I am a newbie and find this forum a great platform to learn.

I recently bought a TT bike and I should say that my previous experience with any bike was so little.
I am an athletic person and a long distance runner, so I took the plunge and bought a TT bike.
I am preparing for a local duathlon (5K run, 30K bike, 5K run) and it will be my first race with this TT bike.

I have been practicing on TT bike and I find it scary to ride in aero position and I slow down. When I am on the bull horns I measured as much as 25mph, whereas on aero bars, I can barely go at 21mph. These are peak speeds that I measured with my speed sensor and not average speeds.

I also crashed twice in aero position trying to corner; I got airborne and ended up on the sidewalk with minor scratches and stuff.

- What is the best method of getting used to aero position?
- How is the cornering technique in aero position?
- Is there any rule of thumb or any correlation between speed and stability in aero position? i.e. slower speeds and less stability (wobbling etc)

Any response will be much appreciated.

Thanks all.

Sounds as if you are too low when you are on the spikes, body is just not used to pedaling in that position, and you are putting out way less watts. Your using different muscles in different ways, for the first time.

A lot of guys slap some bars on their road bikes, and end up going slower.

I ride my TT bike every other ride, it sucked at first, sore legs, back, hell I needed a chiropracter after every ride, but now. It feels great, and is noticibly faster over any given distance.

I wouldn't corner on the spikes, use the bullhorns.... how did you crash by going around a corner?

You are going to be less stable on the spikes, because you have almost no leverage, and becuase your Cg is farther forward over the front wheel, plus... your not used to riding the bike this way. Its like learning to ride all over again, kinda..

I had a skipping chain when i first built this thing, and it skipped under load, when I was on the spikes, and I almost wiped out, now I feel more confident, but it is still less control able.

Who cares about you.....how is the bike!?

Rhumb

it really could be a strength and felxibility issue. It takes a while to build strength in this position because you're using slightly different muscles. you're lower back and upper body also play a major part in riding a TT bike. It's weird actually because runners tend to aclimate quite quickly to the geometry of TT bikes.

It took me about 10 minutes to get used to my TT bike. I am incredably stable on the aero bars once I got my fit dialed in. I ride the TT bike at least once per week in the aero posistion. It is just time, for me it is maintaining the aero posistion for more than a few miles without adjusting.

BTW I run quite an agressive posistion.

Thanks for great responses so quickly. I appreciate it man.

There are minor scratches in the carbon handlebar, rear derailer and seat. I was so upset this is happening to my brand new bike.

Cheers.

If you arent stable, try and move the pads further apart. You will lose aeordynamics but your stability will be better and you can move them in once you are more comfortable.
As for the power, make sure(or have someone such as the LBS make sure) that your saddle height and fore/aft is correct. This makes a huge impact for power output on TT bikes.

Zero, that is a good idea I would never think about moving pads apart. I will try it in my next ride.
Thanks.

I have put over 2000 miles on my TT bike this year commuting to and from work.....my roadie sits in the garage gathering dust.....at first it takes 100 miles or so to get dialed in...and then you fly.

Um not necessarily. Wind tunnel tests have shown that narrower forearm placement may not be faster than a slightly wider one.

I've heard of that, It seems like most pros are still with the narrow forearm idea but in the TTT at the tour this year Liberty Seguros had some guys with pretty wide placement.

I know what you mean, what I was referring to was to open up the forearm rests as wide as they go (which with many aerobars is pretty wide) just to get that extra leverage for steering but still be in the rough aero position and then after hes comfortable with it, optimise the fit for speed. Not necessarily to the extreme of like dave z https://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...05-itt-zabr-63 , but still in to a comfortable width

One golden rule to live by on a TT bike. Don't raise off the saddle to accelerate when your hands are on the aero-bars, only on the bull-horns. I did this the first 30 seconds I had my bike and I crashed too. My TT bike is not as stable as my old road bike was by far. But I have to say I can't see riding anything else. Just give it time and make sure your not too stretched out.

Another good way of getting used to the position, is to run the bike for a few sessions on a trainer; you will have no stability to worry about, you can get comfortable with the position, and fine-tune it if needed (mostly seat height/angle/fore-aft pos). You'll also be able to put power in, and see how it feels. After a few hours on the trainer, go on the road; pick quiet, straight and smooth roads to start, and don't push too much until you're at ease with the handling. And yes, keep the cornering-on-the-bars for later...