Originally Posted by
Kevinative
then I see other riders like LA for instance in their time trial gear with a large bow in their backs, looking like their sitting right on the bottom of their sit bones. more aero but less powerful with flat back? is it more of a euro thing? seems like yoga on a bike. soft tissue? personally can't manage to even come close to a flat back pos without offsetting a decent bit to one side or other of the saddle, is this std?
Lance's position, at least on the time trial bike, was supposed to be the result of extensive wind tunnel testing. I don't know if the hump is a result of the testing or just part of his shape. It does seem to have grown a bit after his first retirement.
Whatever the cause, his back is higher than his shoulders, which puts that exaggerated crook in the neck.
Regarding offsetting to the side of the saddle, I've never felt compelled. Occasionally I find my parts hanging to one side or the other, but my skeleton is centered. Check your saddle angle. My Arione, which is almost flat as a 2x4, is dead horizontal. The deeply scooped Concor on my old bike is aimed down a bit, enough to take some pressure off the perineum but not so much as to cause that sliding off the front feeling.