Tapering for Gulf Coast and noticed this great pic of Larsen passing Bjorn Andersson for the lead at Wildflower. This is one of the best pics I’ve seen for comparing position.
Larsen is really forward and Andersson is really far back in comparison. Just thought I’d share.
T
Man, Larsen is really sitting on the tip of his Azoto. And, all of Andersson’s angles look like they vary from what FIST tries to achieve. Larsen definitely looks a lot more comfortable, but then again, what do I know, I’ll never ride as fast as these guys.
Chalk another one up for Dan - add Larsen (effectively) to the steep seat angle club, and it looks like you get some nice FIST-like angles if you project out his full extension position.
MH
Damn, Andersson looks AWFUL! It looks to me like his seat is too high, the cockpit too long, and the bars too low given his seat angle. Yuck.
great pic
does anyone know how representative this pic is of how Larsen looks for the entire race?
is he just looking like this cus he’s blasting?
There is a little distortion from the angle of were the photo was taken,also some of the distortion might be from the type of camera lens used,so Anderssons position might not be as bad as it looks,think i am crazy? look at his wheels there oval,just a thought
And he ‘only’ had the second fastest bike split at 2:25. Obviously its a terrible position for him, he should start over completely.
Sarcasm finished.
I actually quite like Andersson’s position on the bike, its a classic TT’ers position, and suits someone with strong glutes. He obviously has the flexibility to ride with the bars in that position, and there’s nothing wrong with having the bars a little bit out in front. Works for Lance.
Maybe Larsen had the fastest split on the bike because, now here’s a shocker, he has a better engine??
dunno guys, looks to me that perhaps mr andersson is adjusting or scratching or. . . . . .something (!) to his “guys”. once adjusted i would wager our man will return to fine form.
Certainly it’s not a studio photo, but here’s one from just before the pass:
And another one of Andersson solo, but more from the front:
My hammies and quads hurt just looking, I can’t imagine the 1/2 marathon after a ride in that position.
Cheers…T
Is it just me or does it look like Larsen is riding with the seatpost head in the “back” position?
Chris
Ok sorry for looking awful and having a really bad position on the bike. Why don’t you post some pictures of your position so I know how it should be.
Take care
/Bjorn Andersson
“Ok sorry for looking awful and having a really bad position on the bike. Why don’t you post some pictures of your position so I know how it should be.”
i’m sending you a private message with more detail, but, frankly, your position does royally suck. this ought to be good news to you. you’re on the podium, top 3, with appropriate positioning and a few weeks of adjusting to it. the time savings you can achieve in 30 minutes would take your other competitors 30 months to scratch out.
i’ll bet they wish their positions sucked and that improvement could be that easy.
as an aside to my last post to bjorn, just as a matter of precaution, i’m verifying that bjorn is really bjorn (using certain administrator’s tools i have at my disposal), before we get too far into this. i’ll report back on my investigation.
Actually, I was watching the IM NZ video last night (the Kiwi version) with three gals who did the race. All noticed the same thing, which was how “easy” Steve was riding and how fast he was moving compared to the big gear that Bjorn was pushing (with some hip rocking, it looked like). Fast forward towards the end of the bike—Steve smashed the IM NZ bike record (and went on to finish top 10 with a stress fx in his leg) and Bjorn was on the side of the road somewhere along the road with cramps in his hips and DNFed.
That tape showed textbook riding by Larsen and even Lieto and textbook running by Cam Brown.
Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.
Regarding IM NZ and the comparsion with Steve, who I know is a far superior athlete than me, I doubt that you could see any real difference in speed on tape when the difference in avg speed was 1km/h during the time I was in the race. A higher cadence always looks faster though.
The reason for me dropping out in NZ was ichias-related and the result of a run injury, but it’s always easy to jump to conclusions…
/Bjorn
C’mon PLEASE, other than Dan, any of you getting caught up in someone else’s racing and bike positioning is sad. The guy is 24 yrs. old, just got here from Sweden and smashes the bike course getting beat by no one else other than the fastest cyclist in the sport on the bike leg. None of us will be at that speed nor will most of us ever get top 10 overall at Wildflower. Until Bjorn hits his peak which might be years from now, let him continue to build his incredible strength, apply his awesome talent and learn at his own speed what is the best cycling position and setup for him. All the Euro-old school cyclinst though Lance was a freak at 120 -150 cadence…so please, unless you are Steve Larsen or someone who can catch the guy on the bike don’t rip him…it’s what works for him and beating all of us…
Word. Oh and Dan - Bjorn will soon be FIST certified by Phil…
Whoa! I guess I was a little too blunt and harsh, sorry about that. Sometimes being on a forum has that effect. Of course I don’t have the ability that you do and never will so maybe that makes my comments and opinions out of place. It’s always easy for an observer to play armchair quarterback. However I still stand by my opinion that, said less harshly, it appears to me like your position could be improved. Of course I could be wrong, but it’s scary to think of what wicked fast(er) splits you might be able to achieve through something as physically simple as a position change. I apologize if I offended you.
This is a classic body type comparison. This is old school 70’s technology but there are two kinds of riders. The ones that make a “cat back” when they are under stress and those that have a “flat back” You can’t change that trend.
Anderson seems to have his hands low like Greg LeMonds quote that “it wasn’t about being aero with the bars but another lever to pull on”
Looks a bit like the “Big Slam” vs the" Fast Forward" debate. Be interesting to see wind tunnel data on these two guys. Pretty scary being that young and so fast. Aloha G
.
I know Björn personally very well and I thought i´d share some insight on the man and his cycling position since this is a hot topic here. Björn himself is way to modest to go into detail so I´d like to spread some light.
First, Björns race in Wildflower might have looked somewhat impressive from the outside but the truth is that Björn was still recovering from strep-throat that he had gotten from travelling from Sweden 10 days prior. Needless to say, he wasn´t exactly up to par and he felt in his own words " sooo weak". I don´t know if anyone noticed but before Björns sub-par health caught up to him he grabbed a big lead on the bike and actually rode even with Larsen for the first 20 miles before succumbing. Before he got sick he was riding like a demon! I should know, I´m no slouch on the bike but sitting on his wheel in training for four hours in 42 km/h felt like motorpacing…
Björn hails from a swimbackground but ever since taking up triathlon he´s shown a superior talent for the bike. He actually rode the Swedish Cycling Champs TT two years in a row and finished the 50k TT averaging 48.2 km/h. This placed him as the best amateur, seventh overall and beaten only by six hardcore bike pro´s. Not bad for a swimmer turned triathlete being only 24…
Björns been racing mostly in Sweden due to financial reasons and wanting to finish his studies. He´s wom plenty of Swedish National Titles on both long, olympic and sprint (where he usually rides away from the draftpack by himself). He usually gets out of the water in front, hammers the bike and leaves me and the rest for a futile chase on the run.
Björn has just begun his international/professional career in the sport and the few times before that he´s raced international he´s done some rookiemistakes usually training to hard too close to the race or not getting the nutrition right. Or just having bad luck as in IM NZ where his seatpost clamp broke the night before the race and the alternate one placed the saddle in an awkward position. Despite sciatic pain running through his legs he still lead the race up to 150 k and at times actually putting time on everyone incl. Larsen
Well, about his position that seem to attract discussion. I don´t know why though as Björn is in a classical TT- position, sitting at the back using his hammies and glutes for supreme power. I´m more surprised to see Larsen sitting so far in front as a former (present?) roadie. Despite what Dan and others might think Björn is extremely aware about his position and his knowledge about biomechanics and poweroutput on the bike is really second to none. He sits really low and narrow creating a very aerodynamic position. He sits far back to generate more power and hi uses his glutes/hammies a lot. To focus on that he also uses Powerpedals (a pedal that only rotates one way creating leverage and power in the upstroke) and he has modified his shoes so that his cleats are fixed in the ball of the foot for more power. He favors a low cadence (70-80) and pushes a huge gear, 58-11. He focuses on sitting on his sittingbone instead of rotating his pelvis like many other triathletes. If someone did some testing on him they would see that his poweroutput is huge! Combine that with aerodynamics and you can see that this really can move
The guy is very very strong. When he´s healthy and fit he´ll be rising some eyebrowes. If you don´t believe me, take a ride with him or follow his next races at Utah Half-IM and Alcatraz. At 24 he´s the best triathlete you hardly ever heard of. Now he was sick and still outrode DeBoom, Brown, Lieto and Widoff.And, yeah. He can run too!
Incidently, Björn is a Swedish word meaning “bear” which the triathloncommunity in Sweden think is fitting for someone being really strong!
Thanks for reading