There was the Lance style - back on saddle with a little bit of a humpback, aero bars close together. Then there is the triathlon style, body forward, cut the nose off your saddle. Both positions work, but I think the setback position will win in the long run because you can generate more power and accelerate out of corners better.
That’s one of things we always look at in the wind tunnel in drag number and watts. When you look at a climber, you can look at weight and power and come up with aspect ratio. You can do the same thing with the TT and look at power and aero position and come up with a ratio. That’s more of the work I’ve been doing since I started working with Lance, developing a way to allow people to know what kind of wind angle is hitting them when they are riding their bike.
What I see happening with this big influx of age groupers that are riding slow and buying aero equipment, with certain side winds their aero equipment is actually hurting them. That’s something the companies don’t want them to know.
" I think the setback position will win in the long run because you can generate more power and accelerate out of corners better. "
That’s the conclusion I came to this past weekend racing my new Kestrel Talon in a slacker 75/76ish position. Went faster than either my two previous steep tri bikes.
There was the Lance style - back on saddle with a little bit of a humpback, aero bars close together. Then there is the triathlon style, body forward, cut the nose off your saddle. Both positions work, but I think the setback position will win in the long run because you can generate more power and accelerate out of corners better.
Yes, accelerating out of corners is critical to triathletes.
Funny how all the top pro TTers are on the rivet, moving as far forward as they can within the UCI rules: Evans, Leipheimer, Cancellara, Millar, Popovych. Even Hincapie.
While your comment is somewhat true, I don’t think they are as forward as you think. All have their saddles mounted on the rear fitting on the post giving them the UCI required 5 cm’s, yet even though they are forward, they are not as forward as a tri set-up with the ost reversed, and still sitting on the rivet.
The forward position in tri’s is not purely for speed on the bike, but for speed on the run and hamstring “resting”
I would agree with that. First they are still restricted to the 5 cm BB rule. A really tall rider like Dave Z can be reasonably steep and still meet the rule but shorter riders can’t.
While your comment is somewhat true, I don’t think they are as forward as you think. All have their saddles mounted on the rear fitting on the post giving them the UCI required 5 cm’s, yet even though they are forward, they are not as forward as a tri set-up with the ost reversed, and still sitting on the rivet.
The forward position in tri’s is not purely for speed on the bike, but for speed on the run and hamstring “resting”
While they might not be as far forward as some triathletes, they are as far forward as they can be, which leads me to believe that they’d be even further forward if so allowed. I still think that Leipheimer and Landis had their 'bars pointed skyward because they ride so far forward as to bump against the 75cm UCI rule, not for purely aero reasons.
A what? I can’t run. Always BOP irregardless of what seat angle I’ve rode. Have noticed that hamstrings always feel better at the start when riding steep but the over all run time is still the same.
The forward position in tri’s is not purely for speed on the bike, but for speed on the run and hamstring “resting”
…in theory. I’m not fully convinced of this. Personally I ride in a steep position because I’m faster that way. The counter argument is that the steep position allows you to use your running muscles (by not using the hamstrings…ironic, I know) which triathletes spend a lot of time training.
In the end I think the tri set up was just a random experiment that seems to work for some. I remember reading a post on ST explaining why it was bad. One point that was made is that you find yourself constatly trying to slide back for more power. I don’t. I wish I could slide further forward.
"What I see happening with this big influx of age groupers that are riding slow and buying aero equipment, with certain side winds their aero equipment is actually hurting them. That’s something the companies don’t want them to know. "
… but that I know and you better pay me to tell you the truth.
Sounds like a bit of marketing for his wind tunnel camps, nothing to see here.
It seems to contradict the wind tunnel data developed by Zipp that was in Triathlete Magazine a couple of months ago. The article showed that a disc at 30deg. of yaw experienced less drag at 20mph and 30mph than a box rim or Zipp 808.
Or is Hed talking about other aero equipment? It’s vague. And inflammatory. And strange coming from a guy who sells aero equipment for a living. He is marketing the wind tunnel camps, but at a cost to his own business. Maybe.
While your comment is somewhat true, I don’t think they are as forward as you think. All have their saddles mounted on the rear fitting on the post giving them the UCI required 5 cm’s, yet even though they are forward, they are not as forward as a tri set-up with the ost reversed, and still sitting on the rivet.
The forward position in tri’s is not purely for speed on the bike, but for speed on the run and hamstring “resting”
Dude…please…quit posting this bs. They are too all forward.
