Profile Design Carbon X Aerobars

Price Paid:  $289.00 at gearlink.com

Favorite Ride:
Big Vertical, Flying Decents

Bike Setup:
2001 Litespeed Blade
Profile carbon X Bars
Nimble Crosswinds
Full Dura Ace

Summary:
These are the most comfortable bars I have found to this day. A little bit of a pain to set up, but worth the effort. Almost Infinite adjustments, width, height, length. Stiff where the need to be (cow horns). Plush where they need to be (elbow cups). Internal cable routing works excellent. If your in the market for aero bars, look no further you wont be dissapointed.

Strengths:
Excellent control and comfort

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Visin Tri Max Cinelli Ram

Price Paid:  $0.00 at OEM--thus the value

Favorite Ride:
Lombard St. in San Fran

Bike Setup:
GT Vengeance with Zipp wheels, Kinesis aluminum aero fork (can you say harsh ride?)

Summary:
My overall impression is that this is a nice, well-made aerobar,stem combo. I've demo'd other combos but this one is lighter, more aero, and I think tricker than most of the others out there (ITM, Cinelli, 3T, etc.)

I'm a 180# sprinter-type, with slightly short arms for my body (I'm about 5'7".) Since the stem is only 100 mm of extension, this fits perfectly with my 55 cm top tube on my bike. One of the nice things with this set up (and all combo aerobars) is the adjustability of the aero extension length so they can accomodate stubby arms nicely. I also like the fact that you can rotate each arm along its long axis to your liking.

Since I have the extensions set relatively short, I don't notice a lot of flex on the extensions, though I can get flex if I really try.

As noted by others, you can mount the extensions either above or below the main wing bar. This can be useful but it would be even better if you could lower the arm pad height too.

The pads are very comfy. Thick and very supportive, these are some of the better pads I've used. The way the pads are supported, you get a fair amount of fore/aft adjustability (2" total in 1/2" stops) and 1/2" in/out. At the same time, the pads are well-mounted and feel very solid with only a tiny amount of flex under heavy loads. There's no rotational adjustment.

The main bar section is very stiff and the outboard extensions give you 2, albeit short, hand positions to use. I don't find them a problem as far as comfort but I try not use them if I don't need to. It was a pain trying to get the cable routed through the holes sine there's no cable guide built in. The cable sorta gets stuck in the hollow shell of the bar and you have to fish it out with your pinky (you only gotta do it once--hopefully.)

The only other problem I had in setting up the bars is when I cut 4 1/2 cm off the shifter-mounting end of the extensions. The extensions are reamed out (in the last 4 1/2 cm) to accomodate bar end shifters. So if you cut off that part, well, you got a lot of filing and sanding to do! I had to file down all the expansion bolt innards so they would fit inside the shortened tubes. Ugh.

Now that I have the bars set up, I really like them and would not hesitate to recommend them to others around my dimensions. If you're taller, make sure you try them out before buying.

Strengths:
Light (does it matter in a dedicated TT bike?), stiff (but still comfy), aero, trick looking.
Adjustability of aero extensions.
Short stem extension (for me.)
Comfort (CF damping and pad material.)

Weaknesses:
Pad adjustment could be expanded, especially up/down.
Need more stem lengths for people not like me (i.e., tall people.)
Internal cable guides for brake cables.

Similar Products Used:
Bolt-on bars by Profile and Syntace
ITM combo bar/stem (CX2?) on a buddy's bike

Price Paid:  $279.00 at gearlink

Favorite Ride:
London to Cambridge

Bike Setup:
Zipp 2001, all Dura ace, Zipp front fork, Zipp 303's, SLR saddle and more.

Summary:
When mixing with a carbon fiber bike that has movement out of design it takes some real getting used to. Over 35MPH it will make you nervous but both the bike and bars take much of the vibrations away from your body.

Strengths:
Very light and aerodynamic.

Weaknesses:
To much flex when climbing and putting the pedal to metal. The portion of the bars where the brake levers and shifters go makes your hands very tired quickly. Recommend some form of improvement in this area.

Similar Products Used:
Vision, Deda

Price Paid:  $250.00 at From a friend

Favorite Ride:
Early morning on A1A (along the beach)

Bike Setup:
Softride, Kestrel EMS carbon fork, HED wheels, Dura-Ace/Ultegra

Summary:
Combined with the carbon fork, there is noticeably less vibration. My hands would have some numbness after a long ride but no more. I was skeptical of the carbon fiber material, but now that I have carbon fork, bars, and beam I experience no fatigue in those areas. If they made these just a little wider they would be perfect.
I also got the UPS shifters they advertise with them and they perform well. The quick aero brakes I do not like and do not recommend them. The $350 is too pricey, but everything in this sport is ridiculously inflated so it goes along with other quality items. If you ride a lot and it is your passion then you owe it to yourself to have a comfortable ride.

Strengths:
Adjustable aerobar extensions can be setup over/under or forward/back. Carbon fiber construction really does absorb shock from your hands. Integrated one piece stem-bar. Allows internal cable routing.
They look cool!

Weaknesses:
Main wing section bar is a little narrow

Similar Products Used:
Syntace C-2

Favorite Ride:
Sunday morning long ride

Bike Setup:
Bianchi Formula II frame set up for straight road cycling with some triathlon riding thrown in once in awhile.

Summary:
Overall, I've been very happy with the smooth ride these bars give. Combined with a carbon fork, all the usual pavement vibrations are gone and I still have a very good feel of the steering during cornering. As soon as I opened the box I knew I was dealing with a real fine piece. It is a bit pricey but compares well against similar bar sets out there. Oh, and don't worry about durability. I'm on the bigger side of things as far as cycling goes and I love to sprint so I put a fair bit of stress on these bars seveal times a week. No problem. Rock solid.

Strengths:
Excellent quality and fit. The carbon construction really damps out road vibration. The stiffness gives great feedback in corners. Arm pads are the top quality type with velcro attachment so they can be washed or replaced. Great crash repair/replacement policy from Profile.

Weaknesses:
Not available in different stem lengths. Other than that, none.

Similar Products Used:
None really. Just the typical aero bar clamp ons I had before.