Frunkin

That Brian Kaker is such a stud.

Anyways it looks like your bars are too high. Yours mount to the top of the bars making them even higher. I would try a shorter -17 degree stem or something like that. Also training on them every once in a while is important too.

broerie

recursive

Training on the bars is just to make sure you're not losing power, right? I think I actually set a personal record for the duration of the TT for average power, so I don't think that was the issue. I'll try to get photos today.

recursive

I got pics!

So yeah, maybe a little high on the front end.

Edit: Hah, not sure how that one got sideways. Looked ok before the uploader resized it.

recursive

Come on guys. I got the photos. Somebody tell me something.

Racer Ex 

Head is up too high and I'd try sliding your seat forward a bit. The seat also looks quite low.

If you want to look at my position, I posted a pic a while back under the "suffering" thread.

Grumpy McTrumpy

here's my two cents.

you could go with a much bigger saddle / elbowpad drop. much more. and tuck your head in.

fly:yes/land:no

your arms are pretty far forward and high (which is typical when someone installs aero bars on a road bike without changing stems). in the front view, your arms looks pretty far apart, and that combined with the higher position is probably scooping a lot of air. honestly, though, it wasn't as bad looking as i expected considering the 310 watts figure. my $0.02.

tanhalt

Basically...you're not low enough in front...you actually look like a typical age-grouper long course triathlete (and that's not a good thing for TTs).

So...how do determine how to change without losing power? Here's the quick and dirty:

1. Set up your road bike on the trainer and settle into your "hammering" position. That is, get into the position you'd be in if you were on the front of a paceline taking a long pull. For me, I called that my "hammering on the hoods" position.

2. Take video (moving pics are better than static poses) of that position from the side.

3. Grab a screenshot from that video and pull it into a graphics program that will allow you to overlay and rotate pictures (something like GIMP).

4. Now then, rotate that picture about the BB until the top of your head is even with the high point of your back. Overlay that picture on your current TT side shot and see just how far forward and up you need to move your saddle to match, keeping in mind that when you rotate forward you'll be sitting on a different part of your anatomy and the saddle.

5. Make those adjustments to the TT bike and then also move the bars to put the upper part of your torso in the right position to match the overlaid pics. You might need an adjustable stem, such as an ergostem for this.

6. You probably won't get a perfect match to the rotated pic on the first go...keep iterating until your torso position most closely matches the rotated "hammering" pic.

That's basically it. Everything after that is tweaks to arm and pad positions mostly for comfort (hint, try to keep your forearms level or above - never below horizontal- for lowest drag). Oh yeah...also get used to looking up the road out of the tops of your eyeballs

The point of this whole procedure is to try to get you into the lowest drag position that still maintains your preferred thigh/torso angle for high power. If you do it right, you'll end up with something like this:

Brian Ratliff

I'll second the guys that say you need a larger saddle to elbow pad drop. The idea is to get your back pretty flat. Right now, you are kind of parachutish. As you drop your bars, move your saddle forward so your thighs don't hit your chest.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I agree. Which makes me wonder if there is some small mechanical problem with the bike.

MDcatV

you look like me, I would only post a photo of myself tt-ing for comedic value.

the typical mdcatv stage race is RR - top 10, crit - top 10, TT - 30th, lose 3 to 5 minutes. since I think TTs are as much fun as eating a bag of glass, I havent put any effort into preparing for them, but might change that this fall/winter.

if you're converting a road bike into a tt bike, here's a link to an article with some suggestions from a prof. retul bike fitter for doing so (it's about 3/4 down the page).

https://www.gamjams.net/page/4/

waterrockets 

As others have said, it looks like you're too stretched out and too high in the front. If you get a FastForward seatpost, that will eliminate the over stretch, and raise your saddle, effectively lowering your front a bit. Then you can start looking into getting the elbows lower (removing pad spacers, negative stem, etc.).

I just leave a saddle on my FF seatpost, so changing to TT position is a quick operation. A stem swap would add a bit more time though.

tanhalt

Hmmm...I'm not sure if I quite agree with her "90 degree angle uber alles" approach for arm positioning...

MDcatV

I dont have any expertise to debate that one, just passing along suggestions for the OP that originate from someone who has credential in bike fitting.

recursive

I got a set forward seatpost and an upside down hybrid riser stem. I'll install them before my next TT this weekend.

Much of the problem seems to be my aero bars, which are already set as low and as narrow as possible, but are neither low nor narrow.

DrPete 

I know this is probably a dumb question, but, um, where are the brake levers?

ccrnnr9

Coaster brake.

mikearena

Something along these lines (i.e. nuts):



(not my picture)

tanhalt

Nope...more like this (slightly different and definitely not nuts, but fast):




This is what the wind "sees"

mikearena

Debatable. But I'd definitely love to try it.

waterrockets 

You need more aero guads. Maybe some fairing implants behind the hamstrings?

recursive

Holy crap. That is one aero melon farmer.

DrWJODonnell

Frame to big.

What do I get for the correct answer?

Actually, a 310 power output can put you at the top of the leaderboard if you can get more aero. I would like to see the front end lowered, but without a stupid ridiculous stem, that won't happen (and that is assuming you could put out power in a "better" position.

One thing you might consider is the amount of low back flexibility. It is great for power output at the pedals, but as long as you are THAT high, you are bending at the lumber spine and not the hips. Normally I would say keep the hip angle open, but you are creating a LOT of drag with your arse end.

Flak

Aero and equipment improvements aside, i think the biggest limiter with local roadies is that they just don't ride their TT bikes enough, and don't spend enough time TT training.