There’s been a convergence in the bike industry to Trek’s middle of the road geometry. I can’t say I blame the industry for moving towards that direction, but I believe the trend is preventing us from achieving faster, more aero positions.
My position, which doesn’t seem extreme by any means, cannot be replicated on a single super bike due to the lack of reach, excess stack, and lack of extension tilt.
I had a 54 P2 with a slammed -25* stem and was able to move to a Shiv TT (L) with no issues. Probably could have gone with a Medium as well, but the Pad Reach for the L was bang-on my number (495). I use the forward SP, but the bike can get pretty damn long with the rear SP (although it may close your hip angle).
But I hear ya…Long & Low is definitely phasing out in regards to bike selection. I don’t see me getting rid of my Shiv TT anytime soon as a result (well that and the fact that it is pretty damn slippery!!) My LTS keeps trying to get me to go to a Shiv Tri, but there is no way I could ride one. Either I can’t get low enough or I would need a stoopid long stem. I have no interest in riding a 130mm stem on a tri bike.
I’m curious…can we add some pad stack and reach numbers to this conversation? i.e. what are the horizontal and vertical distance from the bb to your arm pads?
Wait, maybe I missed something. Is there good drag data for the newer felt da somewhere?
^^^This. When did the DA “fall out” of the superbike category???
I agree it is getting harder to find. Im almost 6’4" with a 32" inseam. I ended up on a speed concept 9 series with the extensions as low as possible in order to get moderately aggressive.
To the OP, have you tested this position? I note that your chest is almost downsloping, and you are possibly showing more back to the wind than necessary. Steve hed used to say he aimed for a chest angle close to about 5 degrees above horizontal and that a flat chest was too low usually.
so, you may be too low.
second, your body type is likely an outlier. I mean, you have an adjustable stem on what is one of the longest/lowest bikes.
Third, I think faster bikes than your alloy p3 but close in geometry are the shiv tt, felt da, or qr cd.01. Or you can sit around waiting for another swing in geometry trends which may never come…
I noticed a few things in your position which lead to the requirement of super long and low (Trek’s older OCLV frames were notoriously long and low 56 TT + 51ST c-c, but not super bike today).
Long torso,
shorter legs,
sit very much forward,
humped back.
Re 1 and 2, we are all built a bit differently, nothing one can do. Re 3, have you tried sliding back a bit? Your hip angle is amply open. Re 4, this may be less aero than a flat back. In other words, your elbows may get a bit higher without becoming less aero.
Of course this is all speculation from looking at a single picture. Purely for your reference.