Couple of things to consider with tri bars.
a) Position. Many of those who use tri bars don't use them for more than an hour or so, so being in a position that puts aero above comfort is less of an issue, sure you're a bit sore in the shoulder after an hour, but that's fine. Use the same aero bars for 16+ hours straight, and you you're gonna find yourself unable to move your neck, with all sorts of fun pain and related issues. I learnt this the hardway. I was fortunate that my physio is a triathlete who does iron mans, and thus knows a little about how to use aerobars for hours on end. The trick appears to be that you want the arms at as close to 90° at the shoulder, and at the elbow, when viewed from the side. This means that you want the arm pads and any J bend or uprights bits, quite close to you (relatively speaking). But this also requires that your bars are adjustable for both reach of the pads, and reach of the bars, and if possible, height. Unfortunately it means that things like the Profile Designs Stryke with the folding pads aren't ideal, unless you're lucky that they fit perfect straight off.
b) practice. know when it's good to use them, know when it's good not to. I've had aero bars fitted for the last ~10000km or so, and I've experimented a lot with them. I've got enough control with them that I can go round a roundabout while on the tri bars. I can even climb out of the saddle while on them[1]. Such things are fine when you're solo on a ride, but it scares the crap out of many cyclists who aren't used to seeing someone on aerobars going round a roundabout on them, or descending on them...
c) when on the aero bars you will use slightly different muscles to when on the hoods. So train on both positions. This back fired on me recently, I'd spent so much time slogging into headwinds on the tri bars, that those muscle groups are stronger, I thus found it was easier to climb up the a hill on the aero bars...
I run Profile Designs T2+ bars. I've destroyed one set of pads, and PD even replaced the plastic arm rests with aluminium ones after the plastic ones broke. I found that the angle of the wrists was a bit uncomfy after very long use, so I added a pair of stubby bar ends to give me a position for my wrists that was straight through from fore arm to wrist. I did this as I got the bars for €20 second hand from a LBS who just wanted rid of them, hence being ok spending another €9 on bar ends, and then eventually another €20 for some arm pads. Still cheaper than getting a set brand new. As you can see in the picture, on long tours, it's very easy to use the bars as yet another place to hang crap off... I've got a sleeping bag slung under the bars, a spare jacket I'd just taken off in the dry bag on the top of the front of the bars, the empty bottle under the bungee... I think my overshoes are slung under the bungee holding the sleeping bag, as is a first aid kit... Having this much shite attached to the bars doesn't make them as aero as they could be, but it's still better than most other places to hang luggage...
Hope that gives some useful info.
J
[1] DAMHIKT... Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
