Cat-Dog was previously outfitted with Profile Design Aerolite clip-on bars (upper photo - top). While it's very easy to get a good fit on these things, they are neither "aero" nor "lite". The aerobars sit too high above the base bars and have too much mounting hardware. These 750 gram monsters had to go but this year's upgrade budget was spent on wheels. What to do?
A pair of Profile Design Jammers (upper photo - bottom) were just waiting in the parts-bin for something. I tried these things out two few seasons ago and couldn't get them to fit no matter what I did. The twisty hand grip and short length made me wonder why they didn't use a more descriptive name like "Profile Design Elbow-Jammed". The hardware and pads were fine but the tubes were junk.
With a little tinkering I discovered it's possible to use the same Jammer hardware but replace the useless twisty-elbow things with better tubes. I took a set of straight mountain bike handlebars (26mm center, 7071 aluminum, gunmetal powder-coated - also parts-bin), cut them in half, and mounted them with the narrow side in the hardware and the wider area up front. I popped the round end caps into the narrow end and my set of Dura-Ace bar-end shifters up front.
The flared area of the tubes makes a nice hand grip. When I get the fit dialed in then I will wrap the bars and clean up the cables. At 510 grams these aerobars are not as light as carbon or integrated setups but respectable for clip-ons in the "under $100/parts-bin" category. They are lighter and cleaner than the Aerolites and unlike the original Jammers they're usable. They look stock so you won't get that old-washing-machines-parts look of Graeme Obree's world record setting "Old Faithful". (But if you DO want that look then there is an abandoned machine near the old Rabbit Hutch parking lot just waiting for a serious hardware hacker.)
It may be possible to go a step further and mount the aerobars below the base bars with the hardware tucked neatly behind the base bars however it will require taller spacers for the pads. I work on that later.
There you go. If you've got a set of Profile Jammers (or T2's) and don't like the shape, hack a set of mountain bike bars, straight, curved, or angled, and get what you want.
