The thing that sticks out to me the most is how curved your spine is, you would most likely get a lot of comfort and aero benefit from a longer stem and increasing your reach.
This would allow you to rotate your pelvis forward and flatten your back, it would also solve your "knees touching elbows" issue.

Out of curiosity, why aren't you happy with the helmet? I assume that it is the P-09.
I'm close to getting one myself (mainly 70.3 and IM races) and would be interested to hear of others' problems with it.

  
i think to get any more reach i'd run into UCI TT regulation issues.

that's actually the vorrtice, which i find to be huge. i don't mind it for any other reason, though i suspect it might not be best for me.

Are you very tall? It's hard to tell from the photo.
It seems unusual for you to be touching elbows and knees whilst at the reach limit

I wonder if the rounded back thing could be helped by a noseless saddle like an Adamo, letting your rotate forward a bit more comfortably.

It may help (I've had good experiences with mine). Although I suspect that it might lead to his head being too far forward relative to his elbows, which will lead to a lot of back and arm pain.

i'm actually pretty short, 5'7" or so. but i think i have long arms and short legs or something, i find tt fit difficult.

There are a few things I would comment on, though based solely on photographs with little background information, detailed analysis is somewhat folly.

You have a curved back because it's very likely you have...a curved back. Not everyone has, or should try to achieve, a flat back, nor is it necessarily the most aero set up anyway. Reach is good. Depending on whether or not you're taking your exception at the saddle or reach (almost everyone should be taking one or the other), you could try more reach, but it's not going to flatten out your back much.

The actual "most glaring" issue is your hands are below your elbows. The UCI now allows the tips of your extensions or, in your case, the tips of your shifters in line with your extensions, to be 10cm above the center of your arm pads. Tilt your extensions and pads to this point and you'll almost certainly get an aerodynamic gain as well as a more relaxed upper body. Tension is the enemy of CdA.

Buy a LG P09 helmet.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

glad you said almost(on a former saddle I did have one, on current I have neither)

one thing that sticks out in my mind is the saddle selection and the role it might be playing in the curved back. looks like a traditional long nose saddle that he is riding the end of, likely to be on one side or the other. this may be causing his to arch his back if it is not a natural back arch. also contributes to knees hitting elbows. don't know if he has tried a split nose(I hate 99% of them), but one may or may not contribute to possible changes for OP

 

thanks!

what do you think about the cockpit? i had to use those bars as i needed to get the pads low and that's all i could find, but i don't like them and to my eyes they look very un-aero.

i'll order that helmet today.

thanks again!

What are your experiences testing the P-09 Jim?

For somebody who won't have the opportunity to do anything more than try on before purchase, is it a relatively safe bet?
(long course tri, flat(ish) back, I'm generally quite low and am happy I can get the fairing against my back for a decent portion of the race)

If you can't test, the safest helmet to buy that we've tested a lot is the P09. The Specialized SWorks is also quite good, but we only have a few tests in on that one (on the tests we've done it ties the P09). Of course, as has been stated on many occasions here, the old Giro Advantage II still holds up quite well as does the Bell Javelin.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

My initial thoughts are that you could raise your saddle, and tilt your bars up a tiny bit. You don't look comfortable at all.

as you can see, i have a horrible front-end setup. i can't seem to find extensions that get the pads low to the bars ... suggestions?

Some slick low-stack bars would be helpful. The options are discussed on here every once in awhile. Old Visions and Felt Devox are probably the cheapest (used).

Can you put a stem on that bike that's angled down?

I'd suggest extending the reach a little, lowering pads a bit, raising hands a little. Elbows close together.

Thanks Jim, that's great.

 
ouch i did my first outdoor test on it and that was misery. i was not able to generate any reasonable wattage compared to my road bike.

i felt really 'pinched' at my hips and had a lot of pain in my glutes.

normally i am highly tolerate of position changes ... this was unexpected and dismaying.

i think seat is low, but i think the pads are actually too low as well. i'll have to try something different.

thanks everyone for the thoughts!

Buzz,

I'll be a dissenting voice on that and say your seat height looks good to me. I'm wondering what crank length you're running thinking this may be a situation where shorter cranks might do you a real favor.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

ouch i did my first outdoor test on it and that was misery. i was not able to generate any reasonable wattage compared to my road bike.
i felt really 'pinched' at my hips and had a lot of pain in my glutes.
normally i am highly tolerate of position changes ... this was unexpected and dismaying.
i think seat is low, but i think the pads are actually too low as well. i'll have to try something different.

Is the saddle height the same as your road bike?

You don't look that low on the trainer. I'm guessing you are accustomed to sitting upright? It will take some time to adapt. Worth it if TTing is important to you. It's also useful for road, to be able to generate good power with a horizontal torso.

  
tt'ing is certainly important to me, it's my specialty actually and i had some podiums last year. but i've really struggled to get into a good position on this bike.

the saddle is about 1.5 inches lower than my road. i don't know why exactly! i'm going to work backwards from my road position i think.

Buss,

What's the cranks length on your TT bike and road bike too for that matter.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

the saddle is about 1.5 inches lower than my road. i don't know why exactly! i'm going to work backwards from my road position i think.

Whoa... how did that happen? Did someone fit you, or did you just goof? That will definitely make your muscles protest. IMO you aren't 1.5" too low, but whatever works.

 
ok so i found out that the saddle was working loose and dropping while riding. i have it a little higher and, i think, better.

cranks on the TT are 175, on road 172.5.

i moved my pads up higher, and today i felt a little better, but still not right. i'll take some more pics. thanks for the help all.

Buzz,

You look like a great candidate for shorter cranks. A set of 165s would open up that hip angle a good bit. You could get a set of cheapies just to try out and resell them if you don't like the effect or decide to go with fancier ones.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

  
thanks for all the help everyone!

here's where i landed, in a position that lets me generate good power. it still doesn't seem as aero as i'd like, but i don't really know till i can do some real tests.

i have a hunch this is an improvement over where i was from last year. the indoor shots i posted from this winter turned out to be a terrible position for me.

 
after riding this for a few months, i am wondering if my seat might be a little low. what is a good rule of thumb to determine this?