Are you suggesting these people are worse off due to their head position? Because it's been proven in he tunnel that head down with a long tail helmet is still better than a road helmet. Remember, most of them are reducing their frontal area, even if they aren't getting the full effect of the tail as a trailing edge.

This is why, at least in part, that short tailed aero helmets are so popular. And why they are such a good choice for many people. That said, as was pointed out, these are still better than a regular road helmet.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

More so it shows a lack of self discipline/training to hold the best position, or a glimpse in time shows 2 min total of 2-4 hours of a break in holding form. Hardly a cause for changing an ideal helmet to suit those couple minutes.

Ummm....Aren't pretty much all of these photos taken right as the athletes are coming out of transition? One of the pictures even has a guy in the background still running alongside his bike, and it looks like several of these athletes are still trying to get clipped in---pretty sure even the pros look down too when they're first getting going. Not that I disagree with your point that some athletes could do a better job of keeping a level head, but I don't think your photos really prove your point.

Agreed... if those riders had regular road helmets they'd probably take the same amount of breaks with a road helmet on too... in the long run the space helmets help.

These photos were not shot going into or coming out of transition. Most of the ones you see (6 of them) were photographed by me on lap number two of a multiple lap duathlon.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

True. Out of transition most athletes are focused on getting power down and establishing a rhythm.

A mid-course repeat of this experiment would be interesting.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

No, I wasn't suggesting anything, but your suggestion that they may be slower does seem at least somewhat plausible now that you mention it, acknowledging of course, the exhaustive marketing wind tunnel tests done by these companies to "prove" otherwise. But I'm not sure. I'm not an aerodynamicist.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

These photos were not shot out of transition. I shot them on the bike course several miles into the event in at least half of the photos. Two of the photos were shot in close proximity to the transition area, but most were not.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

If you weren't suggesting anything, what was the purpose of your post?

I wondered if anyone might... suggest something.

It would appear I was right. Is that what you are... suggesting?

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

In which case this is indeed highly illustrative - most triathletes lack the discipline, neck strength, or physiology to hold a neck position for hours. They're better off with a short-tailed helmet or an aero road helmet.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

This really annoys me about the photos that IM (or the partner company) take of athletes on the bike course. 90% of them are in the first/last few hundred metres, and they just don't make athletes look good.
When I did an IM the other week, I know that I had a disciplined position. I have a mirror next to my stationary trainer and I'm very wary of where my head is etc, and I aim to replicate that feeling of body position when I ride my TT bike on the road.
I looked at the photos afterwards and there wasn't even one of me in my aerobars, let alone looking good in them. They were all of me on the bull horns, winding through the streets in what was essentially bike traffic.
Needless to say, I didn't buy any of them.

Two of the nine photos were taken near the transition area.

Two.

Of the nine. (9)

22.22% of the photos shown. Meaning 88.88% were shot out on the bike course, miles into the bike, not in proximity to the transition area.

Only 2.

Two.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

If I turn my head like in the 2nd pic, my LG helmet really lets me know about it. It roars. I never do it in a race but when I occasionally wear it to train, I look around more and hear about it.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Sorry, how many?

Math. Do you give 110%?

There is no way of knowing but it appears as though most of the athletes are looking at bike computer. While I have no way of quantifying this I do think a higher percentage of athletes are become more obsessive with looking at their computers rather than focusing on the course. In addition to the aero-issues already addressed I think this also posses a safety issue as athletes aren't paying the attention they should to the roads/course/other competitors. I actually prefer using a Garmin watch on the bike as this puts the numbers out on the aero bars and in my line of sight when looking at the road ahead. In any case I'll wager far more time is lost by riders who looking down consistently due to them taking long/bad lines than because of their (bad) helmet position.

That explains it - they were duathletes, not triathletes....and we all know that duathletes are just failed traithletes....

Well at least nobody is wearing their helmet backwards, which I have seen more than once.

Photos or it never happened

The maths are not strong with this one. Of the entire conversation in this thread the 22.22 and 88.88 were they only things that stood out to me.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

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