So I've been practicing to perfect this position for a while now. While MVDP is certainly a rider that comes to mind, Camanaerts set a stunning display at the TDF this year. Unlike MVDP he wasnt afraid to angle the hoods inwards and as a result he has achieved a position with his arms and shoulders inline with his knees. To note, I ride with pretty agressively angled hoods, I do it for comfort mainly, as I find the angle comfortable but it also really helps in the aero tuck, my bars measure 360mm but the tips of the hoods are just 300mm, this is where I spend the majority of the flats in. Its not a 'compromised' position in the slightest, the bent elbows and shoulders still provide a lot of flexibility to slurp up bumps and potholes, and my arms still have sufficient leverage, in fact the tips of the hoods while standing is my favourite climbing position and its the best position I feel for an uphill sprint. The aero tuck hasnt always been viable for me, the main issue with maintaining a tuck is IMO 1. Knee elbow clearance 2. Excessive saddle to bar drop 3. Too wide of a handlebar 1. In the pursuit of a lower overall stack riders tend to sacrifice reach. As Dan Bigham has explained stack doesnt equate to aero. If the reach is less your elbows and hence your shoulders are forced to flare out, while its more comfortable to hold a tuck with a short reach it causes a bottleneck from the inability to shrug, and the elbows further add to the aero equation right where you wouldn't want it to. 2. Again, the chase for the slammed stem means that it's not sustainable to rest the arm on the bar while grasping the hoods, this further harms sustainability. Sorry folks, but if you want aero, youll need to add stem spacers, otherwise youll have to extend your shoulders to grab the bars, adding CDA 3. Riders typically use shoulder width handlebars, but the measurement is usually taken while at rest, with some training you can compress the width by a massive amount. I measure my shoulders at 39cm at rest, but while riding I usually compress them below 34cm, and its very comfortable and natural for me to do so. Hence I use a narrow handlebar and the hood tilt to be able to maximize this effect, im beginning to be able to get my shoulders inline with my knees which is approx 28cm. Ultimately all of this really depends on the rider, the fastest position is the one that you can maintain
Thanks for the feedback. The mix is off for some speakers and the background music will sound louder. Saying that it stops at 45 seconds, then there is no background music.
So I've been practicing to perfect this position for a while now. While MVDP is certainly a rider that comes to mind, Camanaerts set a stunning display at the TDF this year. Unlike MVDP he wasnt afraid to angle the hoods inwards and as a result he has achieved a position with his arms and shoulders inline with his knees.
To note, I ride with pretty agressively angled hoods, I do it for comfort mainly, as I find the angle comfortable but it also really helps in the aero tuck, my bars measure 360mm but the tips of the hoods are just 300mm, this is where I spend the majority of the flats in. Its not a 'compromised' position in the slightest, the bent elbows and shoulders still provide a lot of flexibility to slurp up bumps and potholes, and my arms still have sufficient leverage, in fact the tips of the hoods while standing is my favourite climbing position and its the best position I feel for an uphill sprint.
The aero tuck hasnt always been viable for me, the main issue with maintaining a tuck is IMO
1. Knee elbow clearance
2. Excessive saddle to bar drop
3. Too wide of a handlebar
1. In the pursuit of a lower overall stack riders tend to sacrifice reach. As Dan Bigham has explained stack doesnt equate to aero. If the reach is less your elbows and hence your shoulders are forced to flare out, while its more comfortable to hold a tuck with a short reach it causes a bottleneck from the inability to shrug, and the elbows further add to the aero equation right where you wouldn't want it to.
2. Again, the chase for the slammed stem means that it's not sustainable to rest the arm on the bar while grasping the hoods, this further harms sustainability. Sorry folks, but if you want aero, youll need to add stem spacers, otherwise youll have to extend your shoulders to grab the bars, adding CDA
3. Riders typically use shoulder width handlebars, but the measurement is usually taken while at rest, with some training you can compress the width by a massive amount. I measure my shoulders at 39cm at rest, but while riding I usually compress them below 34cm, and its very comfortable and natural for me to do so. Hence I use a narrow handlebar and the hood tilt to be able to maximize this effect, im beginning to be able to get my shoulders inline with my knees which is approx 28cm.
Ultimately all of this really depends on the rider, the fastest position is the one that you can maintain
CdA is normally the drage coefficient Cd multiplied by the frontal area A, and it has m2 unit
Thank you, I will remember this for next time.
I wanted to watch this video but I couldn’t because of the overly loud clicking sound
Thanks for the feedback. The mix is off for some speakers and the background music will sound louder. Saying that it stops at 45 seconds, then there is no background music.
@@semiprocyclingI’ll go back and check it out 😃
Same here.