How and why I mount cycling gadget devices on my aerobars

July 24, 2012 by |Cycling » How-To Guides|Comments (38)

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I’ve always gotten questions as to why I mount various gadget devices on my aerobars, primarily from the belief that in doing so, I’d be blocking my ability to use my aerobars.  So, I figured I’d take a moment to explain my logic in this area.

First, is the reality that on most triathlon (time trial) bikes there are actually very few good areas to mount any bike computers.  The most common location on a road bike tends to be the stem, which is the piece that connects the handlebars to the for  (as seen below in the center of the photo).  However, with a triathlon bike the stem area is often overlapped by the aerobar pads/mounts, or it may have an extremely short stem on it (perhaps only an inch in length) – which may not be enough for the device at hand.  Meaning, you may be able to mount an Edge 500 or Timex Cycle Trainer there, but not an Edge 800 or Joule GPS.

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So that removes the stem as a viable option.  Next up is either outermost edge of the main handlebar, the area not covered by the aerobar pads.  I used to use this area to mount my Garmin FR305 back in the day, but I try to avoid this area otherwise these days.  Though today I’ve got the Polar CS600x on there.  At the time I mounted it there, it was primarily because the unit sorta fit snugly there, and I knew I’d have it on my bike quite a while since it was a longer term test.

The problem here though is that from a safety standpoint this is bad location.  If you’re quickly moving your hands back from the aerobars to the main handlebars to then grab the brakes, you don’t want your hands to slip on a unit, or somehow swipe your unit off the bike.  Both results would suck.

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Which then leaves the aerobars and associated airspace in between them.  Within this camp, you’ve got two main options: On the bars, or the space between the bars.  In between the bars is great when you have aerobars that are spaced wide enough to accommodate any of the various bike computer mount systems that can leverage the small rounded tube that simply tightens onto your aerobars, like below:

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This does work well, and puts it right in plain sight for most folks.  Except, not all aerobars have a wide enough gap.  Or, you’ve got a short aerobar mount and it’s too short for your bike computer.  In my case, my position (as in, bike position), is fairly closed since at the moment most of my races are shorter distance.  Thus with a more closed racing position (meaning the front of my body isn’t as wide open), my bars are actually too short to accommodate many of the in-between options (without a hack saw).

Some folks have asked about the below photo, which is part of my FR910XT review.  This is actually a great example of not having the bars wide enough for the particular length mount I had, but they were actually tight enough that I could really wedge just the tube (without the normal mount piece) in between my bars and it was solidly stuck there:

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Which, brings me to my final solution – simply sticking them on the bars.  At first glance, many folks believe this blocks my arms.  But the reality is, my arms don’t rest on the aerobars themselves, but rather just off to the side of them.  In fact, if you look at the top pro triathlon positions (that gallery from Kona is awesome for this purpose), almost all of them are the same – with their arms just off to the left/right of the aerobars.  Thus my arm just wraps naturally around the unit – which is no different than if no unit were there at all.

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Additionally – and this is specific to me – this allows me much for flexibility in comparing multiple units at once, so I can load more units up.  Obviously, not exactly a problem most people have, but a somewhat real problem for me.  I only have so many rides each week, and I need to make the most of them from a product review standpoint.

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Now going forward, what we’re seeing is bikes simply acknowledging this upfront.  For example, the new 3T aerobars on the Cervelo P5 have bike mounting location built into them (the image below from one of the Team Garmin bikes at the TdF this year shows a standard Edge cycling mount then added to it).

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And of course, some companies (again, 3T) are actually building in mount systems that are specific to vendors like the Garmin quarter turn systems.  And we’ve also seen a ton of Garmin-compatible custom mounts come out in the last 4-6 months.  I suspect we’ll continue to see that trend continue.  At some point though, folks will realize that the 3rd party mounts (mostly for road bikes) as being produced today are overpriced – and hopefully we’ll see the prices go down.

So there ya have it – my simple logic explanation of how and why I mount things on aerobars, as well a as a bit of a tour as to the most common mounting locations.

Thanks for reading!

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38 Comments

  1. oldSAP
    July 24, 2012 at 8:07 am #1

    very concise explanation

    Reply
  2. Mark
    July 24, 2012 at 9:45 am #2

    I’d also add that a conventional stem mount requires you to look back towards your toes whereas on the extensions is more in your eyeline in a tri position.

    The problem I’ve had is compatibility with a BTA bottle – solved with a mounting similar to Ray’s 910 image. In this case it’s really easy to make your own mount from an offcut of some old tube (steerer in my case), cut to length so it fits snugly between the extensions. Then loop some zipties through the tube and round the extensions to ensure it can’t work loose / fall off, and mount the conventional mount straight onto that.

    Reply
  3. Barry
    July 24, 2012 at 4:01 pm #3

    Check out the Aero Tray for use on the TorHans aero bottles. I’ve got this setup and it works really well with my FR910xt.

    link to torhans.com

    Reply
  4. Thor
    July 25, 2012 at 7:39 pm #4

    I’ve used an off-cut of a piece of plastic electrical conduit (round), filed the ends to match the curvature of the bars, and used a large/long cable tie to secure it in place between the aerobars to build a bridge mount. I’m on the road at the moment so can’t get a photo up to provide a visual reference.

    Reply
  5. Michael Arcilla
    January 25, 2013 at 5:56 am #5

    I remember I did some altitude training at a mountain resort. I ran 15K worth of 9% hills in 11-degree C (that’s about 50F) cold! I ran the whole way without sweating, but as soon as I closed the door behind me in the house it came out by the bucket!

    Reply
  6. Ed
    May 30, 2013 at 10:06 am #8

    thanks for the detailed post and photos. I also ride a Cervelo P3 (same year as you) and the traditional aerobars that came with it. Your mounting options are very helpful. I just purchased a Timex Cycle Trainer and will see what I can do to mount it. Agree on the problem of looking backwards to your stem (taking your eyes off the road) vs mounting it between your shifters. I use a Between The Aero (BTA) bottle mount so I need to see how I can make all that work. The things we do for our hobby.

    Wondering if you’ve ever come across a better mount for the Timex Cycle Trainer than the one they provide?

    Reply
  7. Steve
    June 3, 2013 at 1:30 pm #9

    As mentioned before by Thor, I used black PVC tubing cut with a 7/8″ bit to match the curvature of my aero bars (22 mm). The size is just a bit longer than the distance between the bars for a snug fit. Then I use a zip tie through drilled holes in the PVC at each end to help stabilize and reinforce it. Depending on the spacing between the bars, it has room for two computers/devices.

    Reply
  8. TJ Anderson
    September 7, 2013 at 11:06 am #10

    Great post. I agree about the cost of the 3rd party mounts being overpriced. I think that if they don’t come down (they are getting cheaper through amazon etc.) that good hacks will become more popular. On a side note if you need any small custom plastic pieces I have a 3D printer, though with you now living in Paris, I’m sure you could find one much closer to you. :)
    Speaking of hacks, have you seen any good affordable hacks for device mounts, handlebar extensions, etc.?

    Reply
  9. Anthony
    November 18, 2013 at 8:26 pm #11

    I have a question regarding the picture with the Profile Design UCM and 910XT mounted between your aero bars.

    If you use the strap to mount the UCM to the aero bar and then attach the Garmin bicycle mount kit and the 910XT, is there any chance of the bicycle mount kit sliding off, due to the weight?

    Reply
  10. Gerry
    July 3, 2014 at 8:37 am #13

    Hi

    I’ve just purchased the Fenix 2, are they going to add a heart rate only mode?

    Ie for when your completing a circuit training session in the gym. This would come in very handy for heart rate training zones for high and low intensity training

    Thanks Gerry

    Reply
  11. Gerry
    July 3, 2014 at 2:08 pm #15

    Thanks.

    Just noticed I posted in the wrong place. Doh.

    For this post, I cut an old bike pump and cable tied it to my profile design T2 bars. Works perfect with the fenix 2.

    Thanks again

    Gerry

    Reply
  12. Carlos Beltran
    April 1, 2015 at 8:26 pm #16

    Im looking for a mount for my new Garmin 920xt but i prefer not to use the Garmin Quick Release Kit. Any ideas?

    Thanks in advance for your help!!

    Carlos

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      April 2, 2015 at 3:36 am #17

      You’ll have to use the base quick release kit that goes on the part of the watch, there’s no alternatives there. But, for the bike portion you can use any Garmin Edge-compatible bike mount. Ones made by K-Edge and Barfly are pretty popular.

      Reply
    • Carlos Beltran
      April 2, 2015 at 11:35 am #18

      I was thinking to use the Xlab Aero Computer Mount Gen 2 over the Torpedo System or onto the stem, and on the top of that use the Garmin Forerunner Bicycle Mount Kit to put my Garmin 920xt. What do you think about that?

      Thanks for your response!

      Carlos

      Reply
    • Ray Maker
      April 2, 2015 at 4:49 pm #19

      That would work. And then just use the small Edge rubber quarter-turn mounts that come within the box for the quick release kit.

      Reply
  13. Marc M
    April 9, 2015 at 1:06 pm #20

    Very interesting article as always; I recently discovered the joy of mounting things to my aerobar, including a small auxiliary storage bag and my Garmin Virb – both of which can be mounted within easy reach (and sight) but completely out of the way. Here’s a pic of my Virb mounted using a combo of the mounting hardware that came with the Virb and a cheap handlebar mount (and notice the lanyard attached from the Virb to the aerobar just in case anything comes loose).

    Reply
  14. Nick Shay
    May 30, 2015 at 4:00 pm #22

    Thanks for this Ray. I have a profile design torpedo mounted between my aerobars. Any creative suggestions on where I could mount a bike computer?

    Thanks
    ..Nick

    Reply
  15. Ron Finkel
    June 29, 2015 at 2:22 pm #23

    Hey DC thanks for the great reviews and teachable moments! I wanted to know what’s the brand and model of you aerobar/handle bar set. Would you recommend it to someone starting to train tri (coming from Road biking) Thanks!

    Reply
  16. Diana
    December 6, 2015 at 4:41 am #24

    I want to mount iphone on front of concept2 rower so I can seeheart rate and zone clearly without turning my head or wrist.
    So I need a heart rate monitor watch that expeorts the hr in real time to the iphone, which is bluetooth smart
    Which watches will do this?
    Tomtom spark = NO. Software generally dreadful and on mine the connectors got twisted on day 3 so I cannot charge it. It is going back to John Lewis pronto [uk dept store]!
    Fitbit surge, not clear from your review whether data exported vai app while exercising, or only afterwards.
    Apparently fitbit canno export to computer -dahhhh
    Any suggestions gratefully recieved

    best
    Diana

    Reply
  17. Fran
    August 2, 2016 at 11:12 am #25

    Wow! shortest stem ever on that Cervelo!!

    Reply
  18. CyclistPro
    September 6, 2016 at 3:24 pm #26

    I normally use the standart mounts that come with the products.

    Reply
  19. Serge
    January 18, 2017 at 6:35 pm #27

    trying this in the am. thanks.

    Reply
  20. Davis
    January 28, 2017 at 4:06 pm #28

    Need a way to mount my 920 watch on my tri bike. Want to take it off and run with it

    Reply
  21. Davis
    July 3, 2017 at 10:01 am #30

    I am now using the ECM attached to the forward aero bar. Great for seeing without much distraction which is the most important of all. I put my Garmin 920 around it. The shorter thicker unit is best. Now I can use my 920 on different bikes economically and even take on trips to use on rented bikes.

    Reply
  22. christina
    August 22, 2017 at 5:58 pm #31

    I Just purchased Redshift aero bars from my Trek Domane bike. The mount I have for my Garmin Edge 100 now does not fit. The utility mount that redshift sells has no way to mount the computer which means I have to find yet something else. Anyway do you know of a Garmin mountable that will work with aero bars?

    Reply
    • christina
      August 22, 2017 at 5:58 pm #32

      Edge 1000 not 100

      Reply
    • Ray Maker
      August 22, 2017 at 7:51 pm #33

      Yeah, the Edge 1000 is bigger than everything else, making it tricky. There are some aerobar mounts that work – like ones from Barfly that I use (TT mount), as it’s level with the bars. I haven’t tried it on the Redshift bars specifically, but should be fine.

      Reply
  23. Brian Florance
    September 16, 2017 at 5:06 am #34

    I have Most integrated handlebars without the underside fixings. Do you know of a Garmin out front mount that can be attached to these flat handlebars? Attached photo.

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      September 16, 2017 at 1:05 pm #35

      Poke around K-Edge’s pages. They’ve got a number of creative solutions that can sometimes attach where the front fork spacers are.

      Reply
    • Brian Florance
      September 17, 2017 at 4:51 am #36

      Thanks Ray. I have seen these options so guess it is the best way to go considering the shape of my bars. Just wish they did a longer version so I don’t drip sweat on it when I am on my indoor trainer.

      Reply
  24. Geoff
    August 8, 2023 at 4:53 pm #37

    Curious: I like using a tri watch (Garmin 935), but it’s not ideal for viewing while on the aero bars. I could use a head unit, but I like having data for all three sports in one device. Suggestions? Thx, Geoff

    Reply
    • Ted
      August 18, 2023 at 4:06 am #38

      I have a garmin FR 945. I bought an Edge 130 to use as a display unit on the bike. I paired the power meter to both. I’ll just throw away the data from the Edge. The 945 will be my source of truth.

      Reply