.
Ive dropped PX an email as a new set of extensions and the use of selcof spacers they sell would be much more cost effective for me at this time.
also on my radar is just fitting a set of clip ons to the Propel and ditching the TT bike all together as the Propel is damned fast.
My club mate rode 250 miles in the National 12hr on his Propel with the aero clip ons I lent him. I was thinking of building one of mine up as well for long distance TTs.
Well monitoring the used pages I've ended up collecting another Mish mash of bits but that offers the adjustment I think I want in terms of width and height , the ability to adjust a fair bit beyond that and reasonably standard compontnants.....back to proper sized extensions.
3T Vola ltd base bar , use 40deg extensions , fibre-lyte cups with a bunch of spacers and some angled spacers
Anyone looking for a budget TT set up and has a lower back that can take an agressive position.......got a stealth set up with MK1 extensions going cheap 🙂
Had a good runout at the weekend, but my extensions slowly slipped forward such that my arms were nearly horizontal by the end. The bolts seemed torqued pretty tight - is it worth trying carbon paste on an aluminium bar, or perhaps a couple of layers of electrical tape around the bar under the risers? Going to do a ten tonight so will have a bit of a play with it.
Searching on line it seems like a few people reporting this issue with the vuka bar.
carbon paste definitely worth while , really does reduce the torque needed to grip regardless of material.
How did you find the high position on the reversed 40s ?
I've got USE 40s sitting on my desk and toying with drilling the holes at the other end to give the high rise position a go since i already have the angled spacers for it.
I'm marshalling an 18 CTT tonight to fulfil my duty to the evening league to buy some time to set up the bars correctly rather than trying to rush it tonight in time to ride.
I think it's a good position for me - I was quicker straight away this season on it, although it's always hard to know if it was that one variable that made the difference, I think I'm a bit stronger than last year plus have a few more 25s under the belt. Was knocking on the door of the local hour straight off and actually went under it at the weekend for the first time, whereas I was a couple of minutes over last year.
Whether it is more aero or not in terms of raw watts, the higher hands definitely feel like they help you maintain position easier which is probably more important. Helps me feel the shrug / tuck more. If you're more experienced and are well-trained in position then this might not be such a big deal - give it a go and let us know how you get on with it.
I'll give the carbon paste a try to sort these bars out.
got any photos gary.
Was playing with fitting last night , and i need to break out the turbo and get a feel for just how it is but i cant get beyond it looking ridiculous 😀
Probably need to shorten the stem, I'm going to slam it and put the height back on at the bars. , I think i need to shorten the "long" end a bit and pull them back in to me a bit and redrill the rests to take the Brace plate and go a bit wider for me.
- although ill leave all that till after ive got it on the turbo and tried some power sets see how it goes
well that picture didnt work .....
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This was from a recent 25 - it's slightly messed up at the front end, though, as I crashed on the first lap and bent the bars down a little at the stem clamp. But you can get an idea that the extensions aren't ridiculously high or anything, quite neutral-ish for me. If you have a flat-backed low position then I guess it might be different.
An exasperating event - one hour and 15 secs with an OTB crash into a flower bed! Took a 90 degree corner off the main drag nice and slow, no problems. Threw the power back down to get up to speed, completely forgetting the small S-bend kink in the road that was now fast approaching...
That's it as per photo above with me on.
It actually looks alot less rediculous than it does when sat without a rider on. There's a 15mm lift on the pads at that /they have gone from flat to 10degree lift and there's a 10cm lift at the tips.
Steerer needs cut but I need to check the position works for me first.
Well used it in anger this week.
Since my back didn't spasm mid ride I went from mid 30s at the last round to 5th
So going in the right direction.
Saddle has to come forward considerably and the stem needs to just about half --its a 110 on there just now.
Getting old sucks haha
Not helpful, please ignore