Time trial bike fit

"Kjell Arne Olsen" <ellaguru@your clothesstart.no> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I got plenty of good fitting advice a little more than a year ago
(http://groups.google.no/groups?hl=no&lr=&threadm=sqfa1053deun5t6v63has10se0asv3aktn%404ax.com&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dfit%2Bauthor:Kjell%2Bauthor:Arne%2Bauthor:Olsen%26hl%3Dno%26lr%3D%26selm%3Dsqfa1053deun5t6v63has10se0asv3aktn%25404ax.com%26rnum%3D3),
Advice given when speaking to other riders varies quite a lot, and
googling gives advice primary for triathletes. My main concern is
whether my forearms is low enough relative to saddle heigth. With the
CAAD3 frame with the "old style" headset I can get the aerobars barely
lower than the saddle height, and the only option is getting another
stem, maybe lowering the bars a cm or two.

I tried doing the same thing with the same bike and had the same problem.
You could possibly try finding a quill ergo stem. You might be able to get
a MTB stem to work as well, but the handlebar diameter is an issue.

Eventually I gave up and bought a real TT frame.

-Andy B.

If you get a Look Ergostem you can position the bars well below the top of
the headset. I've seen riders at track meets who have used this stem to
position the bars up to 10cm or so below the headset.

Nick

"Kjell Arne Olsen" <ellaguru@your clothesstart.no> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[snip]...

Advice given when speaking to other riders varies quite a lot, and
googling gives advice primary for triathletes. My main concern is
whether my forearms is low enough relative to saddle heigth. With the
CAAD3 frame with the "old style" headset I can get the aerobars barely
lower than the saddle height, and the only option is getting another
stem, maybe lowering the bars a cm or two.

A rather vague question, but is it possible to get fitted on frame the
same size as my regular road frame, or do I need a smaller frame?
FWIW, I am 172 cm tall (5'7"😉 with relatively short legs. Or, if it's
difficult to answer such a question without seeing me on the bike, I
would appreciate pointers to good, general advice on bike fitting for
(short) time trials.

Nick Payne said:

If you get a Look Ergostem you can position the bars well below the top of
the headset. I've seen riders at track meets who have used this stem to
position the bars up to 10cm or so below the headset.

I had to look around a bit to find the quill version of the Look ergo
stem, but it seems to be the way go, so I've ordered one. Thanks to
both Andy and Nick!

Cheers,
Kjell Arne

--
http://www.brumunddal-sk.idrett.no/
Remove your clothes if you want to answer by e-mail!

Kjell Arne Olsen wrote:
<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

A rather vague question, but is it possible to get fitted on frame the
same size as my regular road frame, or do I need a smaller frame?
FWIW, I am 172 cm tall (5'7"😉 with relatively short legs. Or, if it's
difficult to answer such a question without seeing me on the bike, I
would appreciate pointers to good, general advice on bike fitting for
(short) time trials.

Cheers,
Kjell Arne, Norway

I think that you may find your answers on one of Dan
Empfield's pages:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/bikefit.html

Sorry that its a tri site but TT people seem less able to
communicate such info. The aero-critical needs seem to
be similar (for tri and TT) as do the resulting geometry
and positioning.

I find that once setup his way that my back is horizontal
which would seem to reduce drag, and I can comfortably
ride the aerobars for hours. This required little
build-up or acclimatization.

Some points I think that D.E. makes of interest to you:
1. You may be able to get other aerobars which will lower
the pads quite a bit.

2. A more forward position may be appropriate to help
support higher cadence and get more aero. As you move
forward you will raise the seat to maintain the same
distance to the bottom of the crank travel, this will
relieve some of the need for drop to the bar pads.

Move forward with a special seatpost if the seat rails
don't give enough. Each cm forward is about a degree.
Your frame puts you somewhere around 74 degrees
depending on your seatpost and seat mounting position.
(I ride on the seat-nose at about 80 degrees on the flat
but I'll slide back on the seat when I climb sometimes.)

3. If you stay in a slack seat position, you may want/need
a shortie aerobar for comfortable fit. In contrast,
moving forward will shorten the cockpit to help you
fit with full size aerobars.

A point which I may have also picked up from him is that
some aerobars put the pad behind the base bar (examples:
profile aerolite, syntace streamliner). This helps
shorten the cockpit.

I bought a 58cm Quintana Roo tri frame even though I ride
a couple of 56cm road frames thinking that they may be
small (I'm 6', 33" inseam). To fit the Roo I moved
forward even more with a Control Tech seatpost, the seat's
pretty far forward, my aerobar is the profile aerolite and
I've swapped stems down to 75 mm.

I'm guessing you're feeling the need to shorten the cockpit
when you mention a smaller frame. I hope something here
helps.

Ed

Mark Hickey said:

Ed Cory said:

I bought a 58cm Quintana Roo tri frame even though I ride
a couple of 56cm road frames thinking that they may be
small (I'm 6', 33" inseam).

Doesn't QR measure their frames to the top of the seat tube (ala
TREK)? That makes the "size" quite meaningless in comparison with
other frames measured c-c or c-top.

Yes, it looks like you're right, it is 58 cm to the top of the
seat tube.

The top tube on mine is about 56 cm. Looking now at current
Trek 1500 and Specialized Allez specs online it looks like mine
would more closely match what both of those brands call 56 cm.

It looks like I'm just lucky my fit wasn't worse.
That's the risk I took ebay-buying an unused QR frame for $60.
(its a pre-ABP closeout)

Quoted message said:

One thing I've noticed is that while most of the QR TT bikes are
designed to allow the possibiility of a very low position, they
normally come shipped (and ridden) with lots o' spacers and a riser
stem to get the bars back up where they'd be on any other bike.
Nothing "wrong" with that, and it's cool to have the option for a very
low position, but most mortals simply end up riding with the bars a
little higher than a Europro.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Maybe the setup they're shipped with assumes that the new owner
will "work into" lower positions?

I'm down to 20mm of spacer under a rather long stem clamp portion,
with no stem rise. I'm moderately flexible but at 52 its gotta
be the steep position that lets me tolerate this overall position.

Ed

Ed Cory said:

I think that you may find your answers on one of Dan
Empfield's pages:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/bikefit.html

Thanks, this was a good one!

Quoted message said:

Sorry that its a tri site but TT people seem less able to
communicate such info. The aero-critical needs seem to
be similar (for tri and TT) as do the resulting geometry
and positioning.

Yes, even though he mentions differences between road racing and
triathlons in the last part of the article (recruitment of fast vs
slow twitch muscle fibers during the race).

I learnt a lot from it, and still think I can get a good fit&position
with a Look ergo stem.

Cheers,
Kjell Arne

--
http://www.brumunddal-sk.idrett.no/
Remove your clothes if you want to answer by e-mail!