Thursday, May 29, 2008

Trying to find free speed in my bike fit

Well, I'm leaving for Charleston this afternoon for the Low Country Splash!! I'm a little nervous, but it will be fun! I'll write all about it when I get back.

I have been fiddling around with me bike fit, trying to maximize my aero-position and as a result, gain some free speed!! Its difficult to do this on my bike because I have a road bike frame, not a tri-bike (which I desperately want) and I also have a compact frame (made for us girls). SO, with all that confusion its difficult to get my butt close enough to me areobars and enough drop between the saddle and the aerobars, but I've been working on it, so here is what I changed.....
That picture is from the side of my bike, looking at the aerobars and the stem that holds the handle bars. I moved the spacers from under the stem, to on top of the stem, dropping the bars about a 1/2inch. Then I moved the pads back towards the saddle one space. You can see where the mount is now, before it was more in the middle of the pad. So the pad was about 1/2 inch forward. This is in an effort to become more aerodynamic on my bike...FASTER!!
This is the result.....

This is me at Surf N Turf (original postion)














<--This is my new position.

So the biggest differences I see are:
-I have a better bend in my elbow...closer to 90 degrees
-My back is flatter
-I'm lower

It is a good start I think. I went for a 2hour easy ride today and so far the new position hasn't made anything hurt...always a plus! I'd like to drop a bit lower but I'm going to see how this works first.

Wish me luck in Charleston!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Booo
Not sure I understand all the 'aero dynamics' of this, but I can see that you are lower and look more comfortable on the bike. That should be good. Looking forward to your comments on Charleston, although I already know a little of the details.
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