![]() ![]() The closest I can find to the bar Victor is aboard is the AR Road handlebar by ENVE (pictures and schematic below). Victor does both: his hoods are both rotated inward and slanted from vertical.) Remco rides with hoods rotated inward, but not slanted because he doesn't ride with bars like these. (Rotating around a vertical axis, rather than slanting the hoods from the vertical plane. Narrowness is among the most important aspects of riding in the aero position, and this is Victor’s way of borrowing from his superb aero position in service of his road position.Ī lot of riders in the peloton – Victor's teammate Giacomo Nizzolo, and Remco Evenepoel of Team Quickstep – are rotating their hoods inward. This allows him to get his hands narrow, and keep his forearms narrow. Furthermore, he’s got his hoods tilted inward, and twisted inward. ![]() Well, it might have some flair as well, but the drops are, on center, probably 5cm wider than the bars are where the hoods attach. The bar he’s riding, and the way it’s set up, is notable. He does spend a lot of time in the drops, but the hoods might be a more aero position for him, I think, because of his choice of handlebar (and we'll talk about why). Of course he is pulling this echelon, so, it’s important for him to be more aero while riding in front. First, you can see who’s clearly the most aero rider in what is a hoods position (not typically considered the “aero” position aboard a road bike). Included is a picture of Victor on his road bike and you’ll note some things. Victor rides on Team Qhubeka Assos and that team is fortunate to have as its aero consultant Xavier Disley of Aerocoach, “Xavier” on our Reader Forum. He is known for being meticulous in his position and bike preparation and he’s known for optimizing his aero position. There’s a thread about Victor right now on our Reader Forum, and he’s instructive because he’s a former triathlete – perhaps a future triathlete, when he’s had enough of bike racing on the world stage – and he’s the current record holder in the hour. Let’s start by looking at what’s getting ridden in the pro peloton right now, and I’m going to use a Slowtwitch favorite, Victor Campenaerts, as my example. I don’t mean that the exact bar I’m riding is the most aero road bar, but it’s close to it, if what we want to be "aero" is the whole "system", rider and machine. What I will establish below is that this is the road bar of the future, and it is in fact the road bar of the present among those who are the most particular riders in the pro cycling peloton. I’m building up a new aero road bike, and I’m putting a gravel handlebar on it. ![]()
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