making my bike aero for 70.3 race (Page 2)

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Edited by tampafw 2010-09-30 8:21 AM

How close are the on course bottle exchanges?  I did Branson 70.3 just about 2 weeks ago.  I only touched one bottle, and I only took a bottle at every other aid station.  I'm definitely considering using the same setup for IM WI next fall.

Clincher tube? I use a very small seat bag for my clincher flat kit.
Tubular? I still use a bag under/behind my seat - just a bigger one that can hold a spare tubular.  FWIW, I only pack PittStop when I'm racing on my tubulars.  If I'm on my clinchers, I just change to the spare tube.

As for the "rear wing" - I'm not totally against those other than I believe much cheaper and better solutions are out there.  You don't need more than two bottles on your bike for HIM/IM - you already have the two bottles covered.  So then it just becomes a storage issue...  Why pay big $ for a fancy wing thing when a much simpler & cleaner seat-bag will do the trick? 

Just my $0.02 - you can keep the change

Cheers, Chris

depending on how boring today is at work, this post could certainly provide entertainment... so long as some other's are nibbling at the hook too...

but for now, I shall resist

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For HIM/IM, my downtube bottle is a 3-hour bottle of primary fuel - I nurse that one bottle over the course of an HIM, and for IM, I swap it at SN for a new one.

The other bottle (between my bars) is the one I continuously exchange on-course for water or koolade as required

Cheers, Chris

I'm not even sure the P2C has both... but, in general... DTube or Stube... there seems to be some disconnect as to which is better. I'm currently running my virtue on the ST (modified to sit "lower" in the triangle)

i got the bottle up front down.  so that means i can have 1 down tube 1 on bars.  this will work.

now where do i put a spare tube....and pit stop....


Shane:  in regards to your post I will be getting a new bike once that gets here i will be getting much lower.  i realize now how high i am sitting up.  i think that could generate some additional speed.







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Not sure how big a can of pit stop is... so this might not do it for you... in that case...

First, try to shove the can of pit stop up under the saddle (like... completely under it) and tape the tube to the saddle rails under the back...

if that doesn't work, try to reverse the order (shove the tube under the saddle and tape/zip tie the pit stop to the rails)

edit: oh yeah... don't use your nice bottle in the torpedo...

Edited by Leegoocrap 2010-10-04 6:44 AM

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you have a link?

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Edited by BrickLayer 2010-10-04 9:02 AM

If he's in the best position he can hold on this bike... I respectfully disagree. He should be looking at every available advantage.

That said, I run 16cm of drop Until I can find a deal on a LOOK Ergostem at least. So I do buy into the whole, "more the merrier" (to a point) drop analogy

Here's my spare kit solution for my P2......

Moot point   Also, I disagree as it is very possible to quite aero without a great deal of drop.  While many athletes will do well with more drop, there are also several examples of very aero positions with little saddle to pad drop.



Flexibility is not really an issue when it comes to getting lower in most cases.  Rather, the athlete's ability/desire to deal with the neck discomfort that usually comes with a position with more drop.

Having said that, I have a fair amount of drop as it seems to be what works for me and I am probably going to try going a bit lower over the winter (right now I'm somewhere between 16-18cm of drop).

Shane

got a picture of it from the back (or front)

that actually doesn't look too bad from the side

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Edited by BrickLayer 2010-10-04 9:39 AM

 

Edited by nc452010 2010-10-04 10:21 AM

there are definitely wayyy worse setups for the rear. That looks pretty good. I'd say if you replaced that saddle bag with the Specialized one (the super tiny one) you'd have a real winner.

of course work filter wins...can't see the photos here....i will review tonight.

i basically have a similar setup for the rear except my bag actually fits in the little wing...i guess i'll post close up.

If you are trying to stay 'within the generally accepted wide range of hip angles' then flexibility is almost never an issue.  If you have enough flexibility to bend over and touch your toes, you are flexible enough to ride a FIST approved position or ride a Cervelo/Felt etc with minimal spacers.

As gsmacleod said, it is a willingness to adapt (neck, back, taint) that keeps the majority of folks from not riding in an optimized aero position, not a lack of flexibility.

Try it, bend over and touch your toes. Now envision sticking some aerobars under there. Voila!  You look like Zabriskie...without the stache I hope.

Also, that wide range of hip angles you talk about is 97-102 degrees, at least from the most widely accepted school of TT bike fitting I know. Hardly a very wide range at all. Actually quite narrow.  The insighful part of using that range in my work after fitting 150 or so athletes is not what happens at the tight or low end of it, but moreso the open or high end of it.

What I mean is, being out of that range on either end will effect your ability to pedal. Most people have somewhat of an intrinsic understanding that if you bend over too far, you won't be able to pedal as well. This pleases them as bending over too far is somewhat uncomfortable.   However, the other end of that range also carries with it a similar degree of power loss when we come out of that specified of hip angles.  The problem is that various parts of the body feel better when we ride in a higher position so it is easy to ignore those subtle feelings of being more powerful that are also present.

Or to get a bit more specific, those feelings of comfort/discomfort will override and overwhelm those feelings of more power/ less power. Or a bit of neck/back/taint discomfort will immediately find us rasing those bars up, befeore we even have a chance to experience or become aware of those sensations of increased power. 

So once again, give it some time. You can ride low. It is faster. You will get used to it, somewhat. 16-18 cm of drop is not extreme for a 6 foot male riding a 80 degree seat tube angle. At 22cm, I would think there might be some power loss as the hip angle became pinched, though there might be an advantageous trade off to that reduced power of increased aerodynamics. THe net result could be greater speed.

 I would be more concerned if that 6 foot male at 80 degrees of seat tube angle was only running 8 cm of drop.  His hip angle would be too open. 105 degrees or so. Not making his best power there. AND his higher position would also be mostlikely less aero. Only advantage to this positon is neck and back comfort and those things will adapt.

One more point and I will end what has become somewhat of a rant. To once more illustrate what is meant by finding the proper hip angle. You can see it anywhere, anytime someone tries to ride a bike quickly. A road racer in a breakaway down in the drops, a mtn biker really pushing it up a hill, a TT rider in the aerobars, grandma racing grandpa on their comfort bikes to the end of the street, little kids racing BMX bikes.  Everyone does the same thing when they are looking to ride fast. They bend at the waist, searching for that optimal hip angle from which the primary cycling muscles of the leg work best. That's it.  Aero is a secondary concern in most situations.