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Hi Ian, I'm hoping you can help give me some advice, I just bought a speedmax CF size: Large.
Previously I've always used my road bike which I fitted with some aerobars and had a bike fit done years ago. With the new bike I'm a bit worried about moving to such an aggressive position right in the middle of my race season, especially with my A-race coming up in 8 weeks.
I'm thinking about temporarily setting up the speedmax to match my previous bikes setup, which leaves me in quite an upright position but won't cause me discomfort in the short term. I've matched the saddle position to the BB easily enough, getting the front end setup is where I'm struggling, not sure if it's possible and wanted to get your advice.
My old bike has:
Arm pad reach from BB: approx 400mm
Arm pad stack from BB: approx 760mm
I've used all the arm pad spacers that came with the bike which gives a 50mm increase, but will likely need to order more, although I think the max profile design have is 70mm.
I'm also thinking I need a much shorter stem then the 90mm stem that came with the bike. I think canyon only do a 70mm which may not be enough either.
Do you have any suggestions for me? Maybe I am approaching this all wrong and should just be trying to get used to a new position.
I would really appreciate your thoughts,
Many Thanks,
Jeremy
Jeremy (JS86),
In addition to being a fitter, I've been a full time triathlon coach for 20+ years so my response to your query is coming from a place a bit beyond a fitter. Here's what I think you should do...
My guess is your road bike is NOT in your optimal tri position. I think you already know that - after all, you bought a tribike. I do NOT want you to try and set up your tri bike in your old road bike with clip-on aerobars.
1) Ride your new tribike at your triathlon in 8 weeks, and ride it a new, better, tri specific position than your current bike
2) To get ready to for your race in 8 weeks ride the new bike in the new position often but NOT immediately long. If, for example, you've had long rides of 130k (80mi), you can't just throw a switch and ride 5 hours in a new position. You'll need to progress back up to that distance over, say, 3-4 weeks with rides of an hour, 90min, 2 hours, 2.5hrs, 3 hours. etc.
3) Now, the biggie...how are you going to go about finding the right, new position?
Let's aim for the "core four": seat height, set back, cockpit distance, pad drop.
Seat Height - well it can't be too different from your current bike. You could, perhaps, start with the exact seat height you're using now
Set Back - This is hard for lots of reasons - the new bike has a nose-less saddle on it, we can't simply guess at a set back and we can't really compare this to your old bike because it probably has a long nosed, road saddle on it. But here's a thing we can assume - the seat angle of new bike will be steeper than the seat angle on your old bike. That is a place to start.
Cockpit Distance - When you're seated on the new tri bike your upper body weight should be resting on your humerus bones while your forearm/elbow sit on the pads. There's a place there that's comfortable for you and you need to find it. Then, when the pads are set you'll want the shifters in your hands not way out in front of you causing you to release your grip and reach out to find the shifter. This could mean cutting the aerobar extension.
drop - start with 10% of your seat height and ride that for a bit to see how it feels.
If you want to post pics (or, better yet, video) here I will respond.
Ian
3)
Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan