Just wondering what all of the arm chair critics thought about the position in these pictures. I already have some ideas, but you never know what a fresh set of eyes will uncover.
Ok, I’ve never been to fit school, and I don’t even know what I look like in such a profile shot.
Nonetheless speaking as someone with no credibility on the subject;
Leg extension looks good
Shoulder position looks good
your arm rest pads seem high and your hands seem low, I’d pivot/rotate the bars upward relative to the base bar and maybe remove 1cm from below the stem.
As stable and comfortable as you look, you are pretty upright.
ok, that’s all, seems like puting 2 minutes on your rivals would warrant no change.
Good Job!
-SD
Wow, super good power position. Perhaps designed around the pedal stroke.
Could be a trifle lower I suggest. Overall though, quite sporting. The bike fits the rider very nicely.
Where to begin…
b
"Mike Plumb quickly took the lead once on his bike and gained over 2 minutes on his competitors. "
Yeah, your position sucks… 
What’s up with the running shoes?
forget his position. did anyone notice his amazing legs? i’ve never seen legs like that on any triathlete. amazing!
It looks on the pictures like the person is generating good power. But their torso seems more in an upward position. Maybe a little better upper torso flexiblity to make the body position more aero.
Answer: Mike would still kick but
He is fast
.
Mr. Plumb,
I’m not going to comment on your position in these pictures. Not because I’m unqualified, and not because you’re position is perfect. But because I believe these pics are from the club race this past saturday. Which you won. In which you totally kicked my ass. What, are you looking to make people look foolish?!? Might I suggest that in the furure you sit up striaght and run in heels? Come on, give a brotha a chance!!
Seriously, nice race. BTW, I don’t know if you remember, but after T-2 a minivan kinda blocked you into the shoulder and you raised your hands in frustration. Well, I was right there on the bike and about 10 seconds later the van forced me in the sand on my bike. Good times. Anyway, nice race, I’m looking forward to the splits to be posted. Finishing times don’t matter, bike splits do!!! Right? Right???
Pooks
forget his position. did anyone notice his amazing legs? i’ve never seen legs like that on any triathlete. amazing!
hee, hee.
I met your doggie.
What’s up with the running shoes?
It was a 2.1/16.4/2.1 duathlon that Mike won by about a week. He needed every extra second in transition…
First of all, sorry if I blew up anyone’s screen with those oversized photo’s. I tried to make them smaller but just couldn’t get it to work so I gave up on it for now.
Now to respond to all:
Super Dave: for someone who professes not to know anything about positioning, you hit the nail right on the head about a couple of things. The bars can be lowered as much as 1.5 cm, that’s how much there is in spacers beneath the stem. The pads do seem high in relation to hand position. My mistake there was in putting the bars parallel to the ground when they should have in fact been put in a position where the hands are level with the pads so that the forearms are parallel to the ground. I agree with your thought to rotate and lower the bars 1cm.
Tom: you’re right, this is strictly a power position, not necessarily one for long term comfort. The position is based on my strengths and power output.
Rip: yes, the position does look kind of upright and yes, I can still generate some serious power output even in this terrible position
Yeah, it was just a club race, but keep in mind that in this area, a local race can end up being more competitive that the USAT National Championships for my age group. The last time I went to Nationals two years ago, 11 of the top 20 Masters were from within an 80 mile radius of here.
The time does compare favorably with time trial results at Fiesta Island, I had just under a 25mph average on what is a terrible road now, full of ruts. One difference though, they don’t have to run before or after, so let’s compare apples to apples.
As for trichickie being easily impressed? Who cares, she’s a tri chick, she was impressed, that’s all that matters
QRooster: I hate the platform pedals and do feel like they cost me some time, but… In this race, there is a bonus given for having the fastest transitions. Being older (43) having to compete against the young studs, I need all the help I can get sometimes so I figured I would take a shot at the bonus in case I needed it. Turns out I didn’t need it. Also, I was 35 seconds down coming in after the first run, and left the transition dead even with the first runner due to a much faster transition, so I got a bonus anyways in that I wiped out his lead before we even got on the bikes.
Firluv: you are close on your prognosis also. Not so much upper torso flexibility though. I think more lower back and hamstring flexibility is needed.
Bobo: where’s my friggin Briko helmet!!
Gary: thanks!! My question to you, and you can answer me back channel if you want, do you think Rotor Cranks would have cut another two minutes or so off this time?
Julian: luckily no one will get that, location joke, you had to be there
Pooks: yeah, I remember that van. It was just driving around the island endlessly. I recall only seeing it once during the race, but I saw it another two times afterwards. Correct also, they are from the club race yesterday, I had Andy Seitz send them to me. Photo credit should appropriately go to Andy, which BTW was great to see him up and around after the terrible bike accident he had two weeks ago.
Thanks all for the comments. A bit of an awakening.
Gary: thanks!! My question to you, and you can answer me back channel if you want, do you think Rotor Cranks would have cut another two minutes or so off this time?
2.1/16.4/2.1 duathlon?
no 2 minute gain … but you could expect 60 seconds cut off the bike split, no kidding!
When my training picks back up next month I expect to break into the 28’s on that course (20k TT), about a minute of that is owed to the addl. leverage/power and lower lactate threshold I get from the Rotors.
“My mistake there was in putting the pars parallel to the ground when they should have in fact been put in a position where the hands are level with the pads so that the forearms are parallel to the ground. I agree with your thought to rotate and lower the bars 1cm.”
Do what works, make sure you do plenty of trials either with a HRM/Watt plot or repeated TTs on a easily duplicated course.
I blew it last year dropping my front end 2cm and rotating the bars a bit downward in a very short prologue race looking for a more aero position. At 45-50 kph for 10 minutes I figured I could tolerate the position and the little bit of added aerodynamics would help at the higher speed. At the course’s turn, I could barely stand to accelerate the bike and never recovered any speed. Stupid mistake, 2cm cost me 3 places.
-SD
" Correct also, they are from the club race yesterday, I had Andy Seitz send them to me. Photo credit should appropriately go to Andy, which BTW was great to see him up and around after the terrible bike accident he had two weeks ago."
Amen to that. I was worried his tri life was done after that wreck. Sounds like he’ll be up and running in relatively no time. I hope so. I like having guys to look up to.
I see you finally decided to live up to the name…
Dude, forget about the position. You need to replace that bike. Its so. . .90’s. C’mon now. . .ROUND TUBES!!! Hed CX!!! You’ve got it ALL wrong!!! Heck, that jalopy must weigh over 18 lbs!!! Everyone here KNOWS you would be faster on a new bike!
nice disc
.
I’m just glad that someone looks like I do on the bike. I ride in a very similar position (I’m 6’3 though) and know that this was I can load on the power even though aerodynamically most of you guys would probably rip my position apart. it just goes to underline the old rule of ‘don’t lose a watt of power for a lb of drag’
Be careful about lowering the bars especially if you bend at the waist and not roll the pelvis too severely as when I tried this last year my power turned to crap. Also note that some of the best TT’ers Millar, Armstrong and Indurain all rode with a high front end. lets face it, Zack isn’t exactly slow is he…