Especially since in early 92 Boardman was still riding time trials with his hands close together and high up, almost touching his nose. He talked about this in the first issue of Cycling Weekly I ever bought.
You’re mixing things up. The pictures are not in a chronological order. The pic where he’s riding with a Spin wheel is the oldest. On the other ones his hands and elbows are spread apart. This is what I meant, I didn’t mean the “Gerosteiner” position!
BTW, it’s funny, the Spin wheel is the only “aero” wheel to be worse than 36-spoke. And heavier too 
I’m on your side now. I never really liked SAC anyway.
Hands in, it is.
Looking at those pics of Boardman, I am still trying to figure out how he and Obree for that matter, where able to generate similar power numbers in that postion, or was it that much more aerodynamic. The great thing about the traditional aero-bar set up, is that if you are positioned properly, you can get great leverage from that position, but by extending your elbows out that far, as in the super-man position I fail to se how you can get that leverage, as it all seems to go.
Fleck
Million-dollar question: Did Boardman ride in Barcelona?
Yes, but were they developing that position as early as 1989? I don’t think so.
those are some great vintage Boardman pics!
As I tend to be a nut about postioning stuff and field-testing different things, I’ll say the the “hands touching vs. wide” thing seems to not make a big diff either way–I think it’s pretty individual and, at least for me, the difference is too slight to tell via field testing.
Pedalling with your knees apart vs. close to the top tube on the other hand?? For me, it’s somewhere like a 10-15W difference @ 40kph. However, if you don’t naturally pedal “knees in”, it seems to be hard to adapt, as least for some folks I’ve help set up.
Lastly, as far as the superman pic, that’s almost exactly how I look on the bike, but with my hands almost touching (more a function of the bars I’m using than by design), and it’s quite comfortable.
No, no… what I meant with that was that what people thought it was right in thr 80s was all that “closing the chest” kind of thing. The wind tunnel data for the original Lotus changed that.
“I fail to se how you can get that leverage, as it all seems to go”
I got hung up in a similar thread a while back. I actually ride in that exact position (boarman’s superman), and for the life of me, I don’t get the “leverage” thing. Your aren’t pedalling with your arms??
I read some comment from Cobb about getting “10% more power” by bring your hands in…I don’t get it. That position was comfortable for me the first time I got in it, as least as far as pedalling the bike (it did feel at first that my bad shoulder would pop out of joint at any second…but that’s a differnent story…).
Aah.
LOL… I’m serious
but by extending your elbows out that far, as in the super-man position I fail to se how you can get that leverage, as it all seems to go.
Fleck
I remember watching a programme about Boardman, and they showed him the first time he ever tested the superman position on the track. He just kept on going faster… and faster… Everyone involved was amazed. As far as I can recollect Boardman found it more powerful, not less.
If you’d quoted vitus-blokey in your reply then this would have been clearer. As it is the chronology confuses…
getting faster (putting out more power) in that position was my experience as well. Just a guess, but if you’re already really low, it seems way easier (for me at least) to breath and just feels less cramped.
Breathing seems more important to me than “leverage”.
I’ll re-iterate what I said in an old post–I don’t know why more folks don’t at least try this position.
PNF rode her 24" wheeled bikes (early-mid 90s) with the wide elbow, straight-arm position. My understanding at that time was that as the trunk was getting lower then the forearm/elbows were positioned wider in order to ‘fair’ the thighs/knees. Gotta say that her position wasn’t particularly low, but she did ride a 4:48 at IMH. Maybe it was the eccentric cranks 
How tall is he? Looks like he’s got to be at least 6’4" in this shot.
So I’m thinking that a lot of people are sitting up pretty high on their bikes because it’s comfortable, or they have scoliosis, or whatever. We always tell them to get lower. OK, cool.
What if they can’t or won’t get lower? What are the alternatives? How much can other position changes (I dunno, knees in, etc) make up for a somewhat upright position? What are some of those other changes?
To answer the original question, everybody should basically get lower. If you’re fat, loose weight. If you’re not flexible, start doing yoga. If your spine is welded together, well, break it. You get the idea.
The other thing that helps is moving your saddle forward - somehow we’ve forgotten this.
getting faster (putting out more power) in that position was my experience as well. Just a guess, but if you’re already really low, it seems way easier (for me at least) to breath and just feels less cramped.
Breathing seems more important to me than “leverage”.
I’ll re-iterate what I said in an old post–I don’t know why more folks don’t at least try this position.
I agree about the “leverage” – it’s only meaningful in very short, intense efforts. Our body weight provides plenty of counterbalance to the meager forces involved in pedalling even at 400 watts (to say nothing of my 230 watts).
Q for you (or anyone) – anybody done a long-course triathlon in the Superman position? I wonder if it is really viable…?
I actually ride in that exact position (boarman’s superman
Mind posting a picture?