I know that he just won the TT and everything, but seriously, what’s up with Levi’s TT position? It seems to me that they took him into the wind tunnel and did the best with what they had to work with, but don’t you feel that he would be better off with his elbows lower? It appears that he would truly benefit from a 650-wheeled bike that would have a lower head tube thus enabling him to lower his elbows. I feel that this whole “rolling the shoulders forward and bringing the hands up” is not a choice but rather a necessity brought about by Trek’s bike.
treks new equinox TTX is really a pretty darned good bike. it is not that different than cervelo’s geometry, in particular their non-P3C geometry (the other bikes have geometries that are close, but different, than the P3C).
levi could get lower on that bike if he wanted to without going to 650c. but trek is sort of shut out of a lot of the women’s market with that bike because of its lack of 650c in the extra small size.
I don’t know. I ride a similar hand position as Levi (not as extreme, but with higher hands) and it is really comfortable, and at least ‘feels’ fast. The position is more akin to a downhill skiier (I was one in a former life) than some of the 90deg angles from a FIST standpoint.
while I’m not going to take screenshots and measurements, Levi’s bike always looks too large; but he seems get by with it.
/the sarcasm that ends this statement brought to you by peanut odwalla bars and an orange.
while I’m not going to take screenshots and measurements, Levi’s bike always looks too large; but he seems get by with it.
I think that Levi rides extremely steep, like Floyd, so he needs a bike that appears to big in order to get the top-tube length he desires. A lot of the other "funny" stuff with hands, etc. is from the windtunnel. No FIST fitter, unless they are taking you to the windtunnel, can tell you if that is faster or not, so you'd never get put in that sort of position, just because it is not universally faster. It works for Floyd and for Levi (and DZ, until the UCI made him change it), and I suspect there is some value. But I think it is not as simple as putting your hands in front of your face (though it may be). It's too bad the UCI cracked down on it, though I liked seeing how Levi worked around their new rules...
I know that he just won the TT and everything, but seriously, what’s up with Levi’s TT position? It seems to me that they took him into the wind tunnel and did the best with what they had to work with, but don’t you feel that he would be better off with his elbows lower? It appears that he would truly benefit from a 650-wheeled bike that would have a lower head tube thus enabling him to lower his elbows. I feel that this whole “rolling the shoulders forward and bringing the hands up” is not a choice but rather a necessity brought about by Trek’s bike.
I don’t think it’s because of the bike. I’ve adopted a similar hand position and it was done for the following reasons:
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On me, it tested out to be lower drag as compared to forearms level. YMMV.
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It’s more comfortable (to me) and I feel like I have better “leverage” for popping up small rises and such…especially when riding “steep” (i.e. “tipping it”)
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It keeps the tips of my bars <75 cm forward of the BB. This is hard to do when riding “steep”. I’m not bound by UCI rules on my position, but I like knowing I’d be OK if they eventually are applied to more USCF events.
Here’s my take on it:
http://www.photoscene.com/...0070611/IMG_2177.JPG
I’m no FIST expert by any stretch of the imagination, but IIRC, arm and hand position are pretty much left to the rider preference when fitting to that protocol, aren’t they?
BTW, I’ve found that raising my hands above my elbows actually LOWERS my elbows and shoulders as compared to where they’d be with my forearms “level”.
Thought this was interesting. It was on Velosnooze.
We have been finding that some riders (Levi included) shoulders keep getting narrower as their elbows come together. Narrowing the shoulders makes a big impact on the drag numbers as you can imagine.
The arms up tuck position allows for more comfort when squeezing the elbows together and if your arms are short enough, you can tuck your face into your hands to make it even faster. In any case, there are many riders whose shoulders do not get narrower as elbows come together and in fact there are some whose shoulders get wider as their elbows come together which is why the Levi position only works for only a few people. In addition to this there are some people whose chest gets squeezed too much to allow for the Levi position as breathing capability is diminished.
Christopher “Dino” Edin
Hed Cycling Products
…It works for Floyd and for Levi (and DZ, until the UCI made him change it), and I suspect there is some value.
Don’t forget Fabian and me! 
…It’s too bad the UCI cracked down on it, though I liked seeing how Levi worked around their new rules…
What? Do you mean just make sure the extension are “horizontal” where they attach to the base bar? I’m still trying to figure out the UCI’s “logic” in that whole thing…cracks me up though 
All UCI did was forbid the aerobars to be higher than the seat post, I think.
The rule has always been that the aerobars tips must be below the line of the saddle. The rule they passed right prior to the Tour was really wordy and hard to understand.
The rule has always been that the aerobars tips must be below the line of the saddle. The rule they passed right prior to the Tour was really wordy and hard to understand.
They didn’t “pass” a rule (no rule changes were made), they merely “clarified” the rules…in a very confusing and ham-handed way IMHO.
…and when it was all said and done, it appears to me that what they really wanted to ensure was that the portion of the aerobar extensions that meets up with the basebar was horizontal. Why? Your guess is as good as mine…