spelger

for me my pads are much further back. When I am on them only about an inch from my elbow is aft of the pads. So much more comfortable. Because of that I can stay on the bars for 20 minutes at a stretch. Mine used to be more forward like yours and I could only take them in small doses. To be more accurate I was not grabbing the bars far enough. The proper setup makes a world of difference.

spelger

Looking T the photo again try moving the bars more forward an grab at the ends. Should stretch you out and flatten your back a bit and put more weight toward your elbows.

TMonk

bonsai171 if you want us to assess the aero fit, you should post photos of your actual riding position, not one where you are looking at the ground. If you tilt your head up to look up the road a few meters, its going to negatively impact your aerodynamics, but such is life. The head is the most unaero part of this position so optimizing it is most of the game.

Also, what are you goals with the new position? Is it for aerodynamics, or ergonomics so you can change your muscle recruitment up and have more options? Either way, looking up the road in your photos (like in actual riding) may effect your back arch and have an impact on both - aerodynamics and ergonomics.

If what you're after is speed - remember to "turtle" your head by shrugging your shoulders. This makes a huge difference in speed and should be immediately apparent in a head-on mirror view. Lift your neck only enough to be able to see past your eyebrows, and then lift it higher only every so often if a larger field of view is needed for safety reasons. Or if you feel like your neck is going to seize on you.

Do you have any local Time Trial races in your area? If so, I recommend giving them a shot! Time Trialing is interesting, fun and inclusive, not all disdainful and ego-driven like mass start events. I've started (as a volunteer and a racer) between world champs and 10 year olds on mountain bikes before at our local series. It's a good time for all.

TMonk

Also - take another photo of your foot at the bottom of the pedal stroke. A heel or a toe that's dropped could be a sign of a saddle that is too low or too high, respectively. I mean not always, but that is often the case. If you foot is angled neutral, or flat, you're probably good.

Lastly, when doing TT photos or otherwise just examining your position in general, I always recommend looking at the road (realistically) and also riding it for a at least a few minutes first. Lots of people have great positions and then get sloppy after you get settled in. It takes some focus, for me at least. I've practiced against the mirror on the trainer to give myself physical cues about what position my body is in.

Carbonfiberboy 

In that last photo, angles all look good. hips and back really good. Pads would be more comfortable further back I think. They may not be moveable with those bars. I like the pads back close to my elbows and aft of the handlebars. Your upper arm angle looks really good though, don't change that. I prefer my forearms level. Your torso angle looks appropriate for doing long rides. If you wanted to get lower, there are bars which go below the handlebars, Profile Design is one source.

bonsai171

This position feels a lot better. I haven't had a chance to road test it yet, but definitely this weekend. I got the pads back as far back as they would allow, but I think this might work.

Dave

bonsai171

Sounds interesting, I haven't looked for time trials nearby before. I'm mainly interested in aerodynamics, but it might be fun to try reaching too. I rode with the aero bars on a local paved trail that I ride a lot, and managed to beat some of my PRs. That was in the position from the first 2 pictures. Hopefully the new one is even better and more sustainable.

Dave

Carbonfiberboy 

Amazing, isn't it? You could have the same back angle in the hoods or drops positions, but the bars are faster, just getting your arms out of the air. A cylinder is the highest resistance form AFAIK. IME the bars like you have them there are exactly as fast as in the drops, horizontal forearms, elbows tucked under your belly, and chin 2" off your stem. The bars are a heckuva lot more comfortable! If you have a long straight descent, you can experiment to see what terminal velocity is in various positions. That's what I did.

OldTryGuy

Good luck and JUST for the giggles, get your inseam measurement while barefoot and then multiply by 1.09. Take that length and compare it to the distance between pedal at six o'clock and saddle top. That distance was the "Old Standard" proper seat height from the '70's and has changed some but is still a good beginning reference point. In my eyes and having ridden aerobars since the 90's your last picture just makes it look like your seat is still too high.

p.s. - At my 2014 IRONMAN FLORIDA at age 64 I bicycled the 112 miles without stopping while mostly on my aerobars riding my 2013 Giant Propel Advanced SL Road Bike with seat height lower than your picture.

Carbonfiberboy 

I've read and tried and it seems to me that if your toe is below your heel at the bottom of the stroke, saddle is to high. Conversely if your heel is below the ball of your foot, saddle is too low. That said, there used to be pros who pedaled seated toes down and many coaches advocated that. However that seems to be history now.

burnthesheep

Two schools of thought on this one. One is to keep the fit aero and train into the fit over time. The other is to relax the fit to less aero and then work your way tighter and tighter over time.

I started pretty tight, but not all the way at the endpoint.

From the pics:

1: It is pretty tough to support a tri/tt fit on the forearms with the pads that far forward. This is a consequence of the clip ons you own. See if you can find clip ons where there is a separate clamp that clamps to the extensions that the pads bolt to. Then you are able to move the pads rearward so the pad is closer to your elbow instead of the middle of the forearm as it is now. This will help a LOT.
2. You've raised the stack a good bit, that's a good intro move to get used to it. Keep that for now.
3. You have the reach pretty neutral, good start.
4. Your stack is high enough though what you're doing is sitting on the saddle in a way that it looks like you're falling toward the rear of the bike. I would say just try moving the saddle forward, roll your hips forward (google pics of that), then you may need to add some reach back. This will keep you from feeling like you're leaning back so much on the bike.
5. Can't see from the pics, but pad width may be too narrow to start out. Make sure you start and learn on a wider pad width. Like 6+ inches between the centers. Some clip ons make this tough to get wide enough on a road bike versus a tri bike base bar. Clip ons work on road bikes fine, but they're originally for tri bikes that have a round base bar with a pretty wide clamping area either side of the stem. On a tri bike with a round base bar you can get the pad width pretty wide, a road bike less so. But get that as wide as you can for now.

I've won regional champs USAC TT in my class. I know a bit.

bonsai171

Thanks for the tips! I should probably post an update (first ride in the new position). Did about 20 miles in 1 hour, 11 min. The longest I spent on the aero bars was 15 min (compared to 4 min last time!). After spending time on the aero bars, I rested on the hoods for 5 min, then went back to the aero bars. Could have gone longer than 15 min, but I kept getting hills to climb. Overall the position felt really good, but I had a little tension in my left hamstring at one point, and a little discomfort in my left arm. I might have been leaning more towards the left side. Overall not too bad.

Eventually I might need to get some better/more adjustable Profile or Zipp bars. Wasnt ready to shell out $180 plus on something I wasn't sure I would like. The pads are 7.5" apart currently.

Not sure what you meant about rolling the hips, will have to look that up. My saddle is slid forward as far as the rails allow, so I might need to ditch the setback seatpost.

One interesting thing I noticed too was that the aero bars let me work more into heart rate zone 4, which was harder without the aero bars. Not sure if that means anything.

Dave

burnthesheep

Setback seatposts might do that. Take a stick or rod or measuring stick and run it vertical through the center of the bottom bracket upwards. Then see how far the saddle is rearward from that. Then you'll know. If it's a long way from the stick, there you go. If it's closer to the stick, you're doing alright.

Rolling hips? If your back is more rounded, flatten it out by sitting more on your well......sensitive bits. Like difference sitting in a chair hunchback versus "good posture". This is why the invention of the split nose saddle is a thing. Rolling hips for a tri/tt fit on a road saddle isn't as comfy sometimes. Despite being a superior aero/power producing posture. It's ok if you can't. Not everyone can ride that way. Pros even.