One thing that I took from that video is the way the air is routed/deflected over the hands which then hits the chest and escapes under the ribs.
I always thought that the whole point of the hands to together postion was to deflect the air around the hands and stop it hitting the chest but that doesnt seem to happen at all.
And that makes me very interested in trying a hands wider position (like wrapping your hands around the hoods of a roadie and laying you forearms along the bars) and then doing some aero testing because I have an old shoulder injury which prevents me from getting my elbows in anything like a narrow position and am wondering if it would be worth my while?
At the moment I have my hands touching together but my elbows are flared out wide (hip width) and even then I still find it uncomfortable at times (especially on rough roads)
I think having the hands and elbows close together gains its aero benefit by reducing the whole frontal area more than by deflecting the air around the body. When the elbows are brought together it pulls the upper arms infront of the chest and brings the shoulders forwards/ round. This reduces the frontal area presented to the air, and so reduces resistance.
If you adopt a wider hand position you will reduce or lose this effect, presenting a larger upper body area and increasing drag.
I believe it was QuickStep that tried the position you are speaking about, hands out near hoods in aero position, in the TDF TTT and it didn’t work real well. It increases frontal area too much. I thought it was proven that for the most part hands together is best.
I think having the hands and elbows close together gains its aero benefit by reducing the whole frontal area more than by deflecting the air around the body. When the elbows are brought together it pulls the upper arms infront of the chest and brings the shoulders forwards/ round. This reduces the frontal area presented to the air, and so reduces resistance.
If you adopt a wider hand position you will reduce or lose this effect, presenting a larger upper body area and increasing drag.
I dont really buy that.
The rounded shoulders, maybe, but you also expose your whole forearm to the wind versus just you knuckles/fist.
Anyway, the tri season is a couple of months away here in Oz so Ive got time to chung my current position vs a new position.
