Ok guys and gals I need your help!
This has been brought up before but I am really starting to wonder about my aerodynamics on the bike. I have read other threads where in example Ric mentioned that he did a time trial on a regular road bike without any aero gear and put down 270-280 watts and was able to go 40kmph!?
Since the start of this year (my first year of training) I have increased my ftp to about 300 watts, I weigh 75kg and am 6'2". Now I ride a 60cm cannondale with the a Fizik aliente saddle about 10cm behind BB, top of handlebars are about 13cm below top of saddle on a 120cm stem. Well looking over my rides I have noticed that I dont spend much time over 25mph when at 300 watts 🙁 It actually seems that 300 watts puts me at about 24 mph on a good day. Now dont sue me but here is a dirty secret I have... I NEVER RODE IN THE DROPS! :eek: yep unless Im going down hill.
So the last couple of days I go out and ride and force myself to ride in the drops. And I mean where your forearm is 90 degress parrallel with the ground. Ouch. I feel all scrunched up! I dont know if this is a bike fit matter but my knees and elbows overlap by about 4-5cm. I slide back in the saddle to help strech out but it seems to hurt my pedaling and it actually felt better when I was riding almost on the nose of the saddle. Now I understand that you lose power at first when in a more aero position but it was more like my shins and quads were actually hurting a bit while pedaling like this. Is it from the more acute hip angle? It also seems that I have less muscle to work with when I am in this position, I guess that is why I always stayed in the hoods. Oh one more thing also even when I am in this position I am still not close to where my legs would hit my chest.
So my first question is should I slide the seat foward about and buy a longer stem with a more negative rise trying to get it parralel with the ground? I really had no issue with hand pain or pressure so I assume I can get away with this. Now the other problem I have is that the seatpost is almost at maximum extension, if I move the seat forward would I not also have to move it up? The post came standard with the bike and has a about Im guessing a 4-5cm setback. I can only slide the saddle about another cm foward on this post 😠
Second question, I was curious what numbers other are pulling down in relation to thier height? I mean according to analyticalcycling my frontal area on the hoods would be about .7
Thanks again for all your help guys! And a special thanks to andyC for the book! It brought me to this point where I wont be shamed when I go to my first race next week, at least I dont think I will 😕
Alex