Thomas Gerlach wrote:
Yes but Ironman is a different beast, I can assure you nobody at Ironman St George 2012 was riding the same position at mile 5 as they were at 50 as they were at 100. The same arguments always come from slammers as well. Well if your only reference of perspective is a 10k TT then you really have no business advising someone about what is fast at mile 90 of an Ironman. Sure a helmet sitting just the right way might be so fast but honestly, have you ever seen those peeps with a Lazer Tardiz? It seems to always go on crooked. This all begs the question, would "most" people benefit by simply spending the time training. For an Ironman I think the answer is yes. Maybe not so for a 10k TT.
Well, it's not either/or. No one is saying that you should aero test so much that it begins interfering with training time. To Kona qualify, you're going to have to have most of the major components nailed. Training, positioning, equipment, nutrition.
The whole point of using a very experienced fitter is exactly that -- to make sure that you can ride the position for as long as possible. And that's the art of aero fitting. The aim isn't to get you into the most aerodynamic position. It's to get you into the most rideable aerodynamic position for your goal distance.
Of course, anyone can just slam an Ironman athlete down and lower drag, Thomas. You should give more credit to the amount of experience behind a good fitter.
AndyF
bike geek