Dr Pooley's Aero Bike Fit | How To Find Your Time Trial Position

Clock00:00, Wednesday 21st November 2018

We often talk about aero gains as “free watts” - because if you can get more aero, you go faster for the same power. In this video, we'll look at how to set up and fine-tune your time trial position to optimise your aerodynamics. Who doesn't want free speed?

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A lot of riders, if they can afford it, will get a time trial bike for triathlon or time trials. The assumption is that a time trial bike is always faster - but that’s not always true. Set up wrong, a time trial bike is no more aero than your regular road bike. And the details of the position are super important for both aero position and power output.

Let’s start with body position - this is where you can save the most drag. The drag force is directly proportional to your frontal area, which is the size of your outline seen from directly in front. So if you can reduce your frontal area - usually by getting lower at the front so that your head and shoulders are in line with your bum - you will definitely reduce drag. It’s complicated by the fact that your drag is also proportional to your coefficient of drag, which can be described as the “smoothness” of your total shape - which is also affected by body position.

If you reduce your frontal area but increase your coefficient of drag, you won’t be making yourself faster. And the coefficient of drag is difficult to measure without a day spent in a wind tunnel - although you can do it with a carefully instrumented field test. But in general, unless you contort yourself into a really funny shape, you shouldn’t make your drag coefficient hugely worse by getting lower.

Do you have a time trial bike? Let us know in the comments. 👇

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