TT position assistance

xntrickly said:

I've posted 4 videos seeking assistance with my TT bike setup. I provide the road bike position side and frontal and then the same view(s) for the TT bike. I am new to TT setup and would appreciate any feedback as I have tried to get the TT bike to be as similar as possible to the road bike.

thanks in advance.

youtube.comxntricklyOpen ↗

best of the New Year to all.

I'm no expert so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

The two main enemies in a TT are wind resistance and inefficient energy use. So to be the best you can be in a TT you need to have a set up that is the same as your road bike with less drag.

Performance fitness is extremely action activity velocity specific. Even the smallest change may compromise your performance.

I'd like to hear what the experts have to say.

I'd be trying to move my saddle forward and dropping the handle bars (appreciating there are rules on how forward a saddle can be) so as to maintain the same feel as much as possible as the road bike and have less frontal area… see what kind of times I can achieve.

By the way what sort of TTs are you taking about 40k, 25k or indoor stuff ?

edd said:

I'm no expert so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

The two main enemies in a TT are wind resistance and inefficient energy use. So to be the best you can be in a TT you need to have a set up that is the same as your road bike with less drag.

Performance fitness is extremely action activity velocity specific. Even the smallest change may compromise your performance.

I'd like to hear what the experts have to say.

I'd be trying to move my saddle forward and dropping the handle bars (appreciating there are rules on how forward a saddle can be) so as to maintain the same feel as much as possible as the road bike and have less frontal area… see what kind of times I can achieve.

By the way what sort of TTs are you taking about 40k, 25k or indoor stuff ?

Many thanks and best of the New Year to you.

My road position is 5cm behind the BB and that is the same for the TT bike. Height of the saddle is the same as well (69.5 cm) and I've got the bars as low as I can get them (using a +/- 30 Ritchey stem). I believe you are right about getting the bars lower but can only accomplish that by getting a P3C or something along those lines because the standover height is an inch less than this Trek frame... now I've just to got sell this to generate some moola for a P3C (anyone out there with a 51 frame they want to sell)!!

TT lengths will be varied according to stage races and State champs (everthing from 10 to 40 K) and I've been able to ride this position hard for 1.5 hours before things start to get sore (e.g. glutes and back).

best regards.

it would be nice if you wore a black skinsuit against the white wall so we could properly see the contours of your back. your back looks fairly horizontal and you look comfy on the bike. When you race make sure you are looking straight ahead dont look at the ground...

You have a big ball of fingers resting at the end of your bars. For me personally I think you should have your fingers underneath the bars and your wrist cocked forward so there is a smooth flow of air over your wrist. I think your bars should be the same width as your arm pads atm you look a bit like chicken with your arms facing inwards. Have a look at teh australian team pursuit team, brad wiggins, dave millar...there arms are parallel to each other.

besides the arm thing you look good. Some people just dont look as aero as others no matter what bike they ride the fact you ride a 51cm frame means you will always look more like a ball than an arrow when riding a tt. The trek is fine for tt's...I will have it if you dont want it :p

Agreed on all points and I had not considered the arm/hand thing and I can see where that would make a difference. I also agree that us midgets look "ball-ish" as opposed to slippery. I am likely going to sell this bike so as to finance a P3C because of the lower standover height (by my calculations it would allow for another inch drop of the arms).

many thanks for the fine suggestions.

dm69 said:

it would be nice if you wore a black skinsuit against the white wall so we could properly see the contours of your back. your back looks fairly horizontal and you look comfy on the bike. When you race make sure you are looking straight ahead dont look at the ground...

You have a big ball of fingers resting at the end of your bars. For me personally I think you should have your fingers underneath the bars and your wrist cocked forward so there is a smooth flow of air over your wrist. I think your bars should be the same width as your arm pads atm you look a bit like chicken with your arms facing inwards. Have a look at teh australian team pursuit team, brad wiggins, dave millar...there arms are parallel to each other.

besides the arm thing you look good. Some people just dont look as aero as others no matter what bike they ride the fact you ride a 51cm frame means you will always look more like a ball than an arrow when riding a tt. The trek is fine for tt's...I will have it if you dont want it :p

[font=Times New Roman]Not an expert either but have two thoughts.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]First, TT position is generally a trade between aerodynamics and pedaling “power”. For most general racers who spend little time training on the TT bike, the desire for pure aerodynamic gain can come at the expense of the loss of power due to the extreme position which recruits rarely trained muscles and pedaling inefficiency. So, the more you train on your TT bike, the lower (and smaller cup / frontal area) you can go. If you rarely train on the TT be careful about pushing to position to low.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Also, looking at your seating position, have you tried “rolling your pelvis” forward a little? It will slide you back on the seat a touch but will flatten back more.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]PS: Nice bikes[/font]

TBiking said:

[font=Times New Roman]Not an expert either but have two thoughts.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]First, TT position is generally a trade between aerodynamics and pedaling “power”. For most general racers who spend little time training on the TT bike, the desire for pure aerodynamic gain can come at the expense of the loss of power due to the extreme position which recruits rarely trained muscles and pedaling inefficiency. So, the more you train on your TT bike, the lower (and smaller cup / frontal area) you can go. If you rarely train on the TT be careful about pushing to position to low.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Also, looking at your seating position, have you tried “rolling your pelvis” forward a little? It will slide you back on the seat a touch but will flatten back more.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]PS: Nice bikes[/font]

Many thanks for the comments.

I may have to sell the TT bike because even with the +/- 30 stem I can't get the bars low enough to allow me to rotate as far forward as I can on the road bike. I do try to rotate and can do so nicely on the road bike (though it's not that visible in the video) but even though I have the saddle position the same on the TT bike I can't do it as well because of the bar height. I have pretty much decided to shop for a P3C because it's standover height is an inch lower thus allowing me to go in that direction...

Because I am new to TT positioning I started with a road position in the saddle area so that at least my legs would be similar whether on the TT bike or road bike and this has worked well because I can do 2-3 hour rides on the TT bike though my back does give me grief after a while (which I hope to have leave me with more practice as you advocate). Soon my 2.4 PT will be set up so that I can look at power in the different positions but wanted to start at this baseline because it was not too different from the road position.

Everyone's comments have been very helpful and I see that this will be a "process" especially in light of my pygmy build!!

best regards.

Hello!

Hello again!