Along with the recently introduced Cervelo P5 came the all-new 3T Aduro aerobar system, and 3T just sent over their official announcement on the piece.
Claiming to have the lowest drag coefficient of any aerobar on the market, it’s also fully UCI compliant. The initial design was done in conjunction with Cervelo and is currently made to work specifically with the new P5, but they’re saying it’s their design and will work with other bikes with minor mods. Presumably, they’re working on a universal adapter kit or something.
The pics here are admittedly poor quality, they’re working on getting us something better, but the specs are sharp: The shaping was done with a rider’s posture in mind to maximize aerodynamics. They developed two mounts for the elbow rests with incremental spacers to help it fit a wide range of frames and riders. Jump past the break for a more technical description and the full press release…
PRESS RELEASE: New Cervélo P5 superbike sports custom 3T aero front end 3T engineers work with Cervélo to develop aerobar set-up for world’s most advanced TT bike; Italian firm’s second successful custom development project for a top bike manufacturer The all-new Cervélo P5 bicycle, presented Wednesday (18 Jan) in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, features a brand-new 3T aerobar, Aduro™, among its many innovations.
3T engineers developed the bar to a very exacting specification drawn up by their counterparts at Cervélo. It has the lowest drag co-efficient of any aerobar available today, yet still meets the UCI’s rules. Though specific to the P5, the Aduro bar is owned by 3T and can be offered as an aftermarket product with minor modifications.
Both Cervélo and 3T have extensive experience of wind-tunnel testing for product development. The new bar was shaped by further research into the best aerodynamic posture for riders. This showed that in the classic position favored by almost all solo riders against the clock, the greatest aero advantage was either when the elbows rest on the basebar, or when they rest at 5 cm above the basebar. Intermediate positions, and higher positions, increased drag and slowed the rider. This finding drove the design, which comprises a one-piece stem/basebar, and either a low-mount or high-mount elbow-rest/extension clamp attached to its top surface.
The low-mount rest/clamp puts the elbows at the level of the aerofoil’s top surface, while the high mount rest/clamp sits atop a 5-cm tall “flying-V” support, putting the elbows in the higher of the two optimum aero positions, 5 cm above the aerofoil. The basebar starts at a very low position but can be jacked up by adding spacers beneath.
“We like the way the Aduro looks and performs, and so do our colleagues at Cervélo,” commented 3T chief executive René Wiertz. “We are proud to have worked with them on such a great new bike, and appreciate their agreement to finish the bar in our own livery, with a prominent 3T logo. We look forward to seeing many wins on the P5!
“This is the second major project where we successfully worked with an OEM to execute their design concept. The first, for a large US OEM, was for an integral seatpost. We delivered an improved design that incorporated our patented DiffLock clamp.
“We think partnerships such as this are the way forward. Very few bike manufacturers have the resources to field a complete, vertically-integrated design-and-build team. Even then you can run out of bandwidth when executing a big, complex program like a new bike.
“Partnering with 3T can help sharpen your own people’s focus and give you the extra resources you need to get to market quicker.”
