Interested in hearing thoughts and ideas on my bike fit. This ride is set up for Lake Placid. These shots were taken about an hour into a 3 hour roller ride. First two pics are on the hoods.
Mark
These two are on the aerobars, Visiontech mini’s.
Thanks for looking.
Mark
3 hour roller ride? Wow. Impressive. I’d have to wear my helmet!
Also…nice bike. Veltec would be impressed with your selection of parts!
I wouldn’t want to critique as much as I’d point a few things out worth considering.
-
I can’t see the downstroke position, but I’m guessing your seat is a tiny bit high with a toe-down. If that’s your style, fine.
-
Stem length - what size? Bars…I’d go with shorter reach and a shallower drop. You could use a shorter stem to accomplish some of this…but it’s all relative.
-
Looks like your reaching a bit for the aerobars. A shorter stem or choking up on the aerobars would help…
-
Bend those elbows and take the stress off your hands.
-
Bar angle. That’s an aggressively upright hood position. Do you like that? I think it may be a situation where you had to rotate your bars to compensate from the reach/drop. As in (2), I think a bar swappage would be in order…perhaps a Deda 215 shallow 80/135mm.
I would agree that you look a little stretched out in the Aero position, however the most important thing is comfort. How do you feel after resting on your aero bars for 3 hrs? If your back is sore and tired then you are most likely too stretched out. Consider a shorter stem as mentioned or adjusting your bars so that your weight is better supported. You will know that your supported right when it isn’t tiring to be Aero for a long time.
Good luck,
Jonathan
Here’s a good article to read regarding the slam position for triathlon on a road bike. I can’t tell if you’re trying for a slam or conventional road position. All you really do for the slam is lower your seat a bit and slide it back. I get your knee angle at about 145 degrees on my protractor. This is the high end that Cobb recommends for the slam and the low end that many recommend for a traditional road position. Also think that you might be a bit stretched by if you’re finding that comfy on long rides, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Nice cat.
“5) Bar angle. That’s an aggressively upright hood position. Do you like that? I think it may be a situation where you had to rotate your bars to compensate from the reach/drop. As in (2), I think a bar swappage would be in order…perhaps a Deda 215 shallow 80/135mm.”
The tipped up hoods are the way that many of the pro roadies are riding these days. Not that everything the pros do is for us, but I have tried this on my bike and it is very comfortable.
As for the shallow drop bars. Great idea, but good luck trying to track these down. The irony is that many pro-roadies actually use and prefer the shallow drop bars, but few if any bikes available to the public are specced with shallow drop bars and they are next to impossible to find in the after-market. I am using the Ritchy BioMax II shallow drop bars on my road bike and I would highly reccomend these bars.
As for the orginal poster’s positioning: Hard to say, but for being set up on a road bike, I woulod say that it’s not bad. He’s got the shorty Vison bars, which is the way to go. I agree, that he might want to swap in a slightly shorter stem or change to the Profile Jammers, which you can position the arm pad further back than the top of the bar top.
Fleck
Funny, the next picture in the sequence was unusable as the cat was looking in the lens.
Well, in looking at it, and knowing how I ride the rollers, it sounds like I’m in pretty good shape. I tend to push my rear back when riding the rollers creating a longer reach, but increasing the stability of the whole setup. The current stem is a 120 and I have a shorter one (100) due to arrive later this week, just as a test. I was thinking though of moving the seat a touch forward to see if that made much difference as well. I wasn’t necessarily looking for the big slam position, but after reading the article, it is probably where I was headed. As a long torso, short legged dude, the road bike setup seemed the optimum way to go. I do like the hoods turned up, it’s just one more hand position to turn to.