Will be riding to TT's this fall, and have bought a set of Deda Parabolica Zero bars to fit on my normal roadbike. I also put on a different seatpost with less setback, and pushed the saddle as far forward as possible, while raising the seat about 2 cm's compared to my normal setup. I then took a picture


I have since pointed the bars a bit upwards to get my elbows lower - and therefore my shoulders lower and flatter back

But are there any rule of thumb things I can use when it comes to a decent TT fit on a roadbike?

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I like Spanish bikes and cars. Riding an Orbea Orca and a Seat Ibiza.

Suggest you take a look at TT positioning articles on the following:

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/

My take away is that if it is to be an occasional TT position then its best to take your standard road position, and to achieve your existing upper body position using the aero bars to suport your arms in the elbows in position so to speak.

Reasoning seems to be your fitness and power are developed around your road position, and unless you spend some quality time regularly using your TT position then you are likely to loose more power than your aero oposition yields benefit, hence you will not realise your potential interms of time / speed / performance.Hope this helps in some way.

Great link, and comments! If I understand correctly Hogg talks about moving the seat about 15 mm forward from your normal seat position, which seems like a good idea.

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I like Spanish bikes and cars. Riding an Orbea Orca and a Seat Ibiza.

I use my road bike as a TT bike. I flip my Thomson setback post around and move my saddle almost to the front of the rails. I go from a -10 130mm stem with 15mm of spacers to an 80mm -32 stem with 0 spacers. I have profile clip ons with the lowest amount of spacers as well. The handling is awkward at first, but I can put out almost the same power at LT as in a normal position and I'm fairly compact with a flat back. It also helps that I have a formal national TT champ helping me with this, but I'm convinced that 15mm isnt enough forward movement to really change your position that much. A lot of people sit that much further forward on the saddle during hard efforts and it really doesn't rotate your body forward and down around your hips so often times you just close your hip angle up more and that's it, which might cause you to lose power and not decrease drag that much.

Does he do bike fitting wearing a tux?

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Snacking on carrot sticks - Where did it all go so wrong?
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Finsbury Park CC

just the bowtie and vest

Also a great series of fitting articles on slowtwitch.com that can be somewhat applied to roadies as well. Definitely could use to get those bars lower (maybe use an adjustable stem). Coming forward with the seat as you suggest will also help get your elbows under you (closer to 90 degree elbow angle) which will help keep you more comfortable and powerful.

Depending on your racing this may not be relevant but if racing under the auspices of the UCI it would be wise to check their limitations on position. These are forearms must be horizontal, forearm and upper arm cannot be greater than 120degrees, extensions may not exceed 75cm from the BB in the vertical plane and the seat must be 5cm behind the BB in the vertical plane. That's from memory, always wise to check the UCI rules and regs on their website for the latest.

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

They always enforce that one when Levi rides.

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Snacking on carrot sticks - Where did it all go so wrong?
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Finsbury Park CC

What are rules and what get enforced are two different things, sadly.

I vaguely recall a rider getting pinged for this at some track championships (US or World Cup)... but they weren't Levi.

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

Just jestin'

I'd love to have seen the aftermath is someone had pulled up Boonen in the Vuelta for a saddle level violation.

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Snacking on carrot sticks - Where did it all go so wrong?
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Finsbury Park CC

At the Australian national track championships this year the level forearm and seat was definitely enforced for both open and junior riders.

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Success is how far you you bounce back up after being knocked down