from the same TT that ttx-tri posted his own pics of. size small frame. 5’9". sorry the 6’o-clock pedal position shot is the head-on one…I’ll try to coordinate with the shutterbug better next time. saddle is slammed fwd and post is in fwd position for ~80deg STA. position is extremely comfy for HIM distance stuff, a little cramped for a short TT like this one (9.2mi) where you’re really trying to lay down max effort from start to finish…tend to ride way up on nose when I’m trying to crush one, and I do tap the armrest pads with the knees now and then as a result. never been an issue @ HIM distance/effort. recently raised saddle a smidge…might go back down. let me have it…
yup. can’t see out of them right-side-up in that position due to the frames. upside down, I’ve got a clear view. weirds folks out when I chat as I pass, too.
I don’t know much about positioning - looks great to me - But are your sunglasses on upside down? Or, are they designed that way?
(edit: oops sorry - gotta be quick around here!)
You can find glasses that have removable lenses with the frame on the bottom (I think they are scott) or even some oakley’s etc that have no frame. Does indeed look weird!
Personally it’s hard to critique the position when my eyes keep shifting to your glasses… That said, you may start a new craze and your position looks fine…
your elbow seems really wide on the first pic…with your knee inside your arms… that is definitly pushing air for nothing. Get your elbow in front of your knee and at the same width. you might need a bit of a longer stem to bring the elbow this narrow and not hit your knee… should be a lot more aero and might required a bit of time to adjuste to…
Didn’t you have a blue fork on that bike? I liked it that way. How is that you have one of the new discs and some of the Discovery guys are still riding the old disc?
glasses…thx for the nashbar link. also tried a set of coworker’s sub-zero’s and loved the look and feel. now I just need to find the i-gogs clone. I’ve lost too many spendy shades over the years (mostly Oakley, too) to ever spend more than $9.99 - $11.99 per pair ever again. elbows and knees…great advice. I’ve had myself more narrow in the past but I tried going a tad wider and found I was much more comfy at the longer distances. if I ever try to get lower in front and add an aero helmet, staying this wide will aid the “turtle-ing” too…won’t it? in any case, I think I could bring the arms in for shorter events like the sprint I’m doing this Saturday. a little leery of going to a longer stem though…this one has me at all the right (ha) angles as best I can tell. got lots of stems to experiment with…thx for the suggestion. chinstrap…one of those things you know looks dorky, and you can hear everyone say it, but until you see it yourself - in pictures - you really don’t get the full effect. that is gonna get fixed right after I finish this post! blue fork…when the death threats started coming on from others at work I had to make the switch. honestly, I liked it better that way too - and so did my wife - but it was also a first-generation fork and something like 50-70 grams heavier than what I’m riding now. that, and I was promised a set of the new integrated bars if I’d just make the switch already. still waiting on that part… disk…let’s just say I’m squealing like a guinea pig. that, and I had to do some cosmetic surgery to the rim in return for a season-long test ride. besides, team guys have some (!) say in what they ride, and you can hardly fault them for sticking by what they know/think is ol’ reliable.
odds and ends: big SDM watch because I forgot to take it off (wasn’t wearing the chest strap anyway), gloves because my bullhorns aren’t taped (virtually never use them in racing, but knew I had some out-of-saddle climbs on this course), spacer stack above stem because I’m not done fiddling with height (next move is to flipflop the stem and start heading doowwwwnnnn), tubie under the saddle stays there once I put it there because it’s no fun doing it once, never mind repeatedly, and I just had my first race 2wknds ago.
been wanting/needing to do this for a while now…the pix just eliminated my last excuse for delaying it. and thx for the compliment…faster than last year by about 0.5mph…but it was also an easier course this year. wanted the overall, but taking some solace in the fact that no multisporters (that I know of) got ahead of me.
If you don’t mind I haven’t been able to see a small ttx in person but would love to know more about the fit so if you get a minute could you answer some questions…
Your approxiamate saddle hieght is?
Also, how high above your basebar is your aerobar pads?
What is the rise of your stem and is there a spacer underneath it or is that just the headset cap?
I think the position looks pretty good. Having wider elbows does make turtling easier, but it can be accomplished with a narrow setup as well. Don’t be afraid to go just a touch lower.
saddle height from ground: 39.875"/1013mm
from crank center: 29.5"/750mm
pads above basebar: 2.25"/57mm
stem is 90mm, 7deg rise (and running upside down, need a +/-17 to get any lower because…)
I’ve got a 5mm spacer under the stem, as that’s the minimum we recommend.
as for the other comments, thx! since that was taken I’ve narrowed and skooched the pads forwards by one notch in each direction…great for sprint distance stuff, not so much for HIM (yet).
not sure what I was thinking on the gloves…never wear then for a tri, had no use for them in a TT…'cept that this one had a couple uphills where sweaty hands on the bare bullhorns could’ve been a bit exciting. 9.5mi at full tilt boogie is a tad more violent than my preferred HIM cruise.
you read my mind on the helmet. definitely my next upgrade. thx!
Actually I can relate to what you are saying about the sweaty hands on funky monkey handel bars. I have a HED base bar with carbon fiber aero extensions and find them to be very slippery when I am sweating up a storm on a hot day and I have also worn gloves for a better grip. My idea of a perfect Tri bike course is a relatively flat and straight one so I can stay on the aero extensions and don’t have to make a lot of scary high speed turns with sweat soaked hands. I casn also relate to your feelings about looking through the rims of sunglasses when in the aero position. I have Rudy Project flip up bifocals (so I can read my Garmin 305 Edge) and the rim can get in the way. I was very wary of getting a aero helmut because they are by necessity poorly ventilated. However this years model (2007) L. G. Rocket has more slits for venalation then before and has worked OK for me. I did Tupper Lake half iron distance in June and N.Y. City Oly distance last weekend and a short TT every Saturday this summer in Philadelphia and I have not gotten over heated from the helmut. The only downside to this helmut is that I can not hear cars coming up on me and the tail was tearing up my expensive shirts on the shoulder blades until I taped the rough bottom edge of the shell. I do recommend this helmut, but be careful if you wear it in traffic. Tim
