TransAm 2016 - www.transambikerace.com

He say ... "Position was a bit wrong, hands are swollen like sausages. Still don't know where to put my hands on those horn-bar thingos."

Plus - "felt like one long day which lasted 2 1/2 weeks"

Pic of cockpit at finish.

Cheers!

Hmm wonder how your hands swell using aerobars? Maybe he didn't set them up right.

I don't know how you can ride drop bars with clip on aerobars. One of the bar positions will be wrong. Maybe I should just take my TT bike?

Maybe neck issues and not on aeros so much? Need to hear more detail - drop him a note on FB?

They kicked me off fb for not using my real name. I asked him on v twitter.

Those arm rests would concern me a bit - no height adjust pillars - over that time I'd expect you'd need a fairly high rest height to reduce neck/eye strain if you planned to aero most of the time.

I've understood numb fingers are more of the result of ulnar nerve and some other nerves being constricted. That extra padding on the bars would help with bruising on the palms, which I hear is problem for some, not that much with finger numbness. So the reason would maybe be in having weight on the wrists for long periods and continuing bending of elbows.

Would think varying positions would help, but maybe it's not enough then. Tcr veteran Mäkipää adviced to do some stretching and flossing to prevent it, also while riding.

Maybe you know all this already, but it's somewhat new to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d85QKyWvrbI

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00005

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00069

I trapped a nerve on the TCR however that was entirely avoidable. When I got to Italy I knew it was going to be flat and so I moved my seat up and forwards in order to get a more comfortable/better aero position. It was good for the first two days where I was largely by myself but on the third day I cycled chatting to someone for about 4 hours and spent most of my the time with the palms of my hands on the tops of the bars.

When I got to Slovenia and the hills started I moved my seat down and back and the situation stopped getting worse although it was still too late - my little finger after almost a month still won't straighten, it's nothing painful though.

I'd definitely be interested in aero bars where the pads can fold up however I don't know if there is a compromise to be made somewhere on these.

I'd want to be in the same position I'm in for the 24hr I guess. If it's sustainable for 24hrs it should be ok for longer. Problem is, then the drops will be way too close.

I do nerve flossing for my hip but I've never had to do it for hands. I might have a look at that video though as it could help prevent issues on TA.

@hippy Some custom handlebars? Are they are thing?

Possible, but expensive.

I'm quite adapted to my TT bike so if I could replicate its position on a Di2/disc endurance road bike and then tweak the start bars to be more comfortable for climbing and descending that might be my best option. I mean, Ultan came in 5th in TCR on a TT bike with some bad luck so it's clearly possible.

He also said at the end he just rode 'something he was used to'.

He got screwed on Assietta and by crazy Bulgarian taxi drivers, two things that you probably won't have to encounter in America

Yeah, adaptation is important. That's why I'd love to just use my TT bike. It's just the practicalities of doing so are a bit.. err.. limited. I wonder if there are any TT base bars with drops instead of flats?

Are there drop bar converters similar those sticky things people put on mountain bikes? Although a quick Google has revealed nothing.

To be honest the drops were the position I used least. Top two were on the hoods and on the tri bars followed by climbing on the pads. I only used the drops for really hardcore descending and even though I might have used the tri bars had I had brakes installed on them. I reckon you could get away without them

http://enve.com/products/ses-aero-road-bar-clip-on-extensions/

But pricey

Penis bars. They're basically the same as the Haero ones aren't they?

Extensions are removable I think

So.... they're basically the same as the Haero ones?

Enve extensions are proper clipons rather than moulded into the drop bar, so you can remove them fully and adjust width.

Ah, ok, that makes them a bit more sensible. I spoke to Scherrit briefly and he suggested we could get me into my TT position with decent clip-ons - they'll just need to have the right range/adjustibility.

Now I just need to stop drinking and drop about 20kg...

Don't we all... Zipp Vukas got to be an option, the most adjustable ones out there.

Zipp Vuka

Not a bad call. I think Profile have quite a lot of clip-on options too, though I'm not sure about their single bolt armrest clamp:
http://profile-design.com/product/aerobars/t5-aluminum/

The T1 has a wedge clamp which might do a better job:
http://profile-design.com/product/aerobars/t1-carbon/

Zipp pads are hella comfy

I ran zipps vuka. They were the lowest stack mounting I could find. As you can run the extensions under the handlebar.