Miranda’s picture is taken from slightly above making her look more horizontal, whereas yours are taken from slightly below making you look more upright… honestly, taking all that into consideration you don’t look that different from her, horizontal-wise…
Looks like you still have some spacers or a +rise stem on there. Knowing Miranda’s coach, I can assure you she is riding a zero or -rise stem w/o spacers.
It’s hard to see her position properly - can you get her directly side on?
If I was to guess, I would say her saddle is too high, as her right foot in photo 1 appears to be toe-pointing. So you could lower the saddle and then get an adjustable stem to get her front end lower too. I think the bike may be a size too big for her but the new stem might help things. But let’s see a decent photo first.
Well you got the helmet right, other than that, it’s hard to really draw any meaningful conclusions given those pictures.
Your position doesn’t seem half bad, if you’re comfortable and powerful then focus your energy on making the most out of it.
Flipping the stem was suggested so I might try that. The HED bars I just got 2 weeks ago already turned me into a wuss going down anything steep. Feels like I’m going over the front without having the longer Easton basebar I used to have in first photo.
Perfect. From these pictures, it looks like you are pretty far on your way to getting nice and low. You could flip the stem over, but that might be too big a change all at once (in fact it might even be too low, if that is possible ). i would get a zero degree stem on there.
The feeling that you are about to go over the bars will go away as you ride more. Ride the hilliest terrain you are comfortable with, it will gradually feel better. For reals.
I actually had the same problem with trying to ride the Vision R-bends. Felt like I was going to come off the front of my bike every time I hit a bump.
I left them on my bike for a month but I just couldn’t get comfortable and went back to my original extensions.
It’s too bad … they looked totally badass Practically, I’m not sure how much of a difference it makes. Maybe I’ll try again this winter.
TGP, I’d go for it and try flipping the stem. Ride that way for a bit and see how it feels. You look pretty awesome to me, though!
honestly, you do look pretty good compared to most women’s positions out there. You could try going a bit lower, possibly just for shorter races but you might need to move you saddle foward a touch to achieve it without getting too stretched out and then it also depends on how much pressure you can handle on the saddle as the steeper the seat and the lower the front end get the more you need to rotate your hips foward, which based the on the girls I know, can be a bit uncomfortable…
what size stem is on there? Looks awfully short.
On the bars, if you’re talking about the HED pursuit grips by the brake levers, just give them time and you’ll get used to it. I thought I was going to die as well when I first got them (especially when in the first week i took the bike up this crazy switchbacked out of service road, three miles or so climbing to 1800 ft, 19% grades, oh god it was scary coming down!) but you adapt pretty quickly. After a while the HEDs just feel perfect and everything else just seems so large and unnescessary
You got the cool NEW pads for you bars! I want a set!
Looks pretty damn good to me, although I’m more fixated with Miranda’s bike split than her position.
You might be able to go a touch lower with a zero degree stem or flipping your current, but you have to be able to justify the drop against any possible loss in power, and whether your neck/lower back like being that low. I say try it and see what shakes down.