By Greg Conderacci
Recently, RBR launched this new series to enlighten our ultra-cool readers about the benefits of dorkiness. In Part I, we explored screening your helmet; in Part II, we messed with your handlebars; in Part III, we reflectorized your machine; in Part IV, we prepped you for flats; in Part V, we praised electrical tape; and in Part VI, we recommended kinesiology tape for sore knees.
Today, without a shred of wind tunnel evidence to support it, we’re suggesting raising the armrests on your aerobars and increasing their padding. This is not about improved short-term aerodynamics. It’s about taking strain off your neck, back and shoulders. See: Shermer’s Neck.
I use Profile Design aerobars (see photo). I’ve tripled the padding on the arm rests (compared to the single pad that comes with the bars). Also, I’ve raised the bars an extra half inch beyond the two spacers that come with the bars. This involved a visit to a hardware store for extra-long bolts and the purchase of four white nylon drawer rollers.
It’s much more comfortable and, while I may not be as streamlined, I can stay in the bars longer and that more than makes up for the extra wind resistance.
Do you have a dorky tip to share? Don’t be shy. We’ll withhold your name upon request. Remember a dorky tip has one or more of these characteristics:
- Pro riders do not do it (nor does just about anybody else)
- It’s cheap or maybe even free
- It usually adds weight
- It will NEVER be featured a fancy bike catalog, because, well, there’s no money in it.
Greg Conderacci is a marketing consultant and a former Wall Street Journal reporter, non-profit entrepreneur, and investment bank chief marketing officer. In Getting UP!, he brings you the same skills he teaches at a top graduate school and Fortune 500 companies. Lots of people promise better performance … Greg proves it. Using his energy techniques, in 2015 he rode a bicycle across America in just 18 days — averaging 150 miles a day.
I recently needed replacement pads for my profile aero bars. I bought ” CEE GEES” and they are incredibly comfortable and I think they come in different thicknesses…..