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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Before I give my advise, consider this. Look up time trial pics of Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich and compare their position with David Zabriskie and superman Graeme Obree. The first two are in positions to create huge power and tear a massive hole in the air as they go. It worked very well for both. The latter have much smaller power numbers and take advantage of aerodynamics more at sacrifice of power. All four of these guys at their prime were the best. What Im saying is you can find success across the spectrum of position aggressiveness and you have to find what personally gives you the fastest time at the line.

my advice in order of importance

aero helmet if you dont have one and religiously work on turtleing your head and look out the tops of your eyes. Its uncomfortable but get that head as low as you can shrug it down

adapt to slowly removing all aerobar spacers and extend reach if possible. You will lose some power but your results may let you know thats ok

gotta say it. seat is too high. 1-2 cm. this will lower the whole body and the front drop change wont be as significant. Move the seat back 1cm. (this is all very estimate)

you are currently in a power position like lance and ullrich. this advice may impact your power and hurt confidence. its up to you to decide the sweet spot for you. The one bit of advice I can promise is work on visualizing yourself when you ride, punching the smallest hole. KEEP YOUR HEAD SHRUGGED AND DOWN. Discipline holding your position can go a very long way
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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1. Aero wise your number one problem is your head position. The thing sticks up in the wind way too high. Drop your head, think of pulling you chin towards the stem, and look up through you eyebrows.
2.You also look like you have a lot of leg extension because you come up on your toes so much and you seem to rock back and forth in the front view video. You might try dropping the saddle just a bit 5mm. This may help you lower your head as well. Taylor Phinney was talking about TT position on his GCN video and mentioned that dropping the front end too much causes many people to raise their head to compensate.
3. Most people suggest a 90 degree bend in the elbow. Try pulling the cockpit back a bit.
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [Rider17] [ In reply to ]
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I'd broadly agree.

Saddle definitely high, your right leg looks to to be extending straighter than your left too. Cleat position looks ok from a quick look. You're rocking a little bit. As a quick try I'd drop the saddle 10mm and the aerobar pads 20mm and see how you go. If that's ok, bring the extensions back a bit. You'll probably want to drop pads again after that. You can probably bring the saddle forward a bit fairly safely.

If you're happy with things, the aero testing and tweaks can begin. Doing 10s can be a useful check of aero too.

Ps sorry I missed the elevation profile. It was so flat I didnt notice it!

Developing aero, fit and other fun stuff at Red is Faster
Last edited by: SkippyKitten: Aug 10, 17 10:57
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Your speed seems pretty slow considering your bike setup, the course, and your power output. I agree with many of the comments on your position. I averaged 26.8 MPH on a relatively hilly, technical 20K course on Sun. My average power was 279 watts, and I'm 5'8" and about 140 lbs.

I feel I raise my head too much, and have focused on keeping it low. Using a helmet with a visor helps, since I'm using looking "over" my sunglasses when I do this. I also try to prevent taking my arms out of the aero position or making other large movements, especially when I'm at speed on straight segments.

Learning to take corners at speed and having a faster turnaround also really help. Good luck!

P.S. If you have the $$, you might want to consider a couple of aero helmets to play with to find the right one for you. The Bontrager is nice, but probably not the most aero for TTs.

"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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What jkhayc said

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [desert dude] [ In reply to ]
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Have a nice 600m loop setup for some playpus thread testing.

Things I'm going to attack and analyze.

1. Tire Pressure
(Conti Attack/Force clinchers with latex tubes)
Currently running HED Jet C2 width 9/Disc (F/R) at 100psi/psi and will be testing 90/95, and 85/90. Bought a digital topeak gauge today to double down on accuracy.

2. Saddle Height, will also be trying out a Fizik Arione that I have on the rest of my bikes to see if I can get more comfortable.
(Current height) 5 loops
Test 5mm Drop 5 loops
Test 10mm Drop 5 loops

3. Front End Spacer Removal
Current (80mm I believe)
Test 60mm 5 loops
Test 40mm 5 loops
Test 20mm 5 loops
Test No Spacers 5 loops

4. Different helmets after i get position figured out, which could be tough as different positions may be better or worse with different helmets.

5.Elbow pad width, I think i can go a little more narrow
Last edited by: kppolich: Aug 11, 17 11:04
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Maybe you've already read the whole platypus thread and advice there. But if not, before attacking your list that includes a bunch of potentially small subtle changes, you probably want to do some A/B/A/B protocol tuning with something blunt and obvious and easy. For example TT position vs. hoods.
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [jbank] [ In reply to ]
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Excellent point, I'll start with Bull bars vs aerobars
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Re: 10 Mile TT Number Check (5'11. 155, 290w) now with Videos [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Good luck with the testing. I'd encourage you to post a summary to the platypus thread or this thread describing what you did and what your results were. Getting some additional eyes can really help find either issues or suggestions to improve things. For what its worth, I totally sympathize with your initial list. When I found out about field testing I remember having a similar long detailed list. The reality was that it is not super easy to get good results and it requires a lot of patience and care. I enjoy that sort of technical debugging, but am not sure I ended up with any novel aero insights about my position or setup. The big stuff is pretty obvious and doesn't really require testing, the small stuff is really hard to get confident that you weren't just seeing noise in your data.

I will say that your original data does suggest there are some pretty big ticket items somewhere in your position or setup (or even possibly a powermeter issue). As someone else in the thread pointed out, the CdA your numbers imply is not that great.
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