Originally Posted by
kleinboogie
Frontal area is critical. All of their chest/stomachs are parallel to the ground presenting a smaller area to the wind. Backs are all different based on genetics. Armstrong has the huge hump but if you look at his chest...totally parallel to the ground. They're also focusing more on the gap between their arms they're calling the box. Mine has a bus in it.
That was a temporary set up That LA used while he was trying out the Adamo. He later switched back to a Bontrager saddle and he wasn't even close to being parallel to the ground with his chest then. But I suspect he was trying to focus on making more power, like his 2005 set up.
And his 2009 set up at ToC was just awful IMO.
Anyways, to the OP - If it were me, I wouldn't go hands up unless I did a lot of testing. I put a fair amount of research into trying to figure out when a hands up position would work (body type, helmet shape, shoulder shape, back exposure, etc), looking at years of tunnel data. I also had quite a few discussions with John Cobb and even thought I had it figured out. So, Cobb and I tested it during a trip last year. Let's just say I've given up trying to predict positional drag based on someone elses results. You just don't know unless you go to the tunnel.
To quote Cobb:
" I’ve been working for over a year on how to know when to recommend to a rider that the “hands high” position might work. I’ve tested many riders of different shapes to develop a good working knowledge base, I still will say for certain, that if there is any doubt, keep the lower hand height because when high hands don’t work, they really, really don’t work. When high hands work however, they are faster by a bunch."