http://i40.tinypic.com/35lujpw.jpg
So I was slacking off at work and stumbled upon these mad wicked pictures from Ironman 70.3 New Orleans - courtesy of Clark Rodgers.
What do the ST bike fit Gestapo think about this? Would this not put much more stress on the lats? Apparently, this did not slow down Tj Tollakson very much - judging by his blazing 2:06 bike split - good for a 14th place overall.
If I could ride like TJ I would comment. I can’t, so I won’t.
why would it be more pressure on the lats? He still has a pretty good humerus-back angle and it looks like he has a special arm rest to hold his elbow in place
i heard the special armrests are actually cups.
nut cups…
that man is so short no standard rules can apply
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The UCI would not approve…
Looks like he’s checking his email
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If you go to that same photo sight and click on the pictures of Macca, he looks rough! It looks like some pictures of Mark Allen I saw from back in 1984 or so when he became severely dehydrated at Nice. I’m a big Macca fan, so this isn’t bashing him. He just must have blown!
judging by his blazing 2:06 bike split - good for a 14th place overall. \
Not too sure he will be happy with those results, even though I’m sure you put them up as a shining example. I think he is capable of a 2:02 on a flat course, and certainly better than 14th overall…
As to the position, similar to what we originally rode with the bars, but even more extreme. Looks a lot like the Mantis position too. If it is comfortable, and he can generate his watts with it, I see no harm. I always thought that if you can get your hands closer to your head, it pinches off the frontal area, and less wind gets trapped against your chest. Levi is a very good example of what I consider a very good front profile…
Think I see a blueberry phone and his fingers look like they are texting. Looks like a very good multitasker.
that man is so short no standard rules can apply
Isn’t TJ about 6’?
TJ is a smart guy, so I know he wouldn’t be riding this just because he saw it in a magazine. It’s a position only the tunnel can tell you if it’s faster. Hopefully John Cobb will chime in. In cases where it works well - Levi, for example - it pushes the air out and around, presenting a very small frontal area and moving the air effectively. In cases where it does not work well, which John has said is most cases in his experience, there is a pressure void in the area between you arms and torsos and a lot of turbulence forms in there, actually making you much worse off than if you arms were level. If you arms are level, then (ideally) the air comes through your arms and flows around your torso, meeting up evenly with the air that went outside of your arms. If you want an example of what can happen in the “mantis” position when it doesn’t work, get in an SUV and open both of the back windows ONLY as much as they will. Very often, the car will start to pulse and shake as you get a lot of turbulence and eddies from the air pushing into the car in a non-optimal fashion. That’s obviously not an exact comparison, but it’s the best analogy I could think of offhand.
If I recall J.C. correctly the hands in front of face position has the potential to be either signficantly faster, or really, really bad. Rappster is right (as always 
) its a windtunnel or good field testing developed position.
As far as pressure on your lats goes, I dont see why it would be any worse as only the elbow angle has changed, and its not like you use your lats much to run…
Kevin
You don’t use your lats to run??? What the hell am I doing wrong?
From this picture, it also looks like he has electrical taped the void between the aerobars.
I spent a bunch of time with T.J. before the race, and will be posting some detailed pics of his setup to my blog in a day or two. I concur that T.J. is a really smart guy; he paid for his own wind tunnel sessions in North Carolina to come up with that position, one that he said his power numbers determine as significantly faster. He posts his power numbers at his Specialize
He’s probably about 6’0, and has relatively short torso, and said when he gets long and low on his Transition, he loses power. So this, from a power/aero standpoint, is fastest for him. Beyond having the arms up, he used electrical tape across the split of his Profile Design extensions to help funnel wind around. That electrical tape fronts a custom water bottle he fabricated, putting the straw right at his mouth—no moving at all to hydrate. That whole area seems pretty tucked in and closed off, meaning that wind doesn’t eddy in behind the forearms and into the chest cavity.
And the jock cups were the go; he said he tried several different things, but the cups, with Fi’zi:k gel aerobar padding covering the inside for comfort, were super clever; he is putting a much more focused stress through his elbows in order to close off that front end, and he said they are perfect. When you are creating as you go and waiting for tooling is a waste if time, I love that T.J. does the tinkering and makes it happen.
-Jay
Rapp, I think John Cobb is still on life support after his New Orleans tri. I am not too sure what got into that boy doing a race like that, but he ain’t answering his phone. From what I heard that was one long, windy hard race day in NOLA.
It seems like he is basically creating a legal fairing with the taped up aero bars.
I think his saddle height needs to come up some. That would slightly flatten the torso and open up the hip angle. I use the mantis position, but with a relatively high, forward saddle. If TJ tried that, he might not suffer the power loss.