Custom Rob English MTB

Puts the aerobar at exactly my desired height, keeps my knees a bit safer, and leaves a nice,clean, angled stem/steerer when they're removed.

Are you sure it will be strong enough?

Does having a high steerer area make injury more likely after a tumble?

With my lefty clamp above the stem, and possibly a spacer inbetween, and then my thermometer thing. I worry I have aload of metal right under my face.

I may just be paraniod though ;)

When you see the whole aerobar setup from other angles it looks like it should be plenty beefy enough...especially as you're only resting your body on them, rather than wrenching side to side like you do on your bars.
When you think how tiny saddle rails are, or how little metal is around a stem face plate, or a crank arm/spider etc, compared to how many times they ever break....It should be plenty strong enough.
I also trust Rob's judgement..experience, and mechanical engineering degree too. :]

With regards to safety...I dont think what 'might' happen 'if' you have a crash should ever have an effect on how you set a bike up from a comfort/position point of view.
It shouldnt really be any worse than a regular aerobar setup with armrests and forward extensions.
The amount of comfort the higher/closer position brings over any amount of distance far outweighs the likelyhood of injury on the few occasions you might take a spill in my opinion.
We can't control what we might land on on the ground, so i'm not going to let the worry of what i might land on on the bike affect any setup decisions either. :]

He's done a great job though with this particular part...it's pretty much exactly what I had in my head...but even tidier. Weight wasn't a concern for me really with the aerobars, it was about position, and trying not to have extension tubes obscuring the loop of the H-bars...but I'm interested to see how the weight compares with a regular aerobar setup.

I can't wait to see the front rack come together next!

When you think how tiny saddle rails are, or how little metal is around a stem face plate, or a crank arm/spider etc

Well I wasn't, but I am now.

Thanks :-s

...especially 2 bolt ones....combined with bar width...and the leverage a grown man exerts on them when climbing! :]

Thank goodness I only weigh about 98kg :-)

I wouldn't campare this system to a stem face plate, but then again I haven't really seen how this all fits together.

I'd carry a few magnets around with you. Just to be on the safe side ;-)

I wouldn't campare this system to a stem face plate, but then again I haven't really seen how this all fits together.

I know they're not comparable in all ways...but when you think how much leverage and twisting force goes through a faceplate, and what a small amount of metal surrounds those two little bolts, it gives a better idea of how much strength a relatively small component can have.

With the aerobars, you're not holding the armrests, and you're not really swinging your body from side to side either...you're just supporting yourself on them...without a great deal of movement really.
It's actually a pretty chunky little component Rob has machined when you think about it.
Obviously time will tell...but I have total faith in Rob's design...as well as a year and a half of time to test it out. :]

This pic gives a better idea of the position I was going for, and the way i wanted the extensions to be completely separate from the armrests.
I would be angling the extensions up to about 3O-4O degrees though rather than having them flatter like they are in the pic.

I'll also be moving the armrests inwards by one or two holes...but again it gives you an idea of the basic setup.
I think it's a solid looking support really given the amount of leverage it will endure. The weight is supported pretty centrally the whole time, with a pretty narrow stance...and most of the pulling force goes through the extensions.

Awesome work. This has got to be one of my favourite projects at the mo. As a reader it's also nice to get some quick gratification cough smallfurry cough ed.

Re the mount...

... I actually thought it looked like a pretty chunky piece of kit.

Also how come you've gone for custom extension bars?

The reason I wanted the custom aerobars is because regular ones are designed to mount on the actual handlebar, which puts them a good few inches further forward than this setup.
That's fine when you want them to allow you to stretch right out in a really aero position...but for long off road miles the aerobars biggest advantage is their ability to support your upper body...but this works better if you can move them higher and closer. You still get some aero benefit too from being a bit more tucked in of course.

This setup allows a higher, closer position, without needing either a second stem and section of bar above your regular one, which I've seen a few people do...or using 'fred bars' which does a similar thing to that but a bit more neatly.

I also wanted to keep the loop bars clearer to allow potentially fitting a feed bag inside the loop...regular aerobars would have put the extension tubes right across the loop.
I just find my setup a lot neater really....especially as there will be no exposed steerer or spacers when they're removed as there would otherwise have been with any off the peg setup.

As for quick gratification...I've been amazed by how fast Rob has put this bike together...Including figuring out the best ways to actually solve certain problems.
It wasn't a straight forward bike by any stretch of the imagination....
Hub gear, belt drive, folding frame to fit in a checkable case, upside down steerer, two interchangable rear wheels, fat front compatible, custom aerobars, custom front rack, custom stem, custom bag mounting points...etc
And he's hoping to have it finished before the end of the month in time for a photoshoot.

I've been so impressed by how thorough, precise, and motivated Rob is. His ability to figure out what the hell I was talking about with certain parts of my design, with no drawings or cad images from me...and get it exactly how I wanted is amazing. :]

Can you spin those wheels up to make aero advantage?

Edit. Maybe its more to give wrists a rest?

These pics show Eric Lobeck's divide bike, and show perfectly what I wanted to avoid with the aerobars....It achieves a similar position, but looks much more cluttered with the extra stem and section of handlebar...and the full extensions coming right from the clamps....

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_z2s_w5rHJAg/TKV85RDNVVI/AAAAAAAAZS0/RgBSjGaBiAM/IMG_3461.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WbYAkMe-NQI/TCUR9JsSDTI/AAAAAAAAA3g/cM8yi9BBAMU/s1600/IMG_0364.JPG

ok, makes sense, the piece does look plenty strong enough, I was more worried about the bolts, and the stem's threads as even if the force is minimal the small distance between the bolts and the large distance between them and the edge of the rests does make a rather large leverage.
Also when using my TT bars (for longer rides, I often grab the rests with my hands to get a much more upright position, which is really useful to relax.
Mine, which I'm considering putting on my touring/trekking bike.

Again though...the leverage on the bolts and threads should still be less than the bolts on a stem.

Yeah I also hold the pads to stretch out sometimes too...but it's more a resting position again rather than one where you exert much leverage.

Mine, which I'm considering putting on my touring/trekking bike.

I like profile aerobars...it was a pair of profiles I used as the basis for my position with this setup. ;]

ok, one more bitchy comment and I stop: the angle of the rests look super steep, is the frame level on that picture? did you want them this steep?

ok, one more bitchy comment and I stop: the angle of the rests look super steep, is the frame level on that picture? did you want them this steep?

They're actually about parallel to the ground. :]

...and about level with my saddle.

Nice, plenty of knee clearence too! I'm very inspired now.
I need to put my aerobars on this:

I'm still going to have to adjust my climbing position slightly, as I'm quite a 'forward' climber when standing....so I'm bound to still bang my knees occasionally....but having aerobars set this far back it would be impossible not to. :]