Hi Jim I guess you would be the best to ask. With the UCI relaxing the laws and allowing riders to angle their bars or raise their hands the fastest seem to be doing it as shown in this post. Why is it that a majority of the uber biker Ironman triathletes (Frodeno, Kienle, Wurf, Sanders) are not doing the same when they have no restriction on their position? It has been proven that going that way even into full mantis can be/is actually faster. I recently angled my bars up and had to play around as I found it harder to generate the same power easily but once I did I found the comfort factor alone worth it. Cyclists are generating far more power over a tt than an Ironman would and leaving the bars flatter and power generation was my only conclusion to them remaining this way? Can you explain this to me?

True, damaging the extension clamp threads from slightly angled bolts is what’s keeping me from trying this with my Ventus II bar.
I’m thinking about making a plate to bolt on the TriRig tilt kit to my Ventus. I’ve seen you made risers in the past - may need to pick your brain for my next project.

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Alex Arman

Strava

Do share

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I have a picture of this same thing updated about a year later where he was testing better. Need to check and see where it is saved to.

Yes, it is a mix of both indeed. I would argue the best position might change with the duration of the event (>~90mins). Power doesn't come free and has to be sustained through nutrition. Also, how will the legs run if you've been pushing 25 more watts? Just something to keep in mind. I figure the max output that will still allow me to run well, then I find the fastest position I can ride for the expected duration that allows me to generate that output.

On hip angle. I ride in a very low position and opening the hips is something that at least to me, doesn't come naturally. I have to keep thinking about arching the lower back as it just wants to lay flat, not bow. That being said opening the hips also increases effective reach (your shoulders move back relative to armrests), which if you are fitted accordingly you need to do to get nicely stretched and tucked in shoulders, otherwhise you lay flat and you get wide. That is a usefull additionnal feedback loop for me to make sure I maintain my form through the event.

When you think about position exclusively from the mid torso and forward, anything you can do to close the V will improve aerodynamics. Close elbows, get your head low. The more air you channel around you the better.

An extreme example I really like about the relationship between CdA, power output and resulting speed is Obree's best human effort performances.

The egg tested at 0.172 whereas superman tested at 0.200. He was able to push ~50 more watts in the superman position.

it would be an interesting project. I have never laid hands on the tilt kit, but from the pictures it seems like the biggest hurdle might be figuring out how to hold everything together since 3T insists on running bolts through the base bar from underneath. Maybe you could hold it together using the underneath clamp nut in the kit.

I think you could get away with a shim like Rohan uses so long as it wasn't tilted to a heavy degree and you didn't take it apart often.

Realistically though for those of us that don't get our cockpit replaced if it breaks it's probably best to just shim the pads and bend some extenstions to the exact shape/bend you want.

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I agree with your conclusion. But Rohan's setup is sexy with the extensions being almost parallel with his arms! I would assume it's more aero that way, but maybe I'm wrong.

Likely if you keep everything together it is a little better, getting the bar close to the forearm would almost have to be. Certainly looks better :D

The baller solution is something like the Wattshop dirty aero extensions (or something similar) that shape everything nicely together. Unfortunately at £600 they aren't exactly a cheap solution... or adjustable.

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Power at the end of an incremental exercise test to determine VO2max is not the same as power at VO2max (much less sustainable power).

Case-in-point: at 67 kg, my wife made it to 350 W, or 5.2 W/kg. During a longer TT, though, she could only sustain 4 W/kg (versus ~5.5 W/kg for somebody like Amber Neben).

Understood.

Cool! Never heard of Theo Eltink... Also seems like a higher than expected delta between the men and women.

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I didn't read the thread, but he's on the wrong saddle. Obviously sliding forward on whatever he's riding now

Without checking the numbers, keep in mind that in general greater muscle mass = greater resistance to fatigue during supra-threshold exercise. Given that performance during incremental exercise test reflects this as well as aerobic function, I would expect a larger difference than the 5-10% you expect on average based on VO2max alone.

Interesting, never thought of that element of the incremental tests. As a relatively low muscle mass male I seem to do alright on those but of course I still have more musculature than the equivalent weight female. Still 130% male:female seems a lot. Small sample, maybe different preparation phases in the season for the respective teams.

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Rohan crushed it today.

Reviewing some of the other riders' pics on cyclingnews, there were several top riders who don't appear to have the traditional slowtwitch aero position. Patrick Bevin, TJvG and Kiryienka both had heads sticking up will cost them. On the other hand, Campanaert looked very good. Also starting to see a higher percentage of guys with their hands higher up, which Jim @erosports has been preaching for some time.

I'm looking forward to a tech gallery form the race.

Heads sticking up could be just where they are on the course when the photo was taken; maybe a turn coming up?