Power and Speed....

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

Ok guys and gals I need your help!

This has been brought up before but I am really starting to wonder about my aerodynamics on the bike. I have read other threads where in example Ric mentioned that he did a time trial on a regular road bike without any aero gear and put down 270-280 watts and was able to go 40kmph!?


Since the start of this year (my first year of training) I have increased my ftp to about 300 watts, I weigh 75kg and am 6'2". Now I ride a 60cm cannondale with the a Fizik aliente saddle about 10cm behind BB, top of handlebars are about 13cm below top of saddle on a 120cm stem. Well looking over my rides I have noticed that I dont spend much time over 25mph when at 300 watts :( It actually seems that 300 watts puts me at about 24 mph on a good day. Now dont sue me but here is a dirty secret I have... I NEVER RODE IN THE DROPS! :eek: yep unless Im going down hill.

So the last couple of days I go out and ride and force myself to ride in the drops. And I mean where your forearm is 90 degress parrallel with the ground. Ouch. I feel all scrunched up! I dont know if this is a bike fit matter but my knees and elbows overlap by about 4-5cm. I slide back in the saddle to help strech out but it seems to hurt my pedaling and it actually felt better when I was riding almost on the nose of the saddle. Now I understand that you lose power at first when in a more aero position but it was more like my shins and quads were actually hurting a bit while pedaling like this. Is it from the more acute hip angle? It also seems that I have less muscle to work with when I am in this position, I guess that is why I always stayed in the hoods. Oh one more thing also even when I am in this position I am still not close to where my legs would hit my chest.

So my first question is should I slide the seat foward about and buy a longer stem with a more negative rise trying to get it parralel with the ground? I really had no issue with hand pain or pressure so I assume I can get away with this. Now the other problem I have is that the seatpost is almost at maximum extension, if I move the seat forward would I not also have to move it up? The post came standard with the bike and has a about Im guessing a 4-5cm setback. I can only slide the saddle about another cm foward on this post :mad:

Second question, I was curious what numbers other are pulling down in relation to thier height? I mean according to analyticalcycling my frontal area on the hoods would be about .7

Thanks again for all your help guys! And a special thanks to andyC for the book! It brought me to this point where I wont be shamed when I go to my first race next week, at least I dont think I will :confused:


Alex