IIRC Dan Bigham goes into this to some extent on That Traithlon Show episode 229.
1 Like
Didnāt aerocoach do some velodrome testing with bottle position?
Iāll try and google it but Iām certain they said thatās the best place for a bottle
Edit - link
2 Likes
These are the big point for me. Itās more about placing hydration somewhere that causes as little drag as possible, but allows you to drink whilst holding position. Thatās way more time saving than a watt here or there in terms of cda, although if you can find a system that also make the bike/your standard aero position even more aero, then win-win.
2 Likes
Yeah I saw that test but the rider had fore arms horizontal and therefore the bottle causes no extra Cda. As you raise the fore arms to 45 degrees the bottle now blocks a fair bit of area. Not suggesting itās right or wrong, thatās just my thought process at the minute.
1 Like
Yeah of course this is correct!
The few seconds you save goes out the window when you have to sit up to reach your bottle.
With the distancing rules they may want to retest with 5l capacity optionsā¦
I known lionel tried a camelbak once, but surely the whole ācarry all your nutrition/hydration and dont stopā has been analysed many years agoā¦right?
One 500ml bottle aint gonna cut it!
1 Like
Ok, iām throwing myself to the lions for some slef inflicted pain ā¦
Just fit my new saddle (man that was a frickin ballache!) and took a look at my bike settings again. Dropped my seat down my a cm and moved my saddle forward a bit (i think, i forgot to look at where the original one was before i swapped them).
Bearing in mind that this is an endurance bike, so the fit isnāt going to be parfticularly racey/aggressive.
What are your thoughts? Iā've treid to cycle through the positions briefly. Any immediate/obvious issues or errors going on here?
Oh and i know that end of the garden is looking a state, and the potted plants have escaped water for some days! 
Canāt seem to embed a video, so this will have to do. Let me know if it works or not (please)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14TlILGkh3qBPpE-NEPrfIO-J_3Ah4I3T/view?usp=sharing
Oh and go easy on me. Iām a delicate little flower really!
I know nothing, John Snow.
But when I had my bike fit the guy surprised me by lowering seat on basis of heel rise at bottom of stroke similar to yours:
This might fit with hip rocking that seems to be apparent?
Oh, and is that a crushed plimsoll holding up front wheel? Marvellous!
2 Likes
haha, yep. I was wearing my Toms in the garden before i switched to my bike shoes. The front wheel was rolling around on the stones so i shoved the shoe under it!
Thanks for the input
Agreed, stroke of genius with your shoe. Thought it was a flip flop at first!
Yeah Iād try lower your saddle a touch too
I guess it all depends what happens when you lower the saddle.
If your knee angle remains the same put you stop pointing your toes then the saddle was probably too high and you were pointing your toes to compensate for that.
If you keep pointing your toes, resulting in a smaller knee angle, then there probably wasnāt any need to change as youāre now closing up your hip/kneee angles.
Iām still a fan of some of the old methods, despite all the modern calculators, heel on the pedal with leg straight, elbow on point of seat and fingers touching bars, front spindle & handlebars in same eyeline when sat in normal position.
More evidence for my Luddite stance!
1 Like
Just look at that heal
i would say saddle 0.5mm too high
Watch your video, your hips are moving up and down far too much, they should be level and almost static
3 Likes
Looks like a solid vote for saddle down then. To think iāve been riding with it at least a cm higher than that for the past few months as well! Maybe i shouldnāt have been so hasty to replace the saddle?! Wonder if i can get it off without scratching it to send it back? Though it does look nice!
Didnāt even really know to look for hip roll/movement. So will try to keep an eye on that in future. Thanks
and not one comment on my freakishly veiny arms!!
Lovely garden. Is that a fig tree?
I was also going to comment that you need to bend your arms more, especially on the drops, but also while riding on the hoods
Spend some time on the turbo with a focus on dropping your heal, it helps maintain extra power through the bottom of the stroke
2 Likes
Does the hip angle at the top of the stroke not look a bit tight to people?
2 Likes
not facing that way, no. Magnolia above the pond and a cherry tree on the left of the pic.
But behind the camera we have a pear, apple and fig tree. Just coming to the end of the figs now, been eating them every day for the last few weeks, and loads more have gone to the wasps! Always a pain when the whole thing ripens at the same time. With this hot spring, as long as we donāt have a really cold winter, weāll have tonnes of fruit next year (fruit form in year one, then grow and ripen in year two)
thanks, iāll keep that in mind. I know i have a very āpushyā stroke. Itās only when iām getting towards the end of a hard set that i find myself properly rotating through the stroke in a bid to hold onto the power of that interval, but i know it doesnāt last long. I guess some focus on pedal form this winter on the turbo wouldnāt be time wasted.
and what is the consequence/solution to that? (genuine question, i have no idea)
It isnāt the hip that is the problem but the thigh I guess, it is quite close to your abdomen and maybe thatās why you arenāt bringing your upper body lower as Matt suggests. I was as much asking the question as it looks that way a bit to me. To remedy it you would use shorter cranks, which would also resolve your foot going too low. Itās a lot cheaper to drop your saddle a fraction though to sort that. But that will bring your thigh closer to your abdo so you will definitely see if it is an issue.
2 Likes