T
Tim McNamara
Guest
Sonarrat <[email protected]> writes:
> in article [email protected]l, Tim McNamara at
> [email protected] wrote on 7/17/04 9:27 PM:
>
>> Sonarrat <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>> He said it makes him "rigid" which is true.
>>
>> Humm. Lots of people sit with relatively upright positions and are
>> not "rigid." It's more likely that the upright position is the
>> result of some rigidity in Hamilton's body (tight hamstrings, for
>> example) rather than the other way 'round.
>
> May be possible as well. My comments still apply, especially for a
> sport like cycling where the paragon is smoothness, refinement,
> elegance and one of the major players disregards all of them.
"Disregards" them? LOL. Have you had a look at some other riders?
Lance's position is nothing to write home about whether on his road
bike or his TT bike; neither is Virenque's. Indurain's position was
none too great either (he was less aerodynamic on his TT bike than his
road bike, according to the wind tunnel testing). How about Sean
Kelly, who had possibly the worst position of modern times? He won a
few races.
You can pontificate all you want about smoothness, refinement and
elegance but that's not what wins bike races. Getting to the finish
line first is what wins bike races; one's position on the bike merely
has to be good enough. The opinions of armchair experts counts for
less than nothing.
>>> But the main side effect of that problem is that he's not using
>>> all of his available musculature to a) produce energy and b)
>>> spread the load to minimize fatigue. Suppleness in motion is
>>> essential to any sport. Tyler also has horrible ITT form, though
>>> it certainly comes with plenty of power.
>>
>> He can kick any of our asses on a bike...
>
> Well of course he could. But how much better could he be if he
> could use his body properly?
I doubt much could be gained. This is a guy, after all, who has
worked for 10 years as a pro cyclist with some of the best advisors in
the world. If they though a difference could be had from changing his
position, his position would have been changed.
Sherwen's point, BTW, was not that Hamilton's position hampers his
performance. It was that Hamilton's position results in him falling
off the bike regularly (2002 Giro, 2003 Tour, 2004 Tour) and getting
injured.
> in article [email protected]l, Tim McNamara at
> [email protected] wrote on 7/17/04 9:27 PM:
>
>> Sonarrat <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>> He said it makes him "rigid" which is true.
>>
>> Humm. Lots of people sit with relatively upright positions and are
>> not "rigid." It's more likely that the upright position is the
>> result of some rigidity in Hamilton's body (tight hamstrings, for
>> example) rather than the other way 'round.
>
> May be possible as well. My comments still apply, especially for a
> sport like cycling where the paragon is smoothness, refinement,
> elegance and one of the major players disregards all of them.
"Disregards" them? LOL. Have you had a look at some other riders?
Lance's position is nothing to write home about whether on his road
bike or his TT bike; neither is Virenque's. Indurain's position was
none too great either (he was less aerodynamic on his TT bike than his
road bike, according to the wind tunnel testing). How about Sean
Kelly, who had possibly the worst position of modern times? He won a
few races.
You can pontificate all you want about smoothness, refinement and
elegance but that's not what wins bike races. Getting to the finish
line first is what wins bike races; one's position on the bike merely
has to be good enough. The opinions of armchair experts counts for
less than nothing.
>>> But the main side effect of that problem is that he's not using
>>> all of his available musculature to a) produce energy and b)
>>> spread the load to minimize fatigue. Suppleness in motion is
>>> essential to any sport. Tyler also has horrible ITT form, though
>>> it certainly comes with plenty of power.
>>
>> He can kick any of our asses on a bike...
>
> Well of course he could. But how much better could he be if he
> could use his body properly?
I doubt much could be gained. This is a guy, after all, who has
worked for 10 years as a pro cyclist with some of the best advisors in
the world. If they though a difference could be had from changing his
position, his position would have been changed.
Sherwen's point, BTW, was not that Hamilton's position hampers his
performance. It was that Hamilton's position results in him falling
off the bike regularly (2002 Giro, 2003 Tour, 2004 Tour) and getting
injured.
