I connect my right shoe (forward) to a water bottle cage bolt on my seat tube (I only run a bottle on my down tube). I hook my left shoe onto my skewer lever. I haven't done a flying mount for two years, but I've been practicing lately for this season. I'll let you know how badly it goes after saturday.

**I don't have thru axle or disc brakes, so YMMV.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

My .02. I never attach anything to my front deraillure. Something could (most likely not) go wrong and now shifting is messed up for trying to save 1-5 seconds and your bike is going to be much slower than that not being able to go from big to small ring.

I do something a bit different. I don't do a "flying mount" I have my left shoe attached to the rear skewer to hold it flat with a rubber band.. Then I run with my bike and instead of jumping onto the seat, I just step on the shoe (since it is flat) and swing my right leg over the other shoe. It automatically hangs vertical and when I step on the left shoe it moves it to the 12'oclock postion, so when my right leg swings around my toes catch the toe portion of the shoe and and step on it. Now I am on the top of both shoes and can pedal and I am not jumping and trying to get my feet to land on the shoes. Once I get to where it is safe then I will reach down and slide my feet in.

For me, I have tried the flying mount and I end up bouncing and missing my shoes and have to look down and find them and I am a hazard. I am also not very limber so me jumping and landing on the bike is a danger to everyone, me included. That is my technique and .02. I have found that this is equally as fast as a "flying mount."

I have my shoes set up like your pictures except I don't have disc brakes or DI2.

I've practiced enough to be able to jump on the bike and put in right foot into the shoe in one motion.

The key is practice

The thing about the flying start a lot of people get wrong is they try to put their feet in their shoes too early, you should be riding away feet on top of shoes and be putting them in down the road when you're already at speed. No need to tie them to your bike, just have them hanging, step on the front one and then you will get yourself going some, get on the second one and ride off, put them on within the first mile while moving, but it does take some practice.

For me, the rubber bands aren't there to make it easier to get into the shoes, they're to prevent the shoes from hitting the ground and possibly catching. Over the years, twice I've had the edge of the shoe catch the ground when coming into T2 and kick the rear of the bike into the air, one time causing me to dump the bike. The rubber bands eliminate this possibility, at least when getting on the bike...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"

I go right into my shoes... have them setup in the same position as the author here. Jump on and slide my feet in my shoes, then start pedaling.

No pedaling on top of my shoes or fiddling with them down the road. You only have to close the velcro at some point.

To the author here, mine is similar and in the same spots. I don't have a front dereilleur on my TT bike but band that shoe to the chain catcher. My rear I put on the quick release lever which you don't have either but if the nipple is holding it fine, I'd not worry about it... shoes look like they're in a great position.

On the rare occassion I do a draft legal event, I do band to my front derailleur and my rear quick release. I use the small rubber bands I buy in a pack from Walmart that has something about tshirt dying indicated on the packaging.

What do you guys do at the end of the bike? I slip out of the shoes before the dismount line and jump off. My problem is my shoes are WAY longer than the distance to the ground. I have nearly tripped when one of the shoes hits the ground and, of course, the shoes get scuffed quite a bit.

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Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.

One thing I do is make sure I'm in a large gear (28 or 25 is good) on my rear cassette when I dismount. It helps with the cassette spinning the pedals as you run with your bike which can spin your pedals around. If you've seen someone running with their bike and their shoes spinning and the bike bouncing all over as the shoes hit over and over... that's the deal.

Otherwise pretty standard dismount, you want to get prep'd for the dismount before you're at the line. My left foot is on top of my shoe and my right is still in my shoe but its loosened so I can slide it out.

While approaching the line slow to a speed I can run off the bike, take my right foot out, swing it behind/over my seat, through my frame and foot still on the left pedal and then onto the ground before the line.

Grab my bike with my right hand on the seat and run it into transition.

Most importanly practice it! When I started doing flying mounts and dismounts I went up and down the road in my neighborhood making up imaginary lines and dismounted over and over and over. I didn't stop to rubber band in between but getting into your shoes with them flopping isn't bad to learn either. Just about everytime I ride my TT bike, I doing a flying mount.

How much practice does it really take to become proficient? I've been racing a long time, but I've avoided flying mounts for a few years (see above). I swore that I'd start utilizing them this season, so I've practiced a few times. But how much should I really be doing it?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Thx xeon.

I'm having difficulty understanding this. With the rear cassette in a large gear the pedals spin more or less? I don't recall what gear the rear has been in because I've never thought about it. I'm that guy with their shoes spinning and the bike bouncing all over. That's what I'm trying to stop.

Actually getting off the bike isn't the problem for me.

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Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.

Until you get good at them. I spent no more than 30 minutes that first session when I was figuring it out and now I just do a flying mount/dismount on training rides and of course in races. Another thing that helped me... I have wide feet so I store my tri shoes with a softball in them. An idea I got from using a softball years ago to form my gloves pocket.

Yes, the bigger gear the better. Most people get off the bike in a low gear 11-12-13... hammering to the line and then you get all that pedal spinning running with bike. The cassette is more prone to freewheel when running with the chain on the larger gear vs. a small one.

First off, reading this thread, we tend to over complicate flying mounts quite a bit, and make it into something it doesn't have to be. Think of a cyclocross racer, who mounts and dismounts 20+ times in a given race or more... I've always done a flying mount/dismount, although when I started it was more of a two step mount than a proper flying mount. I corrected that a few years later when I started racing cyclocross and realized that I was losing ground with a two step mount.

In terms of placement, I go right foot forward, I attach the elastic to the bolt that attaches my front derailleur to the frame, but it could also be to the bottle cage, my left shoe is attached by elastic to my quick release skewer... The purpose of the elastics is as some others have suggested, to keep the shoes level so that they don't bounce or fall out, and so that when you slide into the seat (you are not jumping crotch to seat, you are landing on the inside of the thigh, and rolling into the seat) you can apply power to the pedals right away. Once you get some momentum then you worry about getting into the pedals... While admittedly I race predominantly short distances, anyone can benefit from a more efficient mount. In races the last two weekends, I easily put 20-40sec into people around me at the mount line by having an efficient and practiced flying mount. Will it save you minutes in your race, no, but can it give you some more breathing room for other errors, or help you limit loses from other legs, absolutely.

Note you don't have do to a 'FLYING' mount.

You can do a much-safer NON-flying mount, but with your shoes already mounted on the bike. Much less risk for error, and is like 1-2 seconds slower than the risky flying mount where you literally jump on the bike as it rolls.

I dont use rubber bands - I just bring my bike to the line, check that my mount pedal (my right one in my case) is pointed forward (not back) and I just step onto it and go. Nothing crazy or frenzied. But definitely still faster than putting your shoes on in transition, particularly when there's a long roll of the bike and it's super clunky to run in bike shoes.

The key thing is to check that the pedal is pointed forward before you try to get on it. Sometimes I do have to move it with my hand at the line. I don't think that extra second is hurting me though.

When I used to watch pro triathlon I noticed that Flora Duffy would run past the line, put her left foot on the left shoe (connected to the pedal) then swing her right leg over and put her right foot in the right shoe.

It looked like a very safe way of quick mounting.