http://www.flickr.com/photos/70516224@N00/3435442438/in/set-72157616673487332/
Well what do you think of my position? Training for an Ironman and did a stage race the weekend, this was Sunday morning’s 4mile TT
At least I cant be told my house is a mess, pictures aren’t hung straight etc. Am sure the grass in the back ground could be cut, but its not mine
The TT face is perfect… it doesn’t get much better than that
First off, if you stayed ON your bike your knees would not have those marks on them : )
Here’s your picture. I like the bike! Good position too, except your helmet does not match your kit. That’ll slow you down.
Doesn’t using a HED Clincher wheel and tubular Zipp wheel on the same bike result in some horrible matter/anti-matter reaction that is sure to destroy us all?
Thanks for the comments, good ST humour as always 
My 5year old nephew actually said to me if I had stabilisers on my bike like his I might stop falling off! Scars are from too many bike races, and roads are always wet in Ireland.
It is a 2009 Hed Jet Disc tubular, Conti GP 4000 tub on back 22mm and a 19mm Conti podium on front. Yes HED and ZIPP on the same bike, its so wrong it even breaks the laws of physics!
How did you feel at the end of the TT? If you could stand or didnt throw up, then you didnt go hard enough at the end. Slowtwitchers are ciritcal. 
Doesn’t using a HED Clincher wheel and tubular Zipp wheel on the same bike result in some horrible matter/anti-matter reaction that is sure to destroy us all?
Actually, they repel each other with sub-atomic quark particles. Quantum mechanics at work there! Very smart indeed. The rear wheel repels the front wheel and he gets free forward motion. I think he’s invented the first perpetual motion device! Must have to remove the front wheel when the bike is at rest or it would actually get lost.
I think this might be how Zipp got a negative drag wheel, they they just aren’t tell you there was a Hed front wheel used in the test!
http://www.flickr.com/...t-72157616673487332/
Well what do you think of my position? Training for an Ironman and did a stage race the weekend, this was Sunday morning’s 4mile TT
At least I cant be told my house is a mess, pictures aren’t hung straight etc. Am sure the grass in the back ground could be cut, but its not mine
For just a 4 mile TT, you should be able to go a LOT lower in front than what appears to be your IM position in that pic. The LOOK adjustable stem on the front of your rig should make that adjustment fairly easy…
Other than that, about the only thing I could “fault” is that it looks like your basebar might be tilted down slightly, and your tire choice could probably be a place to “gain” some speed as well.
Hmmm… wouldn’t you need to throw your saddle back… about 5cm to be TT legal? Imagine that if you did that, you could probably also drop your bars several inches.
well, depends, how did it work out for you, how did you stack up?
try ducking your head a little next time
Wow…you can tell from that picture that his tire choice will gain him speed? You can see the tire manufacturer from a picture like that?
OK…you win, I just reread his second post where he mentioned the tires…my bad!! : (
Yeah the bars may have slipped down a little. The Look stem is hard to keep tight. The position is for IM racing so good to hear it looks ok in that regard. Would go more aggressive if was a full time roadie.
I know this could open a whole new can or worms but Tom A. what tubs would you recommend? Know that the Podium on front isnt great, but the rear GP 400 would be solid enough.
The TT itself went well finished 22nd in feild of about 100, 40secs down on winner, a full time roadie.
is there no sun in ireland?
Like a good steak the sun is rare!!
Is your position legal for a bike race? Forgot what the angle is on your bike but looking at the position of your seat, it’s waaaay forward…
Quite possibly it isn’t, luckily no race official was checking. While races wouldn’t happen without the help of race officials they can sometimes take their jobs too literally
Yeah the bars may have slipped down a little. The Look stem is hard to keep tight. The position is for IM racing so good to hear it looks ok in that regard. Would go more aggressive if was a full time roadie.
Yes, my experience with a LOOK ergostem is that it takes a VERY high torque (as specified by LOOK - something like 100 N-m IIRC…but I may be wrong) to tighten those stem bolts properly. You aren’t going to be able to achieve that sort of torque with a typical hex key wrench…a proper torque wrench and hex bit are in order for that.
I know this could open a whole new can or worms but Tom A. what tubs would you recommend? Know that the Podium on front isnt great, but the rear GP 400 would be solid enough.
Well…the main issue with the Continental tubulars from a speed standpoint is that you’re automatically “hamstrung” with the butyl tubes inside of them. A given tubular tire with a latex tube inside can be ~10-15% lower Crr.
Secondly, what’s your “flat plan” for the IM? If it’s to take along a spare, then that means you won’t be gluing them as “tight” as is required for getting maximum speed out of them. This point alone is really why I wouldn’t recommend tubulars for a long course triathlete.
In any case, since you already have the tubular wheels, I’d recommend finding a tire with a latex tube sewn up inside that has a high TPI casing and some measure of “durability”. The Bontrager RXLPro and the Specialized S-Works Mondo tires are good candidates.
The TT itself went well finished 22nd in feild of about 100, 40secs down on winner, a full time roadie.
Just making the tire change above would’ve “saved” you ~15-20W of needed power just for overcoming extra rolling resistance by my rough calcs. That would have made you ~1.5 to 2 seconds per km faster (all else being equal)…or, over even such a short TT as 4 miles, ~10-13s faster. How far up the standings would that have placed you?
But…that’s assuming your tubulars are “glued tight” and your “flat plan” is just a can of sealant. If not, then you wouldn’t see as much savings…and again emphasizes why clincher construction is more appropriate for the long-course triathlete since they can easily get an “optimum” setup and still be able to change a tube on race day if required. Just my 2 centavos
http://www.flickr.com/...t-72157616673487332/
Well what do you think of my position? Training for an Ironman and did a stage race the weekend, this was Sunday morning’s 4mile TT
At least I cant be told my house is a mess, pictures aren’t hung straight etc. Am sure the grass in the back ground could be cut, but its not mine
For just a 4 mile TT, you should be able to go a LOT lower in front than what appears to be your IM position in that pic.
x2. He has a lot of helmet above the top of his back.
Rik
I don’t know. This rider here isn’t much lower and her result was pretty good. Should she go lower because her event is < 4:00?
There’s definitely a balance of aero and power, but my own experience is that for shorter durations (for me), higher is faster. Of course, the 2 big questions are 1) how much less aero (if at all) is going up, and 2) how much power is lost (if any) by going lower.
IME, power loss is directly related to intensity. I can ride at a 1/2 IM pace folded into a pretzel with little/no discomfort. I can’t ride at my 4 mile pace in that same position. What I’m getting at is I think it’s pretty individual, and I’m not sure I really agree with the ‘you should go lower because the event it shorter’ sentiment. It just seems a little more complex than that, and the fact that quite a few fast pursuiters (though certainly not all) chose more upright positions bears this out.
I don’t know. This rider here isn’t much lower and her result was pretty good. Should she go lower because her event is < 4:00?
There’s definitely a balance of aero and power, but my own experience is that for shorter durations (for me), higher is faster. Of course, the 2 big questions are 1) how much less aero (if at all) is going up, and 2) how much power is lost (if any) by going lower.
IME, power loss is directly related to intensity. I can ride at a 1/2 IM pace folded into a pretzel with little/no discomfort. I can’t ride at my 4 mile pace in that same position. What I’m getting at is I think it’s pretty individual, and I’m not sure I really agree with the ‘you should go lower because the event it shorter’ sentiment. It just seems a little more complex than that, and the fact that quite a few fast pursuiters (though certainly not all) chose more upright positions bears this out.
Good discussion. I think part of the track equation has to do not only with power output but with handling issues too.
In this case, while the pursuiter’s and the OP’s positions look superficially similar, if you level out the photos and draw a horizontal line touching the top of each of their backs, you will see that there is a pretty big difference between the two. The OP has a good 3 more inches of helmet exposed above the top of his back - that’s a lot of frontal area. Also the angle that his helmet tail makes with the back is different - probably a substantial increase in the “Cd” part of the equation.
I wholeheartedly agree with your point about folding yourself up in 1/2 IMs. I don’t know why people worry about “power loss” for longer events when they are pushing a low percentage of their FTP anyway.
Rik