ThermionicScott 

Boosting this.

burnthesheep

I've only been riding 2 1/2 years and doing training stuff for about 2, but this has been what I do........

Do at least some of the intervals in the position you're trying to improve. Get into the tuck and hammer it out. It's a lot different sitting up doing VO2 hill repeats than sitting crunched over your bars out of the wind.

Your area sounds like mine. I'd recommend stick to whatever plan you do for your training, but maybe focus your "free ride" around improving this.

For me, this looks like doing a ride in the duration of time my "race" or "local hammer group ride" might be. I'm a nobody, so that's only like 75 to 90min. I try to hold a hard tempo between hills then up the hills or on the flats I'll go just at/above threshold or do VO2 depending on the duration. Then immediately back into hard tempo, no break. That is the break. Maybe avoid the hills and try it on the flat for a segment or something for your hard work.

A trainer version of this would be the GCN Show workout "random HIIT". They have you at a hard tempo or SS then toss in some 10/10 efforts at like 15sec, 30sec, and lastly 45sec. Each set is like 8min or something and there's several sets. That's a "recover while still working kinda hard" workout.

This one: but do it at a cadence and body position to suit your needs
For this workout I do the 7/10 at 85% hour power and the 10/10 at 140% or more of hour power. Preferably more on the 15sec one obviously. My average power for the "set" of doing work is usually about 95% to 100% of hour power.

redlude97

Those pros are on race bikes and for example ewan is on an xxs bike. I'm like the OP on a endurance bike in the smallest size and i can't get my stem any lower and had to resort to a -17 stem slammed on a flat spacer

Even my cyclocross bike with a much shorter headtube(similar stack) is slammed down with a -17 stem.


I use the 90deg hood position also. Obviously my next road bike will be more of a race geometry but a lot can be done to optimize position for faster speed on an endurance bike, although i do agree I'd like to see the rider on the bike
.

rubiksoval

I think that's not an issue that has any bearing on the topic. The issue is that you have no idea what his fit is like and are prescribing specific fit parameters that are at best complete outliers.

Those bikes don't have negative rise stems. They didn't just go out and get as low as possible. Their drop is considerably less than that of larger riders.

My point is that you haven't even seen this guy's fit, but you're telling him to get as low as possible, even lower than some of the smaller best sprinters in the world.

By all means experiment, but saying to slap a -17 degree stem and slam it is going to an extreme that is neither commonplace nor likely to be conducive.

rubiksoval

Your hoods are nearly even with your seat. There's negligible drop there, even less than those bikes.

Kind of reaffirms how most smaller riders have very little drop, the precise opposite of the bike carbonfiberboy said the OP should replicate in his bike fit.

redlude97

Which is kinda the point, carbonfiberboy said the OP should try to get his drops close to the top of the tires, and the point is that had to do all kinds of fit shenigans just to get my bars that low on a endurance frame and I still have minimal drop and not even close to the tires. Without a negative rise stem sitting right on top of the bearing my bars would be even or even slightly raised. My fitter has long suggested I get a different frame with at least a 3cm shorter headtube. I think you're reading too much into carbonfiberboy's common suggestion for those starting to try to race with an endurance frame, slam and -17 stem assuming they don't want to get a new bike.

DrIsotope

Get aero. Get clip on aerobars if you spend a lot of time solo. The OP is so small, even if he's pushing out a constant 4W/kg he's producing about the same power that I average on a Z2 ride. He is at the absolute mercy of the air in front of him.

I often wonder what that would be like-- to get thrown around by a breeze, but be able to shoot up a hill like a missile. I shall never know.

kevinabbot

Carbonfiberboy 

Road races can be won on the climbs. It's actually easier there because drafting is less effective, especially behind a small rider. So get good at climbing.

In general light riders have an easier time of it when climbing out of the saddle. That's something to practice and to get very good at. See Pantani, Marco. Note what he did to ride quite flat-backed out of the saddle even with his smaller drop. Of course he was 5'7-1/2", 126 lbs. and was doped to the gills for his whole pro career. Still, it was a beautiful thing to see.

temperance

Great advice +1
will use it too

Garfield Cat

Speed on the Flats? After 6 hours of riding, you're lucky to have anything left!

Start working on the 3 hours, then sit under a tree, until the feeling for speed goes away.