The pics are a different camera angles, pedal positions, and inclines, going with what what we can see.
I’m going for
Pete Jacobs
Luke McKenzie
Rasmus Henning
Worst
Andreas Raelert
As a general comment. Many seem to be riding on the tip of the saddle. Surely they could get a better fit with a steeper seat angle and/or smaller bike.
They would still sit on the nose even if you moved the saddle further forward (*you’d need to preserve the cockpit length as well).
Why is that? I’ve found in just tinkering with my own bike over the years that my body will always end up in the same spot in relation to the BB as long as the saddle is near the right spot. Moving it back or forth may make me move when I first sit down but in the long hall just determins how much seat is under my ass.
What do you think is ‘wrong’ with his position? Not digging at you, just curious. I think his position is solid.
I think the same thing. The fact he can stay that narrow and aero and run fast is unreal. Frontal pictures, he looks like a 5’2 mouse to the wind. I think it’s impressive, and obviously (based on videos) BMC has had him in the wind tunnel.
Off those pictures, I think it’s really difficult - Crowie’s is better than it looks, Jacobs is kind of off kilter, I’m pretty sure Tissink’s position isn’t as straight up as it looks. Andi Boecherer (sp) COULD level his hands out though. I’ve seen that in other pictures…
Moving it back or forth may make me move when I first sit down but in the long hall just determins how much seat is under my ass.
The problem is that, there is no ass on the seat for these riders. When these athletes rotate down into the aero position, they want their junk off the front of the saddle vs sitting on it or rotating into more saddle.
Even though Tissink looks up in this pic I like his bc it makes it seem like you could run ok after biking that long in that position. Other then that a lot of them are fairly similar with Jacobs standing out a tad. Crowie has always seemed a tad crunched but I think that mostly has to do with leg position at the snapshot in time. I have always hated the Faris obtuse elbows I must say though.
I think the OP has acknowledged the different locations in the course, different times of day, different camera angles, different road inclines and the instant of taking the photo. I don’t think an instantaneous photo on-course is any representation of the “best” position. I honestly don’t think you can draw any conclusions from the photos…if you did you would think Crowie’s position is shit, despite the fact he posted the second fastest bike split amongst the top 20 or so finishers…and the ST approved positions (low in the front and a flat back) ignore the trade off between being low and power output, and ignore the front profile as wind moves in three dimensions, not two as per the ST guidelines…
Moving it back or forth may make me move when I first sit down but in the long hall just determins how much seat is under my ass.
The problem is that, there is no ass on the seat for these riders. When these athletes rotate down into the aero position, they want their junk off the front of the saddle vs sitting on it or rotating into more saddle.
That makes sense, so they move more to the position of comfort vs. efficency?
What do you think is ‘wrong’ with his position? Not digging at you, just curious. I think his position is solid.
Well first remember that this is all relative, cos we are talking about the top 15 Ironman finishers, so they can’t be bad…
However, out of the 15 he seems to have one of the largest back angles, vs horizontal.
In the pic his left leg is fully extended and I would say he is on the limit regarding leg extension and with his toe pointing downwards.
And he still has a few spacers in there so he has plenty of room to drop the front and either get his back flatter or let the seat down just a tad.
And like nearly all the others, he is riding off the tip of his seat.
compare with Jacobs who has about the flattest back angle and about the most seat under him from all the pics. Can’t comment on the seat height due to his pedal position in the pic.
I also think Daniel Fontana’s position is worth a mention
Tom Lowe’s seat looks…well, too Lowe
his heel is pretty low and the looks like a relatively acute knee angle… but i have been wrong before.
maybe a tad. Tom doesn’t seem to be worried about getting ‘Aero’. He’s got the twin towers under his bars
I don’t like that his base bar is tilted so far up. Yes, I know… He wants his extensions tilted up, and they can’t move independent of the base bar. If that’s the case, choose a different base/aero bar setup that can be moved independently. Problem solved. Time gained.
FWIW, it doesn’t quite look like he’s at the bottom of the pedal stroke yet. That could change things a little bit, but you’re right, he looks to be on the low side.
I don’t like that his base bar is tilted so far up. Yes, I know… He wants his extensions tilted up, and they can’t move independent of the base bar. If that’s the case, choose a different base/aero bar setup that can be moved independently. Problem solved. Time gained.
Agree that the base bar angled up isn’t optimal, but like you said, it’s a function of his bar choice. If he has to keep the Pro Missile bar, he could use ski-bends, allowing him to level out the base bar and keep his forearm angle the same.
