Hmmm. Correct me if I'm wrong but you are trying to get a "tri" position on a road geometry bike? If you've read Dan's stuff you may already know that will represent a compromise to some degree. In general, most of what Dan has written applies primarily to steep seat angle, triathlon bikes. I think his prinicples for fitting those bikes are right on the money. Road fit is a good bit different in many ways. It's tought to give you specific recommendations except to say what Dan told us at FIST: Move forward and down until you are no longer comfortable then back it up a notch. Of course, that does not address the issue of how the bike will handle, which is another matter altogether.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Sounds like you'll be running in the road position on the OCR. Nothing wrong with that my wife ran this way on her OCR for her first two years in sprint tris and had several AG wins.

First off you want to fit as best as possible. Have a look at this site from Colorado Cyclist on basics of setting up a road bike. Go through it step by step and it will get you there http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm

From here you want a set of aero bars that are specifically designed for a road bike, meaning they will be shorter than what is on a tri bike. My recommendation would be either Profile Jammer GT's (which are identical to John Cobb's "big slam" bars or the size small Syntace C2's.

Slowman's stuff is really great, but it is more tri bike applicable. Stick to the road basics for the OCR. Once you get this down properly you might want to experiment with John Cobb's "big slam" position, which is basically a modified roadie position.

Here's the url for the "big slam" position. You'll find three articles about this under the technical section and another under "Dave's Page". http://www.bicyclesports.com/home.aspx

Get the positional basics down first before you start experimenting with this.

Another option would be to slide you seat max forward to give around 75 degrees or so on the OCR. Iwouldn't go much further forward than this as it will effect handling too much by putting your weight too far forward. Tri bkes are designed for that but road bikes aren't.

I do not have any intentions on retrofitting the OCR for triathlons; I will ride in the road position. I have purchased and installed a set of shorty aerobars -- the 3TTT mini sub 8 bars. Now that I am basically done with the upgrades, I want to make sure everything is in accordance fitwise. I have some roadie fit guidelines that I have accumulated from various sources, but I guess I am specifically looking for the proper relationship between the shorty bars and seat height, torso angles, etc.

My bike saga has been a complicated one (and one that I have no doubt complicated myself). I have owned a steep angled tri bike, but I purchased it unscrupulously and it was quite uncomfortable. I sold it recently, and what was my second bike (the OCR) has become my primary steed (hence all the upgrades). I want to give it another go with a steep angled tri bike, but only when I get the money to buy the model I want and in the correct size. So my experience with steep angles has not been pleasant. I want to make sure my (road) position is good on the OCR and then later, go the steep route.

FWIW, the frame size on the OCR is quite comfortable; I just want to dial in the rest of the bike.

RP