I’m putting this here to flesh out my thoughts on my position and the journey I have taken to arrive to where I am. This is also to answer a few questions that some seem to always ask. Lastly, I'm writing this to present my counterpoint to a certain individual’s constant badgering of my position not being optimized because I am not as low as I can be.
Like a lot of guys that practice the sport/discipline, I tinker with stuff. Some years this is due to things going very bad, while other years it's merely a function of trying to find more speed. Also, some equipment changes necessitate a change in fit, which can then lead to a cascade effect of positional changes.
Both in terms of power production and position I’ve been up and i’ve been down. I have had sporadic success over the last few years regardless of my position. Prior to that I had plenty of success due to significant structured training that I don’t have the time, money, or commitment to partake in at this stage in my life in spite of my position (not that it was bad). It goes without saying that I aggregate a lot of data, both personal and those found on the interwebs. But I should clarify that it’s not all stuck in a spreadsheet that I constantly reference. It’s more like a bunch of crap bouncing about in my head that informs my feel/gut/perception (if that makes sense).
I am a big believer in being narrow to reduce FA, as the most important operator. I’ve done slammed and narrow and while this was fast it wasn’t the game changer one would think it to be. Power production in this “phase” was damn good (think ~255 watts for a 40K i.e ~4 watts/kg). I should elaborate that by narrow in this context I mean arms and elbows together. When my pad x has been within a “normal” range I find it very difficult to shrug even though I feel like I still turtle and hold my head in a favorable position. Therefore, while elbows and arms together is a narrow setup it’s not in the sense that my shoulders are not that close together or as close as they could be. Increasing pad x and elevating hands creates a natural shrug and helps in the effort to get as tight as possible. This effect is demonstrated by seeing my relaxed position with reach and then my shrugged position. You can also see how my “long” reach seems to normalize and I adopt a Slowman Approved position.
However, to increase pad x and be slammed is damn near impossible for me on most if not all production bikes. There is also the context of a cluster fuck of a front end even with the best bars in a slammed position. Throw into the equation that a greater than 6 cm separation of a riders arms from the bars has shown to be faster than some middling ground (or at least some of the time). Also, a lot of riders have data (me included) that after a certain point drop doesn’t help and can hurt. To expand on this, for a few there is a sweet spot that can span a couple centimeters. The last consideration I recently have put into the mix is road bike position. For most emulating their road bike position on their Time Trial bike would be a horrible exercise, but for me it’s actually not that bad of an experiment. Suffice it to say that this last point was not a driver for my latest and greatest, but curiously interesting that the positions are not so dissimilar and they were both arrived at without that being the goal.
So, where does this leave me? Greater pad y to facilitate greater pad x (due to equipment limitations). Then the next step I took, after I introduced more pad y and pad x, was to increase that pad stack to the point that there would be good separation between my arms and the base bar. Now, higher hands are also in play in this setup as it makes supporting that extra pad reach possible and helps facilitate a better shrug. But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t reinforce the fact that I raised my hands for no reason other than to help me shrug and support my reach. This makes for a very narrow position, as the wind sees it, and somewhat mimics my road position. Also, one last monkey wrench. I have gone away from short cranks as the whole reason I moved to them was to allow me to be as low as I could get. I’m a low RPM type (e.g. 87rpm avg at my last 40K) and FEEL that the extra bit of lever is a benefit.
Am I faster now than when I was at my lowest? The answer to that is an emphatic no. Not due to position, however, but to the fact that I do not make the power I once did. I feel/believe I am now slipperier than I was when I was low, low, low, but without comparing the two positions back to back it is merely conjecture from either side of the argument.
vs
ETA: had watts per kilo wrong.
My YouTubes
Like a lot of guys that practice the sport/discipline, I tinker with stuff. Some years this is due to things going very bad, while other years it's merely a function of trying to find more speed. Also, some equipment changes necessitate a change in fit, which can then lead to a cascade effect of positional changes.
Both in terms of power production and position I’ve been up and i’ve been down. I have had sporadic success over the last few years regardless of my position. Prior to that I had plenty of success due to significant structured training that I don’t have the time, money, or commitment to partake in at this stage in my life in spite of my position (not that it was bad). It goes without saying that I aggregate a lot of data, both personal and those found on the interwebs. But I should clarify that it’s not all stuck in a spreadsheet that I constantly reference. It’s more like a bunch of crap bouncing about in my head that informs my feel/gut/perception (if that makes sense).
I am a big believer in being narrow to reduce FA, as the most important operator. I’ve done slammed and narrow and while this was fast it wasn’t the game changer one would think it to be. Power production in this “phase” was damn good (think ~255 watts for a 40K i.e ~4 watts/kg). I should elaborate that by narrow in this context I mean arms and elbows together. When my pad x has been within a “normal” range I find it very difficult to shrug even though I feel like I still turtle and hold my head in a favorable position. Therefore, while elbows and arms together is a narrow setup it’s not in the sense that my shoulders are not that close together or as close as they could be. Increasing pad x and elevating hands creates a natural shrug and helps in the effort to get as tight as possible. This effect is demonstrated by seeing my relaxed position with reach and then my shrugged position. You can also see how my “long” reach seems to normalize and I adopt a Slowman Approved position.
However, to increase pad x and be slammed is damn near impossible for me on most if not all production bikes. There is also the context of a cluster fuck of a front end even with the best bars in a slammed position. Throw into the equation that a greater than 6 cm separation of a riders arms from the bars has shown to be faster than some middling ground (or at least some of the time). Also, a lot of riders have data (me included) that after a certain point drop doesn’t help and can hurt. To expand on this, for a few there is a sweet spot that can span a couple centimeters. The last consideration I recently have put into the mix is road bike position. For most emulating their road bike position on their Time Trial bike would be a horrible exercise, but for me it’s actually not that bad of an experiment. Suffice it to say that this last point was not a driver for my latest and greatest, but curiously interesting that the positions are not so dissimilar and they were both arrived at without that being the goal.
So, where does this leave me? Greater pad y to facilitate greater pad x (due to equipment limitations). Then the next step I took, after I introduced more pad y and pad x, was to increase that pad stack to the point that there would be good separation between my arms and the base bar. Now, higher hands are also in play in this setup as it makes supporting that extra pad reach possible and helps facilitate a better shrug. But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t reinforce the fact that I raised my hands for no reason other than to help me shrug and support my reach. This makes for a very narrow position, as the wind sees it, and somewhat mimics my road position. Also, one last monkey wrench. I have gone away from short cranks as the whole reason I moved to them was to allow me to be as low as I could get. I’m a low RPM type (e.g. 87rpm avg at my last 40K) and FEEL that the extra bit of lever is a benefit.
Am I faster now than when I was at my lowest? The answer to that is an emphatic no. Not due to position, however, but to the fact that I do not make the power I once did. I feel/believe I am now slipperier than I was when I was low, low, low, but without comparing the two positions back to back it is merely conjecture from either side of the argument.
vs
ETA: had watts per kilo wrong.
My YouTubes
