I was looking at a photo gallery by Graham Watson from Paris-Nice today and was surprised at how some of the pros fit on their bikes. Their actual body positions were pretty standard but the bikes seemed way out of whack. To get into their positions most of them had a very short stem and still had their elbow pads on the aero bars half way up their forearms. Some of the bars were so short that they were probably ITU legal.
http://i40.tinypic.com/b3o8oz.jpg
Stem length doesn’t matter too much for handling on a tri bike. Also a lot of pro teams have the same size bikes so they can have everyone fit on the same frame they just need to switch up the components. Thats probably why the frame looks huge for him.
It’s most likely due to the fact that the nose of the saddle must be 5cm or more behind a vertical line passing through the BB and the end of the TT extensions can only go a small distance past a vertical line passing through the front axle (I can’t recall the exact measurement but it is does not much).
i think the forum concsensus is biased toward long distance events such as IM and half IM. Comfort plays an important role. For a 9.3km flat course power trumps. A runner racing a 100m race does not run like a runner in a marathon.
elbow pads on the forearm allows for better leverage and stability at high power outputs.
Most of them are being penalized for UCI guidlines that arbitrarily punish riders over 6 feet tall. It is almost impossible to arrive at your optimimum position within these rules. Given the opportunity, I think you would see top pros set up differently, and for sure more stretched out if they were allowed by the rules. Smaller riders seem to benefit from the “morphological exemptions” given to a few, of which certain teams seem to receive a lot more than others.
Steve,
I can’t seem to recall when the UCI changed the rules to the current. When you race at Cascade do you have to modify your position for the time trial? I’m sure that alot of us would love to see how your set up now.
Seth
Yeah, but you picked a bad example- this guy sits like Jan Ulrich. By contrast guys like Sanchez, Karpets, Wiggens, Millar looked perfect on thier bikes- they are in steep positions too- if you look, they are just using the front of their saddles.
I did have to modify my bike to ride the time trial at Cascade last summer. Thanks to the BMC team I was able to make the change (to a 70cm stem). For me, the biggest issue of non-compliance had to do with overall reach and extension of my bars over front wheel. This is why you will see bigger guys riding in positions that look like their bars have been cut too short, because in many cases they have. My fit corodinates can be found on my profile page and they are pretty close to UCI leagl, except that I am currently sitting 4cm behind b-b, not the required 5cm behind.
Fast or not…the Kaiser fit looks cool.
It’s most likely due to the fact that the nose of the saddle must be 5cm or more behind a vertical line passing through the BB and the end of the TT extensions can only go a small distance past a vertical line passing through the front axle (I can’t recall the exact measurement but it is does not much).
The bit your thinking of is to do with drop bars/pursuit bars. They have to be no further than 5cm beyond the front hub.
The UCI rules are crap for the time trialist/tri rider, especially if you’re over 6 foot. Here they are in full.
1.3.022
In competitions other than those covered by article
1.3.023, only the traditional type of handlebars (see
diagram “structure 1”) may be used. The point of
support for the hands must be positioned in an area
defined as follows: above, by the horizontal plane of
the point of support of the saddle (B); below, by the
horizontal line passing through the highest point of the
two wheels (these being of equal diameter) (C); at the
rear by the axis of the steerer tube (D) and at the front
by a vertical line passing through the front wheel
spindle with a 5 cm tolerance (see diagram “Structure
(1A)”). The distance referred to in point (A) is not
applicable to the bicycle of a rider who takes part in a
sprint, keirin or Olympic sprint race, but must not
exceed 10 cm in relation to the vertical line passing
through the front wheel spindle.
The brake controls attached to the handlebars shall
consist of two supports with levers. It must be possible
to operate the brakes by pulling on the levers with the
hands on the lever supports. Any extension to or
reconfiguration of the supports to enable an
alternative use is prohibited. A combined system of
brake and gear controls is authorised.
1.3.023
For road time trial competitions and the following track
events: individual and team pursuit, kilometre and
500m, a fixed extension in a horizontal position may
be added to the steering system. The distance
between the vertical line passing through the bottom
bracket axle and the extremity of the handlebar may
not exceed 75 cm, with the other limits set in article
1.3.022 (B,C,D) remaining unchanged. A support for
the elbows or forearms is permitted (see diagram
“Structure (1B)”).
For road time trial competitions, controls or levers
fixed to the handlebar extension may extend beyond
the 75 cm limit as long as they do not constitute a
change of use, particularly that of providing an
alternative hand position beyond the 75 cm mark.
For the track and road competitions covered by the
first paragraph, the distance of 75 cm may be
increased to 80 cm to the extent that this is required
for morphological reasons; “morphological reasons”
should be taken as meaning anything regarding the
size or length of the rider’s body parts. A rider who, for
this reason, considers that he needs to make use of a
distance between 75 and 80 cm must inform the
Commissaires’ Panel at the moment that he presents
his licence. In such cases the Commissaires’ Panel
may carry out the following test: ensuring that the
angle between the forearm and upper arm does not
exceed 120° when the rider is in a racing position.
So basically it’s saddle 5cm behind the BB, end of tribars no more than 75cm in front of BB, unless you qualify for the extra 5cm under the morphological exemption, bars no higher than saddle, bars no lower than top of tyre, and make sure they’re horizontal while you’re at it.
My track bike has a 57 top tube, with a 120mm stem. I’m limited to extensions of 10cm at most. They barely protrude beyond the pursuit bar.
I don’t know anyone who uses extensions that short.