Dupe.

Wow.
And his seat is to high.

That's 5 minutes that he is still in the hole after he changes a flat in 4 minutes? Paging Eric Reid to straighten out Mr. Potts!

Shitty bike, shitty helmet, shitty wheels (shimano), and doesn't shave his legs. AP is known for not the best equipment choices. He's improved the wheels with the swap to Enve. Whether or not the move to Cannondale is better, we'll find out.

---

blog

Yup buy at least an inch.....

Perhaps the time gain/loss isn't actually as much as the experts have calculated.

---

John Hartpence, Athlete & Coach
tripence@gmail.com, @coachpence

Unlikely

I am a BOP newbie and I spend way too much time thinking about crap like this and cannot fathom how a professional whose livelihood depends on how well they do in a race can put so little thought into basic equipment choices.

Because he puts that effort into training instead of being an aero weenie. Seems to work OK for him.

If tech upgrades did as much as people claim, pros would use them more universally. As is, it's the slightly pudgy doctor triathletes who use every last tech to try and get "free speed".

I'm sure there is some truth to this, but again, his livelihood depends on how well he performs at a race. If I were in that position I would spend a few hours researching "free speed" wherever I could find it. It's a ridiculously competitive field out there and if the aero savings are even a third of what is advertised it can still add up to several minutes over the course of the race and that can make a big difference in where you place, which in turn probably has an affect on sponsors, etc. I've always heard that one of the biggest differences between pros and age groupers is how much time they can devote to recovery. Well, if he's sitting on the couch recovering he has some time to look into this.

I'm looking forward to seeing him race this year!

I love people who think like you. It makes racing so much easier.

"As is, it's the slightly pudgy doctor triathletes who use every last tech to try and get "free speed". "

Hey! I resemble that comment!

But seriously, I worked on the engine first, and when I squeezed everything out of conditioning, free speed second. I'm pretty sure a few AG 3rd place podium finishes wouldn't have happened last year without the free speed...

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

Seriously.

Like you can't work on the engine and improve the equipment at the same time.

This fat doctor hasn't made the gains I would like on the bike. So, I try to optimize (as much as I can) all the little things to eke the best bike split I can out of my pitifully low watts.

By all means, mash out an extra 30-40 watts with your awesome power to overcome your aerodynamic/equipment choices...... I'll see you on the run.

---

----------------------------
Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

You'd be all kinds of wrong in your assertions. It works okay for him in spite of his dopey equipment choices. Potts might have given Frodeno a run for his money Kona if Potts hadn't been riding a shit bike, with shit tires, and shit tubes.

Some pros are technically and scientifically dumb as fuck. Andy Potts is apparently one of them.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Actually he was correct, it does work out OK for him. Nothing says Kona champion quite like OK.

Here's the thing.

If we raced the same age group. You spent 5k more than me on tri gear. And you beat me by 30 seconds - kudos to you. This is a hobby to a lot of us. 5k in the bank is a few week vacation I can take. I value that more than a plastic medal. We both got the same fitness gains out of training, so that really is the difference. Plastic medal or $5000. I know which one I pick.

Cheers

Your initial comment related to Andy Potts. He does this for a living and every second counts.

His equipment choices have cost him money... at least as far as race purses are concerned.

I can't disagree with your comment above. To each their own but your original comment was a statement about a pro and not your average AG'er.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Perhaps he doesn't know about slowtwitch

Blasphemy.

People forget that the pro race doesn't work like this, including the pros themselves. Andy Potts came into T2 in an all out pain train comprised of, what, a dozen other riders? They were glued to each other's wheels because nobody could break away. Potts might have used more energy than he should have that would have allowed him to perform better in the marathon, but he wasn't going off the front solo by five minutes regardless of his tire choice.

Can blame Steinmetz for this one.

Agreed, from the pic it seems pretty cut and dried.
That is crazy for an athlete of his extraordinary caliber.
I wonder who is doing his fit?
Sounds like a change may be needed.

---

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

If we raced the same age group. You spent 5k more than me on tri gear. And you beat me by 30 seconds - kudos to you. This is a hobby to a lot of us. 5k in the bank is a few week vacation I can take.

It isn't about spending $$$, it's using the noggin.

Yes, but he also started out of T1 more or less alone. But this shouldn't matter - even if he spends the entire race stuck in the slipstream of a dozen other riders, a lower rolling resistance still gives him more to work with on the run.

Exactly - If I only have $x and y hours to devote to my hobby per year (doesn't matter what the numbers are), some of that time and money is better served knowing how to do well in that hobby. This includes knowing where best to spend those limited resources.

I can see not being able to afford the latest frames, and wheels - those are specific things which require a large budget and not everyone can afford. Tires & tubes, on the other hand, cost little, and need to be re-purchased often anyway as part of the baseline cost to participate.

And all of you critizing his fit are professional fitters with years of experience and well going fit studios, know the physics of Andy and if he tested a lower seat position? Or that he just stoppep pedalling for moment, dropped his heel a bit just for the picture's sake?
I ride in similar fashion, i do have all of the above ( except for knowing andy's physics) and seldom have my clients sit that high but i do ride in similar saddle height. On Dan's advise tried to lower the saddle 1 cm after attending fist course 7 years ago but it is just not for me. I loose power, get sore knees and it feels just really uncomfortable. So i do think we need to give andy and mat steinmetz some credit.

But aggree that gatorskins and butyl's are, well, a miss hit 😀

Jeroen, tri-run

---

Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Umm, he has his leg extended a little bit more than "normal" AND he's "toes down".

The heel is the opposite of "dropped".

I did not say that his heel is dropped, but that he might dropped his heel a little bit more than if he was pedalling in his normal way. Two different things. That his leg is extended more than probably yours and most others does not say anything other than that he probably has some solid hamstring and lower back flex and just likes it this way. Mat Steimetz is known as a well known and respected fitter. I can hardly imagine that something prominent as saddle height would be overlooked at his just recent performed bike fit. And the more runner orientated triathletes seem to choose slightly higher than usual saddle heights than average, just as i
like it and some others. I see it sometimes in my studio/shop. It is a minority that ride that higher position and i tried to put some of them including myself a little lower but for most of them it did just not work

---

Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Gatorskins and GPS 4000 cost almost the same. You don't need to spend thousands to make good equipment choices.

But again, we were originally talking about Andy Potts and his equipment decisions likely have cost him more than just a plastic medal.

---

----------------------------
Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

Good quality clinchers & latex tubes work out to about $130 Canadian from a certain retailer in the British Isles. The improvement in ride quality with latex tubes alone is worth the price of admission.

Andy Potts is not an age grouper chasing a plastic medal.

Your assumption that these equipment upgrades cost $5k is also a bit silly...come on!!

If you are in this site and read up you should know better...used flo wheels, used aero helmet, right tires and tubes, decent suit... You could get all that get all that for a little over $1k and get most of the way there on aero improvements and still have $4k for that vacation ;)

That's not his saddle height. He is either doing something weird for the photo...or he didn't adjust his saddle when he switched to speedplay pedals.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

Mat, any idea how much faster the new slice is over his Kestrel 4000 at his Kona watts (assume same everything including position)

Anyone know what aerobars (the extentions) he is using?

---

Insta: Trihennessy - Out Rival Racing Elite Team
- Roka - WattieInk - NormaTec - QUINTANA ROO - Profile Design - Pioneer - Gatorade Endurance

I called it (based on the public photo).

Telling though, that he'd ride around for a photo shoot with his seat several cm's too high.
I mean, if the whole presentation was off the sponsoring and setup from Tririg, this seat adjustment could/should have been done in situ.
And the link between the fitter and the equipper is Mr Andy himself (and the sheet of coordinates, of course).
To drop the post 2cm and remove 2cm's of handlebar spacers is a 10min no-brainer for Mr Salazar, no?

Edit: I assumed a Tririg handlebar was also used, and thus fitted. But only the brakes seems to be from Tririg, so maybe no wrenching was done by Tririg that involved fit/coordinates.

I am the fitter...I only have control of what goes on when the athlete is in my presence. What the athlete and/or others do to the bike once it leaves is beyond my control unless I'm asked or notified of a change.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

I still think that Andy is just doing something in that pic that is making it appear his saddle is too high. He's always ridden a lowish saddle for years and I don't see him going the opposite direction on that.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

I don't have near your fitting experience, but I have a little. And your photos are not visible anymore, but even in those shots his seat looked a bit high. Not as high as in the tririg pic, but still high. I am assuming that you used retul to measure Potts' fit, is that correct? If yes, I have seen this trend before, but do you ever find that retul measured fits tend to set riders' seat a bit too high? Or not?.

---

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

That was my point.
The athlete in question knows what happened, or not...

I use my eye to guide Andy's fit. I use the retul to put a metric to what I see, but if the retul does not confirm what my eye sees, my eye wins. I came up with most of the retul measurements for TT fitting and if they aren't setting saddle heights appropriately, then there is something wrong with the marker placement or the machine.

Hopefully, these pics work...

I've been working with Potts since 2009 and have gradually worked to raise his saddle. I don't think it's too high, but it looked high to me in that TriRig pic...that is not the same bike that I setup.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

Matt, what's your logic for trying to increase saddle height? More power?

No, it was just too low. I think at one point his knee angle extension was around 49...I got it to 46...then 44...now he's around 40-42 degrees.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

What was the impact of it being too low?
And what have you done to actively raise the saddle? Mobility work? Posterior chain?

Having your saddle too low or too high will reduce your efficiency, and hence (presumably) your sustainable power output.

That said, being too high is worse than being too low, from both a physiological and aerodynamic perspective.

Well that was my logic.
I'm not sure I get the need to go higher if it's not causing issues.,
I'm always at the lower end, I put out more sustainable power and run better off it.
Go too high and I'm in bits.

from this picture
http://www.tririg.com/...ig_Omega_X&num=3

it seems the tire is mounted wrong, on opposite rotation

I guess its a funny angled pic and he is posing for something , but it seems like he switched pedals with lower stack and shoes also seem a lower stack than the one during the fit .

Anyway this will be intersting what happens in the real world when a guy makes quite a few good aero decisons in a pack race
like hawaii.

You have to remember that these changes have occurred over the span of 7 years. One of the reasons why I've been successful is because I'm not scared to try and make improvements to a World Class athlete's position if I think it's needed...I'm not intimidated because they are already fast. Andy has always been able to ride a bike...even when his saddle is too low. The human body does a great job of adapting to most things and a great athlete can adapt to a bad position. Andy has always been capable of riding an appropriate saddle height (define that how you'd like), but familiarity is something that he will have to overcome to do so.

I didn't do anything to help Andy adjust to a higher saddle other than move it up, get his feedback, and then let him get used to it. He is so in tune with his power output, that I would know right away if I had done something that jeopardized his ability to apply force to the pedals. I'd have to guess that I made these changes in 2 yr chunks and Andy's feedback has always been very positive. If it had not been, I would have gone back to the previous saddle height.

I'm not sure what is going on in the "single" TriRig pic...pedals, shoes, and bike are different than what I setup a month ago.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

I would agree with this depending on what we define as too high or too low...or what the athlete is familiar with. I seem to find that as long as the athlete is healthy, that I favor lower saddle positions over higher.

I'd consider within range low: 39-43 degrees...high: under 35 degrees

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

Very interesting Matt Thank you.

Quick question, Andy uses an adamo right? Did you notice any change in pelvic rotation when the saddle moved up?
I find I can rotate slightly more as it goes up, until I hit a certain point then suddenly cannot rotate forward at all.

I haven't. When Andy has been on the fit stand, we've never gotten high enough to reach that point. When I have made the changes, I was only taking 2-3 degrees of extension out of the knee at a time. Some athletes who don't have a good feel for small changes may not even notice that.

---

Mat Steinmetz

51-SPEEDSHOP.com - instagram - @matsteinmetz - facebook

Can I throw out a crazy idea...

This might be a pic from a photo shoot and Andy may have just thrown his bike together to take care of this sponsor obligation...

The photo's from the Retul bike are probably what he rides in the real world...

Like I said...crazy idea!

I never seem to get in as much training while on vacation. Skip the vacation, more money and more training for the win!

Depends on how you define "OK". I don't see multiple World Championship wins. We do see that he lost Kona pretty much ALL on the bike last year since he matched Frodeno in the swim and run.

I make good power, but I have excellent bike splits due to good position and equipment choices. I don't even have top shelf wheels or bike frame. I don't even have a accurate power meter, so I really have no idea exactly what I'm making, but based on how I got smoked all day uphill at Kona, my power to weight ratio is far lower. Fortunately you spend a lot more time on flat ground and downhill than you do uphill.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

John,
This is slowtwitch. Where only watts matter. Not times and who cross's the line first.
They are also leaving out that Potts is a terrible bike handler and a general douchebag. But who cares about things that mater.

Hope all is well,
Elliot

For Potts' sake I hope Damon Rinard is hard at work at Cannondale, because the new Slice is a sad excuse for a tri bike in today's modern superbike world.

4000SII aren't exactly flat prone, so you can ride those with latex tubes and sealant. Knock on wood, but I'd going on 600 miles of racing, without a flat with that setup. Thousands of miles training with only I think 2 flats and mainly the day after it rained, and riding on the shoulder of the road, unlike a race.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Yes, but shouldn't he - I mean everyone - be on SuperSonics? I heard somewhere those were the best to crush KOMs. TG4lyfe.