In preparation for the off-season, I just did another bike fit, to reduce pressure on saddle and feet, as well as stabilize the hips on the saddle.
It’s not like my position was terribly uncomfortable or unstable before hand, but it makes sense to question the things you do.
I did this in the run up to a track aerotesting. It makes sense to have the bum and feet dialed, before tinkering with the cockpit.
Here are a few results:
My position was changed by:
Cleats were moved more outward (decreasing Q-factor)
saddle height decreased by 7mm
saddle moved forward by 17mm
saddle tilted from -1.8 to 5 degrees.
These changes were made to reduce saddle pressure (increase area on the saddle) and reduce footpressure (get the pressure Centre more towards the center of the foot)
Both have worked quite well.
Also, my knee angle was slightly decreased, which brings it back to sub 145 degrees (which the bike fitter deemed the upper limit for my bad flexibility).
Both have lead to decreased hip rotation, which is nice, too.
This can also be seen in the red curve of my pedal stroke. There was this small dip right before the peak, which indicates a rotation in the hip;
These are before and after pictures of the position, with the maximum UCI legal extension of the cockpit and 65mm saddle behind the BB (so 15mm to play with here).
Annoyingly my head isn’t in the same position in these pictures, so hard to see.
Aero testing next to measure what this really did.
The first ride felt good. Definitely more bum on the saddle.
The tilted saddle still feels a little weird, but I’ll try getting used to it. It is sticky enough to not have me sliding.
Here are the after pictures with the helmet. Especially the frontal position looks great with the POC. Mind this is not a best possible position, but a position in which I can see the road ahead pretty well. I rode each position for 2 minutes at sweetspot and 30 seconds at threshold to guarantee these are work are under load.
The pedal one is on me.
I had set up the pedals a little too close to the crank arm before and scratched my shoes. I then reset the cleats to avoid this and didn’t do it properly, so they were a little wide and a little uneven.
The saddle changes are one leading to another. The goals were:
less hip movement
less pressure on the saddle
The first was achieved by decreeing the knee angle to have me not need to rotate the hips down for the 6 o‘clock position on the right, but also by adding more stability on the saddle.
I sat very far on the front before, but to have me sit more back, but still get support, I needed the added tilt.
Post fitting power seems fine. Only did sweetspot so far, so no conclusive power test or anything.
Looks great! I’ve also been hard at work with changes. I will detail things shortly but I also picked up a met drone, new skin suit, changed my saddle, and a different front end to conform to UCI standards.
I will be at the wind tunnel in January to dial everything in. Im very excited!
Yeah, the true test is the track/ wind tunnel to see how slippery it is (or can be made) and then of course the roads, to see how fast I can go (aero + power).
Sounds good.
Idk what you have done before, but I always recommend track first (for bigger adjustments) and then tunnel second (for minor tweaks or equipment choice).
Right on. Unfortunately I won’t have any track sessions before but I will dial in what appears aero and sustainable before the tunnel. My speed concept doesn’t have too much room for easy adjustment so just planning to try some minor things in the tunnel with a focus on suits and helmets.
What was you cda when you were in the tunnel? And what is realistic number to shoot for?
Thanks and your very slippery for 190cm! Hopefully I can be around that number at 172cm and 150lbs. I will post a couple final fit shots before I go to get some last minute opinions.
I am pretty close to that figure, too. So I am more of a worm-like creature
Some of the aeroness might stem from that. But I am trying to get some quality mass on this winter.
Some solid changes there @Aeroiseverything . We are very similar in height/weight/cda, too.
I got quite a few updates for next race season including:
1x Chainring
Speedplay Aero Pedals
Rule28 Overshoes
a Trainer (I hope this leads to the biggest improvements )
Revolver Troika TMD Frontwheel
Hope I can do some track testing before the regional (Bavarian) championships to see if I can go down below 0.21cdA which is the goal for now.
Are you participating in any TTs in the middle/south Germany region @Aeroiseverything next year?
Hi there, very interesting and very nice bike you got there
A 1x chainring can be an upgrade, but isn’t necessarily one, when it forces you to cross chain or pedal at an unnatural cadence. When done/applied correctly, it can save a few watts here and there.
Speedplay Pedals - in case you can do with a narrow q-factor, buy the old „Speedplay“ ones, not the new Wahoo ones. The new ones come with a long spindle and the old ones with a narrower one. The narrower one will be a tad more aero and also makes me more comfy. I ride normal Speedplay short spindle pedals all year round and the aero ones just for racing. The dual entry is just too comy.
Overshoes - definitely a solid choice. If you are not planning on participating in UCI-sanctioned events, CTT ones are great. NoPinz is a great choice also, the long ones go all the way up to my patella.
A Trainer - a smart trainer or a coach? Either way, loads of improvements to be had.
Front Wheel - I literally like anything better than the CLX64. The Troika MAX (TMD is a prototype version of the MAX) is a very solid choice. I can also recommend the 2020/21 DTSwiss/Swissside 80mm wheel. Super stable in windy conditions.
Not planning on anything in Southern Germany really - my A+ event for next season are the „Northern German Championships“, so the opposite end of the country. When I go to the Alps, I bring the climbing bike, not the TT bike
I am fairly new to the TT game and am looking for races as well. Not owning a UCI compliant bike but a full blown tri bomber I am especially interested in non-sanctioned events. A first search on the web came up blank. Do you know any such events in Germany (preferred the South)?
Few events are actually UCI-sanctioned, especially not for the „jedermann“.
Rad am Ring is a very famous one (although it’s not really in the south). Then Riderman has a TT Prolog.
I already got all those things, its a “what I have done” list, not a “what I want to do” list
And yes, a coach…thats the better english word.
Most of the TTs I do are according to UCI regulations, therefore I went with the UCI-Version of the Rule28 Overshoes.
There is a “Northern German Championship”? We only have our state championships here as far as I know.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a weird way of wording it. “Northern Germany” in this case excludes Lower Saxony (as the biggest of those states). The other states (Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg Vorpommern) are all too small by themselves to find enough potential contestants, so they have put this together.
Bigger states (Hessen, NRW, Bavaria, BW, Lower Saxony) all Have state champs
I live a little north of Munich, so most races I know are in Bavaria/Northern Austria. Non UCI-Events that I participated in are the “Contre la Monte” close to Bayreuth and the “Vita Club Race” at the Salzburgring in Austria. I can recommend both.
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) Thanks