So I remembered seeing a discussion a while back on Bjorn’s position vs Larsen’s. At the time, Bjorn was using a more traditional Euro/Roadie TT position with a very slack angle. Check this link:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=48045;search_string=bjorn;guest=995318#48045
Here are the pics
He was very vociferious in defending his position at the time. Now from the pics from IMNZ he is riding very steeply. So my question is: Why the change?
Ed
I tend to think he’s still in the same position in both photos, just rotated 4 or 5 degrees on the Cervelo coinciding with the seat tube angles (74 vs 78 approx). It’s a position that is unique to him and requires exceptional flexibility to ride that long for an IM. Of course Bjorn is only 24 yrs old. He may be riding less aggressive ten years from now.
"So my question is: Why the change? "
He’s switched from a slack Euro TT position to what they called in Europe “the American position”, meaning steep. I think you’d have to ask that question to Bjorn directly. If you’ve noticed, we’re fortunate enough to have him posting here. Maybe Bjorn will tell us?
I’m probably a bit more steep now than last year, especially if you compare with WF, but it’s not that much. We have mesured the bike countless times and the top of the seat is at or very close to 5cm behind the BB.
Great race! Well done and every entertaining to watch. I hope the months leading up to Kona will put a little more run into your legs and the boys will have to contend with you. Bravo!
out of curiosity, what cadence do you typically ride at?
Great race in NZ. When I can go under 8:40, then I’ll start criticising ;^)
All the “position freaks” on this forum crack me up. If you guys saw a person postioned like Zack (he typically sits in the Tyler Hamilton “upright Team Phonak pic” style) you’d be nailing him for his lame position. But Zack can sure go fast and still run off his upright position. Bjorn gets a bit steeper and it is the biggest news since sliced bread. Bjorn is a stud and he just entertained all of us online tri fans to a great 8 hours and 40 min or excitement. Thanks Bjorn making our Friday afternoon in North America one to remember. Maybe if more of us spent time riding and not analysing to death the positions of pros we’d improve more :-). Good luck with the rest of your year !
For real. Don’t sweat it, Bjorn. It amazes me how we ask for someone to go out and smoke the bike. Then it happens and you get slammed for putting your run in jeopardy by going hard on the bike.
Don’t worry about the critics. You’re a professional, and you know how you need to race. Race your race and don’t worry about anything else. You put in an amazing effort this weekend, and it was fun to follow. Excellent race.
RP
“We have mesured the bike countless times and the top of the seat is at or very close to 5cm behind the BB.”
i’m only looking at photos, but it seems to me one difference might be where on the saddle you ride. if you take my bike as an example, i’m 6’2" tall, my saddle is 28cm long (fairly standard) and if i ride 5cm behind the nose that’s 8 degrees steeper than if i ride 5cm in front of the saddle’s rear.
but i have the same question as another reader, about cadence. i’m wondering if the cadence has changed in the past year. it would be nice to know.
btw, very nice race. what a great future you have over the next dozen years (and not a bad present). we’re preparing to host your buddy, as you know, we’d love to have you up for some rides and trail runs if it fits in your schedule.
This was the picture from last year at Wildflower that caused much of the negative reaction, and that I voiced my opinion about rather rudely. Part of what is so striking here is just the contrast between Bjorn and Larsen. I think the angle of the photo also contributes to that contrast.
In looking at the 2 pictures at the top of this thread, I noticed the same thing that Dan mentioned. Namely Bjorn looks like he’s sitting much farther forward on the saddle. It looks like there’s quite a lot of saddle sticking out the back. Whereas in this photo he looks like he’s pushing his butt way back. Note that in this photo Larsen has the seatpost flipped back and is out on the saddle end and I believe Bjorn does the same on his Cervelo. What if these guys flipped that seatpost forward and sat further back?? More comfy maybe? (Guess it’s too late to ask Larsen…)
I guess I have no real point here. Just that he’s damn fast and I think this is interesting.
You’re probably right, I think I’m riding more on the middle of the saddle, with the pelvis more forward rotated, as opposed to at the very back of the saddle.
Regarding the cadence I think it’s about the same this year, around 70-75 on the flats. I do try to have some variation during the race and I probably spent some time in the 80-85 range to.
It’ll be interesting to see how Jonas rides after spending some time at your place. I might stop by for a visit if I can.
Bjorn, so I’m assuming that your cadence choice is a preferred range by yourself. How did you settle on a cadence that in tri circles is relatively low ? Just curious as preasure within the sport seems to encourage people to spin at high revs because it improves the odds on the run ?