Urgent BikeFit Help

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi All,

So my race is coming up in 2 weeks and I am in a bit of trouble. During my last 4 long rides on my TT bike, I have been “bonking” in a sense. After 2 hours, my legs were just sore and the RPE was not aligned with the power output. 2 hours into the ride, my quads and hamstrings are feeling wonky/empty and in order to put out the required power, I really need to push myself mentally and physically it feels almost as if I am building lactic acid.

My power during these rides is supposed to be 205W, with my current FTP at 306W, weight 76kgs. I tend ride the 205W with 120-130bpm (depending on the time into the ride), with my maximal HR at 175bpm. But I am blowing myself up at 2 hours into the ride. I should be fairly fit, as I have ridden a lot of hours, distance during this year. (Let me know if you need more details, or just trust me that I am fit :slight_smile: ).

So my question is, can you look at my bikefit and position - perhaps there is something in here? Would you recommend going for a RetulFit this week (2 weeks prior to the race?), my previous fit was done with Shimano set and it never felt comfortable. I am a bit desperate, so your advice and help is highly appreciated.

Video link - https://vimeo.com/451048028

2

IMHO, you don’t have enough time to recalibrate to a new fit. Everything you posted does not point to a fit problem. You sound over trained to me. Might want to think about a long taper with only two weeks to go. “The rest might do you good.”

3

A few questions:
What is the race distance you have coming up?
How long have your long rides been prior to this issue? Have they all been on the TT bike as well?
How much of your trainer time is spent on the TT bike in the TT position?
How is the temp/humidity and hence your fluids and nutrition on these last few long rides?

I am no bike fit expert but there does not seem to be a huge amount wrong in the video you have posted. With that FTP and that target power on your “long” rides that seems more like a training related issue rather than a position related issue. Your target power is only 66-70% of FTP so must be really frustrating that it does not feel easy all day long…

4

I’m with the others that say this is not a fit problem. Sounds like you are either over trained, not properly fueled, or both.

Your fit would not cause this issue. That said, you need more reach with your fit.

5

IMHO, you don’t have enough time to recalibrate to a new fit. Everything you posted does not point to a fit problem. You sound over trained to me. Might want to think about a long taper with only two weeks to go. “The rest might do you good.”

Hi Jayjuno,

Thank you for your comments, I suspect that as well, hence I shortened the ride on the weekend, just when I felt bonking and went to rest. Same goes for the bikefit, I would not want to do anything drastic, but thought to myself it a 1cm, could help me feel better, would be great. But overall, I agree with you and I am considering the same things. Wanted to exlpore other options however :slight_smile:

Overall, I am feeling good. For example I can bonk on a long ride, however next day I have a planned 2 hour run and I quite comfortably cover 27+k during that run in Z2. And I am able to withstand the week as well. So it is quite an isolated problem, specifically related to the long rides.

6

A few questions:
What is the race distance you have coming up?
How long have your long rides been prior to this issue? Have they all been on the TT bike as well?
How much of your trainer time is spent on the TT bike in the TT position?
How is the temp/humidity and hence your fluids and nutrition on these last few long rides?

I am no bike fit expert but there does not seem to be a huge amount wrong in the video you have posted. With that FTP and that target power on your “long” rides that seems more like a training related issue rather than a position related issue. Your target power is only 66-70% of FTP so must be really frustrating that it does not feel easy all day long…

Hi Amnesia,

Thanks for the help out, please find answers below:

What is the race distance you have coming up?
If I am lucky - it will be Ironman Talinn on September 5th, so 180k.
How long have your long rides been prior to this issue? Have they all been on the TT bike as well?
Prior to the issue, I have had quite a few successful 3-4 hour rides on the TT bike
How much of your trainer time is spent on the TT bike in the TT position?
I have built all the base outside of the aerobars, as I did not have a fit done. Once I have done it, I have done around 60-70% of my time on bars in TT position.
How is the temp/humidity and hence your fluids and nutrition on these last few long rides?
*Have had fluctuations, been riding on a very hot rides, been riding on just humid rides and had some cold ones as well. My biggest concern is my fuelling and I am planning to recalculate what I put in myself, vs what comes out in terms of kcal, to understand it. *

And you are absolutely right, I have gone through frustration, anger, desperation to panic mode right now with the capability to ride long in the TT position. Hopefully the taper will help me out and the position is not as bad, as I started to blame it to be :slight_smile:

7

If your race does go, that will be one of the first ones that I’ve heard of (but that’s a different issue).

My max HR is 177 running and 166 biking. I rode 62 miles on Saturday with 3,200 ft of climbing (not a lot compared to many geographic areas). It was 70f starting and 94f when I stopped at 3:30 hours. I don’t have a power meter, so I only focus on HR (not the best I realize). I try to keep my HR around 130 (my average Saturday was 131) with some pushes on late mileage climb attacks (steepest was 10%-12%). I fueled with four 130 cal/30g carb energy bars and two 24oz electrolyte drinks during the ride.

If your quads a dying two hours into the ride, it does so like a fit issue - but like others have said, you don’t really have time to adjust to a fit change, and it’s not likely a 1cm change will be all that helpful.

Do you have a well-fitted road bike? If so, why not do a big taper these next two weeks and ride the road bike in the event? It may sound counter-intuitive, but a well-fitted road bike will likely be faster over an IM than an ill-fitted tri-bike that blows your legs in two hours. Your event on the tri sounds like two hours of being worried about what’s going to happen followed by six to eight hours of “What have I done???” Oh, and then you get to run a marathon afterwards.

8

A few questions:
What is the race distance you have coming up?
How long have your long rides been prior to this issue? Have they all been on the TT bike as well?
How much of your trainer time is spent on the TT bike in the TT position?
How is the temp/humidity and hence your fluids and nutrition on these last few long rides?

I am no bike fit expert but there does not seem to be a huge amount wrong in the video you have posted. With that FTP and that target power on your “long” rides that seems more like a training related issue rather than a position related issue. Your target power is only 66-70% of FTP so must be really frustrating that it does not feel easy all day long…

Hi Amnesia,

Thanks for the help out, please find answers below:

What is the race distance you have coming up?
If I am lucky - it will be Ironman Talinn on September 5th, so 180k.
How long have your long rides been prior to this issue? Have they all been on the TT bike as well?
Prior to the issue, I have had quite a few successful 3-4 hour rides on the TT bike
How much of your trainer time is spent on the TT bike in the TT position?
I have built all the base outside of the aerobars, as I did not have a fit done. Once I have done it, I have done around 60-70% of my time on bars in TT position.
How is the temp/humidity and hence your fluids and nutrition on these last few long rides?
*Have had fluctuations, been riding on a very hot rides, been riding on just humid rides and had some cold ones as well. My biggest concern is my fuelling and I am planning to recalculate what I put in myself, vs what comes out in terms of kcal, to understand it. *

And you are absolutely right, I have gone through frustration, anger, desperation to panic mode right now with the capability to ride long in the TT position. Hopefully the taper will help me out and the position is not as bad, as I started to blame it to be :slight_smile:

I can understand the anxiety you must be having at this point in time and I am surprised others have not chimed in re your fit and whether there are any concerns.
In terms of my own personal experience, if I have been struggling with some hamstring issues I have lowered the seat slightly…5-10mm and that seems to help. You sound like both your quads and hamstrings are playing up…for which I don’t have a clear answer sorry. For what it is worth, I peaked at 6 hour rides in my last IM build, all long rides were done on the TT bike (eventual 5:0X IM bike time).

Hydration and electrolytes are important, but that is an early time in the long rides to be running into serious issues, especially at that power.

I am presuming your power meter is reading correctly and appropriately calibrated?

Finally…I would still favour your TT bike over a roadie…you will generally always be faster…you may just need to take a more frequent stretch break and get up and out of aero and stretch things every 30 mins or so…do keep us up to date with how it all goes…