Syntace C3 Aerobars: 1 Yr After

It's been about a year since I got my aerobars, and they have turned out to be a god-sent for my sore wrists, wrist numbing, and getting me home when the local Delta Breeze (15-20mph) kicks up in the summer. This was the 3rd kind of aerobar I tried. I hated the other two so much I removed them. The last set were Profile Designs, the other brand I don't recall. It's the shape and mounting system I love about the Syntace C3s. Oh, and the bombproof quality.

The sales info on Syntace's English site is terrible, and their assembly instructions still worse, so I was not surprised when someone considering them wrote and asked me for an in-depth evaluation, and details of my computer mounting system.

There has been a debate raging in my club about the safety of aerobars, and I had been considering writing a follow-up piece anyway, so the request came at an opportune time. I wrote Syntace and offered to write their English site for them in return for products, but they refused. A pretty stupid move given how crap their docs are.

In this view you can see I have swapped brake  cables. This allows me to keep my left arm planted, and avoid the instability and weight shift attendant with moving your arms. Having 9-10 gears AND your front brake in your right hand is a huge help in general, and especially with aerobars.  I was also able to remove about 3" of brake cable, which gives the front brake lever a lot more feel, allows for a very supple modulation of the front brake, and tremendous power if you need it.
 
(The front brake had to be in the left hand when using downtube shifters, because the right hand is a LONG ways from the brake handle when shifting. This requirement vanished with the introduction of paddle shifters. Sheldon Brown was a fan of swapping, and the women's road racing champ in Beijing had hers swapped.)

This is your view of the world when riding in the aerobars. My Garmin's signal quality went from good to excellent with no metal to interfere with the GPS signals, and the wireless sensors' ANT+ signals never get lost now. I used more vinyl tubing over the zip ties this time to get more grip, as the tubing not only protects the surface, but is quite sticky when compressed like this. I'm not crazy about the red zip ties though. I might go back to black.

As you can see , this mount is extremely aerodynamic, having almost no frontal area at all. You can adjust the position of the Garmin to get rid of glare by just moving it around. The mount will pretty much stick where you place it. This mount also creates a clean airflow for the altitude sensor, which works off of barometric pressure.

At speed, having it mounted on the top of the stem will put it in a low-pressure zone created by the slope of the stem - throwing off the barometric altimeter. It's much easier to read being this far forward, and provides a stop for your arm when you bring it up onto the bar. You might also notice I have applied skate tape to the ends of the bars to keep my hands from slipping off the ends. Even when my gloves are 'greasy' from being soaked with sweat, this grip is bomb-proof. It's also very reflective as it turns out, which is a plus at night.

This is a pre skate-tape view of the cockpit. I have moved the mounts out as wide as these FSA K-Wing bars will allow, as I have a 47" chest and the shoulders to go with it. I'm considering moving them in a bit on the bar and pushing the pads out though to get a more comfortable position. Always another tweak in the endless cycle of body adapts to machine adapts to body.

A close-up of the zip tie mounting of the Garmin. The mount is a 30mm piece of steering tube sawed off a friend's carbon fork. Ultra light, very strong, and invisible to radio signals. Also note the detail of the C3's mounting on the main bar. The workmanship is just fantastic. Look at that gorgeous weld! You can make a little cleaner profile than I have here by pulling the zip-tie ends up so they're in front of the lower part of the Garmin's body.

I used a needle-nosed Vice-Grip to pull the zip ties tight. You will likely have to work to get the clear plastic tubing positioned correctly on the ties as you tighten them. To get the zip ties through the tubing, lay a book on it to flatten it into the same general flat shape of the zip ties. I tend to cut the tubing a little long, so had to cut 3-4 ties off with a set of wire dykes and try again. The zip ties I got from Kragen Auto Parts. Nothing special. Don't be surprised if you break a tie or two, but you will do better if you pull the ties a few inches away from the catch when pulling them tight.

This should give you some idea how much space is between the main bar and the Syntace bar. Once you get used to it, it makes a pretty good hold when reaching for water bottles or coasting. I have also learned to jam my hand under the ends of the aerobars while hanging onto the ends of the main bar when going over rough road with just one hand on the bar. It is IMPOSSIBLE to have your hand ripped off the bars with such a grip.

When climbing you can get a pretty standard bar-top close hold by placing your hands so the middle of your palm is bisected by the inside edge of the pad, and then wrapping your fingers around the front of the main bar. It feels a little flakey at first, but in time you'll come to trust it, and climbing efficiency will be as good as with flip-up pads.

A closeup of the width markings. Each end can be adjusted 50mm in or out.

A close-up of the zip ties showing how the Garmin mount is first tied to the carbon fiber tube, and then the tube is tied to the aerobar. Note the way the vinyl tubing is pinched between the tube and the bars. This is very important in keeping the mount stuck where you position it. I have never had it move, no matter how rough the road, and that was before adding the extra tubing across the outside and top of the aerobar.

Access to the width adjustment bolt is given by ripping the replaceable pads out of the Velcro-surfaced pad cradle and loosening the 5mm bolt. It never even thinks about moving. Rock solid, even over very rough road. In fact, for really rough road it is my favorite riding position as the Syntace bars have just a bit of give in them, and the pads absorb a lot of road chop.

FSA offers another mounting option for computers they call the Control Center. It clamps around the main bar right against the stem. I am going to use this to mount a MagicShine light below the bars, but for a computer you would position it above the bar. It's not as streamlined, as far forward, nor as sturdy, but it creates needed separation between the light and the aerobars. If you get one of these don't use the included bolts - use a zip tie. Stronger and doesn't rely on the strength of the plastic clamp material. The zip tie has it's own strength and is just squeezing the 'clamp' - which is then completely passive.

I don't have my bars mounted in a real aero way, as avoiding wrist pain was the primary motivation for getting them. They have exceeded my expectations in this area too. As for speed, they add about 1.5 to 2.5 mph at speeds from 19-25 mph.

When drafting, make it a loose 5-10 ft draft unless you know the locomotive pretty well, or he is obviously well versed in pacelines. You will find if you talk to someone you are drafting off of that you aren't sucking on them very much, even with a tight 2-3ft draft. You also aren't going to provide a great draft for someone sucking on your wheel.

In particular, your draft won't be very deep, so expect people to draft you closely in a stiff headwind. It's important to be very smooth and keep your eyes looking up the road in either case. I have never had a complaint about the shallow draft. Everyone is just very happy they don't have to buck those heavy winds alone. If you slow down enough, you can make a lot of friends! In my case, I rarely get to ride with others anymore as I am just blowing right by them. However, when I do get company it's from strong, competent riders and that makes for a lot of fun, high-speed riding. Here's my response to objections raised by my riding club.

The reason they don't allow aerobars in most pro races is because they have huge peletons to draft off of, they ride in close quarters all the time, and it would shorten the race so less event time to sell ads during. I don't use them in close quarters either, and when on club rides, usually only use them when out in front.

This brings up an important point though, just because you have them mounted doesn't mean you have to use them. Especially when drafting in them I am aware of how technical the course is and will come out of the bars when the course gets twisty, bumpy, steep or when approaching traffic.

I haven't noticed a core strength issue, but they do require a few weeks for your upper back and shoulders to get used to. On the other hand, the C3 Syntace bars have so little to do with other aerobars there are limits to making generalizations. If I'm careful to keep my knees to the bar I can crank out 5-600 watts in my aerobars without rocking the bike, but that much power does take some core.

My advice to anyone getting aerobars is to ride alone for a few rides first and then be cautious for a month or so. The biggest adaptation is in where you look going through turns. You have to look further up the trail. In part this is due to the longer riding position inhibiting sharp turns, and in part it's because you're going faster.

As for crashes, I know riders who have ridden in them for years without any accidents. I've had mine for a year now and the only close calls I've had were times I wasn't in the aerobars, but in traffic on the hoods. I did run over a pointed rock on the way down from Monitor Pass and punctured my back tire at 55+mph in my aerobars and got stopped OK. Scary, and I'm sure there was some luck involved there, but having more weight on the front wheel likely helped me there.

One thing I have noticed is I can watch the road better than in the drops, where it's taxing to hold your head up all the time. This is especially helpful when on the bike trail going through turns with oncoming traffic. I can watch them the whole way through the turn.

You can mount parallel brake and shift levers on most aerobars if you like, but I chose not to. The time it takes to get to the brakes or shifters is less than from downtube shifters, and at least for me, less than from the drops.

You can always call out obstacles to anyone riding so close that you are covering the road ahead of them. A loud barking 'WHOOT' works very well. The last time I caught an orange plastic road post in the groin there were a half dozen riders riding without aerobars who said nothing. I bark 'GLASS' all the time from aerobars.

I disagree that they are unsafe in any way, and think they are an excellent idea, especially for thin, lightweight riders. Professional riders use them all the time in TTs, including team TTs, where they are riding with 5-6 riders drafting each other, and are not complaining about them being dangerous. They are also used almost exclusively by Tri Athletes, and again, no complaints about safety.

In summary, I see it as just another body position to be used appropriately. For long training rides, touring, double centuries or those with hand numbing problems, they are a god-sent.

Sizes: S(12.5-14"), M(14-15"), L(15"+)

For sizing, place arm on table, and measure from table top to top of fist. Using this measurement, find which size range it falls into. Mine is a medium.

UPDATE: 5/14/2011 
Minor editing, and I removed the caution about the mount failing if the zip-ties fall off. After 2+ yrs, and 3 crashes without issue, this mount is at least as tough as any other on planet Earth. I've even, on occasion, stuck my finger in the mounting tube when climbing and it hangs tough. At the end of the day, time is the best test of durability. 

Robin's Ride

Filled with angst over Congress playing political football with continued unemployment insurance (still not as much money collected as my signing bonus and severance pay at my last job in corporate America) my friend Robin exhorted me to take my nose off the grindstone long enough to go for a sanity ride. Glad I did.

A close contender for the title of this post was "Super-Surge", as I had one of these rare quirks of human physiology yesterday while riding up to Beal's point to see how much water is in the lake, and take in a beautiful warm day on the first day of daylight savings time.

I have heard of professional athletes having super-surges. I know Eddy Merckx had a famous one in the TDF, as did Lance Armstrong. The last time I had one was almost exactly a year ago, and in the same general area. Last year's surge started at the base of the Folsom footbridge across the American River and lasted about 10-12 minutes up through the area where the Folsom Crossing Bridge is now.

Yesterday's surge didn't come slamming in as hard as last year's, but lasted all the way to the top of Beals. Yesterday I also had my Garmin with me, so I know it was quantifiable. What is a super-surge? It is a glorious surge of strength and stamina where you can put down 50-100% of normal power without any sensation of fatigue or clawing at the limits of VO2max. You are incredulous as you power up hills and past riders who are much stronger, and it seems so easy it's effortless. I just wish I knew what brought on, created, or caused these thrill rides so I could duplicate them on demand.

I have a beautiful Garmin trace of sprinting up the last 150 yards at the top of Beals at 14-12.5mph over 8.5 to 9.5% grade. That's right at 600 watts for about 4 minutes in the saddle! After a 15 minute break where I ate a Powerbar, and drank a bottle of water, I headed down for home. Expecting the ride would even itself out as it always does, I instead found I was hammering hills, flying on the flats, and recovering in 10-20% of the normal time after hammering those hills.

In fact, this surge carried me all the way home. Even the hills between Bannister Pk and home got hammered. I was shaking my head as I stayed ahead of a couple of cars on Sutter coming back to California. Wow, what a ride!

I uploaded my Garmin and studied the trace. It verified my subjective impressions in spades. I crushed all of the hills, and shaved almost 2 min off my PB.

I didn't even have to yell "SIDE" OR "LEFT" as people saw me coming and fled. I had one scary moment with a small dog on a long leash. He took one look at me bearing down on him and ran into the bushes pulling his owner after him. I looked at the speed-O on the Garmin, smiled and shook my head. If I could make these things appear on demand I could quit my day job and become a pro racer. For all the crappy days where my body doesn't cooperate, this was a grand make-up gesture.

A local bike club has started doing free TTs on Tuesdays starting tomorrow. I hope one of these super-surges shows up then. I'd love to hammer a 20min TT on a super-surge.

Thanks Robin, and please feel free to live vicariously until you get your mo-jo back.

A Tale of Two Rides

I headed out the door Sunday just before noon for Bella Bru. Being the last day of February I wanted to get some more miles in for the month. I had posted the ride with short notice, so wasn't too surprised no one showed up to ride, but I met a large group of riders who turned out to be part of the Sacramento Bike Hikers. They gave me a schedule, which I somehow managed to stuff in my jersey, and pushed off.

The ride was not slow, and maybe not even sluggish, but I just couldn't seem to get out of my own way. I got passed and decided to try to pace myself off the faster rider, who promptly tried to drop me. I stayed with him for ~ 5 minutes but just didn't have the top end I usually do.

My initial destination was Beal's Pt, but I decided to stop in Folsom, eat part of a Powerbar and get some water. The Gatorade I made up was from some old powder, and it was making me nauseated. I took 15 minutes and still didn't feel any better. Worse, my calf tear was really bothering me and I can't afford another tear, so I decided against climbing Beals, and headed home. It turned out to be about the same distance because of the detour down to Bella Bru and William Pond Pk, but a lot flatter.

When I got home, disgusted, I uploaded the Garmin 305's telemetry to my computer and it pretty much said the same thing. Of particular concern is my HR only got up to 165 when I was red-lining hanging onto the rabbit. I had plenty of time, was  well recovered, and my calf was screaming. I scratched my head and stewed. WTF? Another bad ride?


On Monday, with rain forecast for the day after, I was reluctant to ride, but wanted to get March off to a good start, so found some clean riding clothes and got dressed. Steering clear of the bad Gatorade I instead mixed some PowerBar Electrolyte powder in my waterbottle and grabbed 3 Powerbars - resigned to eating solid ride fuels.

Almost as a fluke I decided to take a mega B vitamin, a multi vitamin, 500mg of C, and 1,000mg of calcium, magnesium and zink. I washed that down with a little OJ and headed out the door with just a bit of nausea.

I decided to just cruise and rest the calf while logging some miles. I started out slow, but stood and hammered a bit climbing a short hill at about the 3mi mark. I noticed my calf was behaving, and my breathing was relaxed and easy. Hummm.

I stopped to talk to a local news crew that was setting up to shoot a story for TV a couple of miles later at Sunrise, and again was surprised at how smooth and strong I was shifting through the gears. Determined to take it easy, I loafed along at 17-21 for the next 4 miles until some doofus refused to ride single-file when facing on-coming traffic.

For all of the complaints I hear about motorists being asses on the road, fellow bicyclists who won't read or follow the rules just really get my goad - especially since the #1 cause of accidents on the bike trail is head-ons caused by exactly that. Stupidly, he started talking trash and I gave him a good bracing up. Riders like that give us all a bad name, and tarnish our reputation as responsible users of this awesome resource. Having said my piece, I took off pretty agitated.

Nice thing about riding is you have a ready outlet for such angst, so I took full advantage when two riders I had passed earlier caught up and passed me - riding much faster than earlier. We played cat and mouse until the bridge at WBP where I red-lined it and passed both of them decisively.

When I got home and looked at the Garmin trace I again saw proof of my subjective impression, that I was riding much stronger. My HR had maxed out at 171, a full 6bpm faster than the day before. The whole ride had just been much easier - in spite of hammering it hard on the lap from CSUS back to WBP. Yea B vitamins!!!

Friday Romp, Saturday Clomp

 

 Lisa S - our ride leader for Friday night's romp

The weather broke and we had a great weekend for riding, so when Lisa, a new ride leader we wooed away from the Sacramento Area Bike Hikers posted a pre-night-ride ride, I jumped in. It was a small group that left Bella Bru and headed down Arden to William Pond park, where we picked up the bike trail. I had a nice conversation with Lisa and was impressed with the mileage she was wracking up.

We met up with a few more riders at WBP, and headed upstream for the fish hatchery. When they built the dam that created Lake Folsom, and the views at Beal's Point, they destroyed some of the premier salmon spawning shoals in all of the Pacific Ocean fisheries, so the fish hatchery was created to harvest and spawn the smelt in a controlled environment. 

It works, but there is growing concern now that the same species are always grown, and that might not be such a good bio-diversity move. There is a plan now for a massive fish ladder almost a mile long that was approved at the same time as the new Johnny Cash/Folsom Lake Crossing Bridge. Time will tell if the funds materialize or not, but I, for one, am hoping they do.

With 'red beard' Jeffery B in tow, Lisa set a good, fast pace and must have been working hard to push that handlebar bag through the slight headwind. By the time we hit Hagen Park I was warmed up and wanted to push the pace a little. I got my break when a fast rider passed as I was negotiating traffic. He got ahead of me a few hundred yards before I was able to jump on it and bridge up. We did a couple of fast miles before I stopped at Sunrise to regroup.

We met Carlos at the fish hatchery, where he apologized for running late and meeting us half-way through the ride. We each introduced ourselves as he is also a new HWs rider. As we headed out Carlos, perhaps still revved up from having to make up for lost time, wanted to hammer. Like me, he carries a little extra weight, but is a strong rider, so I let him go ahead and sized him up. 

After a couple of miles we got passed by a rider. I jumped on his wheel and chased him down. Carlos was right behind, and the three of us went down a shallow grade halfway back to Sunrise at 30mph. I didn't include the Garmin trace because it was downhill, but we were flying and having a blast. It's a wonderful thing to find a rider that is well matched with you that you can challenge in a fun way and know they can return the favor.

We waited up and regrouped at Sunrise and I let Lisa set the pace again. We talked for a few minutes until a group of 3-4 riders blew past us. Carlos and I spotted Jeffery's bright yellow leg bands, and instantly recognized that he had jumped on the back of  a peleton. Carlos and I we were gone after them like a shot. The two of us, working together, bridged up in 30-40 seconds. They responded by pushing the pace still higher.

As you can see from the graph, we went from 15mph to 25mph in a few hundred yards. Carlos was behind me trying to get a decent draft off me heading into the wind in my aerobars, hanging back 5-8 ft for safety. There are lots of little dips and hills with hairpin turns thrown in - all of which make for great breakaway opps.

The leader, a kite, dropped back after a pretty short pull, and I found myself behind a very tall rider (6'8" he told me later) who wasn't giving me any draft at all. The air he broke was all over my head, so I stayed down in the aerobars and focused on being liquid smooth for the 3-4 riders behind us. (we were picking up a lot of riders who would blow up in short order) With the flat-ish course, and cool air, it was a day for big, strong riders, and we didn't see the 'kite' again until going over the bridge at WBP.

I got my chance to lead just past Hagen Park, and decided to challenge this strong group. You can see the spike where we blew by a long line of casual riders where turns and trees don't allow much of a view up the trail. Best to make the most of your opportunities to pass.

Carlos had dropped back, and 'Mr Big' was hard on my heels wheels. I was having a blast, pushing hard into Zone 5, and loving the howl of the wind in my ears. There is one nice hill about 3-400 yards long, as you make a sweeping turn to the left, where I decisively dropped the pack. I tucked myself into a tight aero ball, focused on keeping my knees to the bar, slid forward on the seat, and pulled everything I could out of my quads and glutes. I was cranking out 5-600 watts and was really enjoying the speed, so I stayed on it going down the shallow backside, and peaked the graph.

We all had the same idea on the steep approach to the WBP bridge. THIS was the point to make a move and get the glory riding into WBP first. I dug hard, as my HR trace shows, and stayed ahead of the pack. That hurt, but I was having a ball.

Right at the apex our kite came from the back of the pack and passed me. A nice kite move, especially since by then 'Mr Big' and I had pulled the plug and were carrying on a broken conversation. I didn't resent that kite move one bit. 

I love it when riders take the time to learn their strengths, and how to use those to best effect. Kites go up hills like a kite in a strong wind, but they go into the wind poorly because they don't have the beef to make a lot of power. They do have great power-to-weight ratios though, so love the hill climbing. I'm a brick, so I go down hills like a rocket, and fly on the flats. Know your game and press your advantages!

We regrouped and debated whether to head back to Bella Bru or wait for the night riders to show up at WBP. I needed fuel, as the lone bottle of Gatorade I used for ride fuel was long gone. By the time I got back to BB and started wolfing down a couple of cookies I knew I had waited too long to effect a good recovery. It was an omen.

I rode home fully refuled and was amped about the ride starting ~ 12 hours later. The racing and poor recovery were about to bite me in the butt though.

  Doing a little racing with Jeffery B, Carlos, Mr Big, and a kite

I woke up at 6:30 the next morning, showered, dressed for a long day of riding, and headed out the door an hour later. My legs were like wood. Totally dead. I instantly knew why too. No time to replenish muscle glycogen. I met the pre-ride group at the Gold Country Plazza Starbucks. This group had grown from 3 to a dozen, so I had a half hour to get some coffee, eat a muffin, and chat with Sharel about her new road bike. I was hoping the coffee and sweets would put some snap in my legs.

Lourdes finally rounded up the 'cats' and led us out around 8:15. She always says leading rides is like herding cats. It certainly would be today. Lisa quickly took up the lead, I joined her, and we set the pace heading up Gold Country to the fish hatchery. (it parallels the bike trail, but is safer for large groups) We went over the Hazel Ave bridge, and down the corkscrew heading for Nimbus Dam - the dam that creates Lake Natoma. I tried to push myself climbing up the Hazel Ave bridge, but my legs were just dead.

Kevin had a flat right at the dam. We were at the back of the pack chatting, and he called out that he had no pump, so I turned around to help, hoping he knew how to get to the start of the ride, because I didn't know the connector road. I owed a lot of favors in the flat department after all the flats I had last summer, so was happy to have a chance to give some back.

We took care of the flat in 10 minutes or so, and I was racing to catch up to Kevin, who was off after the main group like a shot. They were only a half-mile ahead. It turned out another rider had a flat so the whole group had stopped. I was a bit relieved, and happy my good deed was repaid in Karmic dollars so quickly.

We got to Vic's Market, the starting point for the main ride, and the whole parking lot was full of cyclists. It was a zoo. It was also a lot of fun. There was a definite buzz, and Adrienne was getting a ton of B-Day greetings and wishes. We took off 45 minutes later in 3 groups, but not before all joining in and singing Happy Birthday. It was a really special moment.

We headed out of the parking lot in a long train of day-glo nylon and black Spandex, and cars just stopped dead in the street in both directions and let us cross the 5 lanes. With 45 riders it's more like a parade than a ride. It's so rare to feel in control as a cyclist. Having cars willing yield to the weight of 45 riders is a little thrilling.

 

Adrienne, the B-Day girl - in red with 45 cohorts

Most of the ride from that point on is a blur. I do remember trying to chase Fred up some long hill and just not having the legs for it. I checked my HR monitor and was in the middle of Zone 4. Lots of energy, lots of lungs, just no legs. I also started to notice why club rides can tire me out and frustrate me in rolling hills.

With too little shoulder to pass or ride doubled up, I have to ride my brakes down every hill, and then burn a lot of energy on the next uphill instead of carrying my speed down each hill and into the next. The shoulders are 6" at best, and one of our riders was run over in the same area 6 weeks ago. (he was largely unhurt, but his bike is toast - no thanks to an angry and malicious driver)

I didn't ride back to Vic's Market, but continued down Auburn/Folsom Rd, back to the bike trail and Starbucks. The original 3 groups had completely fallen apart due to mechanicals, so we ended up riding in small groups strung out all over the place.

The 'heavies'. Kevin, Fred and me. Lisa is looking over KAB's shoulder

I had asked Lourdes if I could borrow Joe Friel's book on the Paleo diet for athletes, so I waited for 30-40 minutes at Starbucks and then headed home. I had some nausea and my legs had been cramping since grinding up the Hazel Ave corkscrew. (30% + grade) My calf tear had been screaming for 3 hours, and I just wanted to be home where I could recovery properly. We'll do the book thing later.

I slept most of the rest of the day, and felt like I'd been hit by a bus the next 2 days. By Wed I felt better, but had a ton of chores to do so didn't make it out the door on time. Reviewing the rides on Garmin Training Center, it turned out to be 95 miles and 6,200 ft within 24 hours.

The B-Day ride alone was harder than my standard Rescue ride, which was a huge surprise. I really underestimated the ride. For the week I logged 137 miles and 9,100ft of climbing. I'm just not toughened up enough for that yet, and will not try two rides like that back to back. If  done 24 hours apart, in reverse order, I would have been fine, but as it was, it was not a fun day.

I bailed on a recovery ride the next day. Out of the question. Even with all my experience, I am still learning where my limits are. I enjoy the discovery process, even if it hurts sometimes, but intend to learn from mistakes too.